Motorsport Notes - Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America

by Thomas Moore

June 20, 2023.

Rounds 7 & 8. Watkins Glen International.

Following a break of over a month, the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America will close the first half of its third season at one of the nation’s most revered racetracks, Watkins Glen International. The competition at the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course in New York state is the first time the one-make Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race series will run on a natural terrain road course in 2023. Rounds 7 and 8 mark the midpoint of the 16-round, three-class championship. After the season-opening round at Sebring International Raceway (a former airfield), and the Long Beach and Miami street course events, the remaining races will all be held on purpose-built facilities providing a clear tipping point on the schedule. Action supporting the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Six Hours of The Glen begins with practice on Thursday, June 22 followed by a pair of 40-minute races being held on Friday and Saturday respectively.

• Full Field. 35 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for competition at Watkins Glen.

o Pro class. 20 Pro-Am class. 8 Am class. 7.

o Teams. 13 race teams are represented across all three classes.

• Point Leaders. Riley Dickinson (157 points), winner of six of the seven races, has a 54-point lead over Tom Sargent. Will Martin remains third in points, the winner of round six is 67 points behind Dickinson. 2021 Pro-Am Champion Efrin Castro (125 points) moves into the lead of the class, nine points ahead of Marco Cirone. Mark Kvamme continues to pull away in the Am class. The defending class champion is 52 points up on Scott Noble with 155 markers. Kellymoss (142 points) is 28 ahead of McElrea and 46 up on JDX Racing in the Entrants championship. Dickinson heads the Junior ranks.

• Legacy Track. Watkins Glen International has been a fixture on the Carrera Cup schedule since its inaugural season in 2021.

• First Timer. A new overall winner will stand in the WGI victory lane this weekend. Kay van Berlo has taken Kellymoss to the winner’s circle in the four races previously held (2021, ’22). Van Berlo has moved up to the WeatherTech GTD class driving for Kellymoss with Riley in a Porsche 911 GT3 R.

• New York State of Mind. Michael Cooper, a resident of Huntington, N.Y., is the only resident of the state entered at WGI. The ride in the No. 33 Accelerating Performance Porsche is the three-time World Challenge champ is his series debut.

• Accelerating Platform. The No. 33 Accelerating Performance Porsche is the same car that two-time series runner-up van Berlo piloted at Miami. The team’s fulltime entry is the No. 44 of Moisey Uretsky in the Pro-Am class.

• 762 Area Code. Nick Boulle is no stranger to sports car racing paddocks. The veteran racer has campaigned cars from the Porsche 911 GT3 R at Daytona to prototypes at Le Mans but is making his Carrera Cup debut in the No. 58 Porsche entered by 762 Motorsports at WGI.

• Rexy’s Keeper. While the wildly popular “Rexy” livery won’t be wrapped around a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car this weekend, P.J. Hyett will compete at WGI in Carrera Cup. Hyett, fresh off the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Porsche 911 RSR, will play double duty driving the green “Rexy” livery on the AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Six Hours of The Glen and the No. 23 Kellymoss “Cup car” in the Pro-Am class of Carrera Cup. Hyett was last entered at Long Beach, although he did not start either Carrera Cup races there. He has two series starts in 2022 (Road America and Indianapolis).

• Team Players. Kellymoss leads all teams with seven entries across two classes. MDK Motorsports is just behind with six cars with entries in all three classes.

• Broadcast. All races air on the Peacock streaming app, IMSA.tv and PorscheCarreraCup.us and are archived at: https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us .

• Schedule. All times Eastern

Thursday, June 22.

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. – Practice 1

1:45 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. – Practice 2

Friday, June 23.

8:35 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. – Qualifying (all classes)

1:25 p.m. – 2:05 p.m. – Race 1 (40-minute race)

Saturday, June 24.

12:20 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Race 2 (40-minute race)

  • Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

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