Porsche to again organize four one-make championships for North American market

• Porsche Carrera Cup North America unveils schedule for fifth season.
• Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama continue providing critical step on motorsport pyramid.
• Porsche Endurance Challenge North America returns for second year of extended single-make, multi-driver events.
• Premier one-make series returns to Formula 1® in Miami, Montreal and Austin.

Carson, California. The 2025 Porsche Motorsport North America one-make calendar has been unveiled by Porsche Motorsport North America with a focus on continuity for fans, participants and partners alike. The year will include Porsche Carrera Cup North America, as well as Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama. Additionally, 2025 will see the Porsche Endurance Challenge North America return for a second season. In keeping with the proven strategy of consistency and participant interest, all four series will maintain a high level of date and venue carryover from 2024.

Carson, California. Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) has announced the 2025 race season schedules for each of its one-make championships with a focus on continuity. Each of the four championships will return with event calendars mirroring the successful 2024 race season. Competitors in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Porsche Endurance Challenge North America, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama will again race on the continent’s most famous and popular road courses. Multi-class, single-brand racing will continue to support IMSA and IndyCar weekends in 2025. Porsche Carrera Cup North America, the premier one-make championship for the German marque in the United States and Canada, will again support Formula 1® at three events: Miami, Florida, Austin, Texas and in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

By utilizing the same car for all competitors, the demand for performance is on the driver and on the team alone. Porsche one-make racing, which dates to the founding of Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in 1990, is the backbone of the global Porsche Motorsport Pyramid.

Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
Porsche Carrera Cup North America is the premier one-make race series in the United States and Canada utilizing a combination of the latest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car, type 992, and Yokohama’s ADVAN® A005 racing slick to challenge the best road and street race courses on the continent. The fifth season of the championship is scheduled to host 16 rounds at eight venues. Each 40-minute race counts toward a season-long driver championship in each of three classes: Pro, Pro-Am and Masters as well as a Team champion.

As the pinnacle one-make series of the Porsche Motorsport North America Pyramid, the series is a launching point for young drivers aspiring to a career in auto racing. Previous champions Seb Priaulx (2021), Parker Thompson (2022), Riley Dickinson (2023) and two-time runner-up Kay van Berlo (2021, 2022) have each moved into open competition racing, where they compete in the SRO GT4 America, IMSA Pilot Challenge and/or the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. More on Porsche Carrera Cup North America can be found at www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

Porsche Sprint Challenge.
Entering its fifth season, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama has proven a vital and vibrant one-make series with a focus on learning the craft of professional motorsport. In 2025, the national series keeps its core events as it has since the series’ creation in 2021. One exciting addition will be the premiere of Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on both the Sprint Challenge North America and Sprint Challenge USA West schedules. The Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama moves into its fourth season with great momentum as well. Focused primarily on tracks in the western portion of the United States, the series runs to the same regulations as the national series and shares select dates. Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and USA West continue as the primary feeder series to Porsche Carrera Cup North America.

Porsche Endurance Challenge North America.
The Porsche Endurance Challenge North America returns as a four-event championship with each race lasting longer than 40-minutes. As it did in its inaugural 2024 season, cars which are currently authorized for the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama are eligible to enter the Porsche Endurance Championship. Details of the final structure of the Endurance Championship will be made available in the coming weeks.

Porsche Motorsport North America Pyramid.
The Porsche Motorsport North America Pyramid provides the racing industry with a clear path for drivers, teams and marketing partners to progress through the ranks of sports car racing. At each step on the Pyramid, Porsche provides the appropriate tools, personnel and strategies to model the career path for drivers, teams and partners.

Where to Watch.
All rounds of the 2025 Porsche Carrera Cup North America will again be found on IMSA.tv, the NBC Peacock streaming app, PorscheCarreraCup.us, the IMSA and PMNA YouTube channels as well as on PMNA social channels such as Facebook, X and LinkedIn. They will be cataloged on both the Porsche Motorsport North America and IMSA YouTube channels as well. The experts of IMSA Radio will again provide commentary and color for the 16-race championship.

The Porsche Endurance Challenge North America, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and Porsche Sprint Challenge USA championships, all supported by Yokohama, will continue to be found live on the PMNA YouTube channel.

Once the checkered flag has fallen, all rounds will be archived on the series YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO, Porsche Motorsport North America.
“The goal in car setup is to find a fast balance and then fine-tune. We have carried the same philosophy to our scheduling for next season. We are fine-tuning to maximize what is already very good. The schedules for each of the one-make series have proven very popular with our competitors and fans so we want to continue with this successful formula, which we have enhanced from year to year by incorporating our series into highlight events such as NASCAR, Indy Car and Formula 1 to find the best mix. We have received positive feedback from the competitors, tracks and our partners at each level with this approach. We are looking forward to the new season opening, in traditional fashion, at Sebring in March.”

2025 Porsche Carrera Cup North America Schedule.
March 12 – 15 Sebring International Raceway* IMSA
May 2 – 4 Miami International Autodrome Formula 1®
June 13 – 15 Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve Formula 1®
June 19 – 22 Watkins Glen International* IMSA
July 31 – August 1 Road America* IMSA
September 19 – 21 Indianapolis Motor Speedway* IMSA
October 8 – 11 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta* IMSA
October 17 – 19 Circuit of The Americas Formula 1®
* ANDIAL Cup rounds

2025 Porsche Endurance Challenge North America Schedule.
February 28 – March 2 Sebring International Raceway
April 4 – 6 Sonoma Raceway
May 16 – 18 Circuit of the Americas
September 12 – 14 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta

2025 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama.
February 28 –
March 2 Sebring International Raceway
April 4 – 6 Sonoma Raceway*
May 16 – 18 Circuit of the Americas*
June 27 – 29 Watkins Glen International (TBC)
July 11 – 13 Virginia International Raceway
August 8 – 10 Road America
September 12 – 14 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta*

2025 Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama.
March 21 – 23 Spring Mountain Motorsport Ranch
April 4 – 6 Sonoma Raceway*
May 16 – 18 Circuit of the Americas*
June 6 – 8 Utah Motorsports Campus (TBC)
July 25 – 27 WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca IndyCar
September 12 – 14 Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta*

*Joint event with North America and USA West

Further information, film and photo material in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

10212024

Review, Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Rounds 15 & 16, Austin, Texas

Austin, Texas. Porsche Carrera Cup North America celebrated the conclusion of its 2024 race season deep in the heart of Texas. While Loek Hartog (Netherlands) and his No. 24 Racing For Children’s Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car came to the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) with the Pro class championship locked, the showdown on the Austin-area track was far from concluded for the Pro-Am and Masters class championships. The Formula 1 ® United States Grand Prix weekend provided the perfect backdrop to drop the checkered flag on the most intensely fought season in the history of the series.

The entire season for Pro-Am and Masters class came down to round 16; the final event of the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America race season. Ultimately, it was a spin by pursuing Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) that gave Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) enough of a gap to better his fiercest rival by a narrow 12 points in the championship. This is Metni’s second Pro-Am class title win in the No. 99 iFly Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

The Masters class proved to be even closer, a championship that was decided by seconds, and second-place finishes. Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) and Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) were only five points apart after Bellomo made a late-season push to catch up by the final race. Entering the final corner of round 16, Bellomo became entangled with another competitor, allowing Halcome to move up the one position he needed for a tie. With both drivers holding eight race wins, the tie breaker came down to the most second-place finishes. By virtue of crossing the line behind Scott Blind (Fenton, Missouri) on Sunday, Bellomo won the Masters class with five second-place finishes to Halcome’s four.

Round 15. Saturday. October 19, 2024.
Zachary Vanier (Canada) added a third career Porsche Carrera Cup North America overall victory to his resume on Saturday. Vanier, 22, has positioned himself strongly to take second place in the overall championship behind Loek Hartog (Netherlands) who entered the weekend having secured enough points to be crowned the 2024 Pro class champions. He entered the weekend in fourth-place behind Hartog, Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom) and Ryan Yardley (New Zealand).

Loek Hartog punctuated his championship weekend with a record-setting lap in qualifying. Hartog charged the Kellymoss Porsche around the 3.4-mile, 20-turn track in 2:06.237 seconds to set on the overall pole position for race one. Ultimately, Vanier made it out of turn one first, and with the help of three full-course cautions and expert restarts, kept his No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche at the front for the remainder of the 35-minute race. Ryan Yardley finished in third place piloting the No. 78 Topp Racing Performance machine.

The Pro-Am battle was again a fight of the championship contenders. Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) battled against his Kellymoss teammate and championship leader Alan Metni for much of the race. While Castro won his third consecutive race, and fourth of the season, Metni would fall to fourth place with one round remaining. James Sofronas (Villa Park, California) would follow Castro across the finish line. The driver of the No. 14 GMG Racing machine won both rounds here last year. Marco Cirone (Canada) entered the weekend third in Pro-Am points and finished third in round 15 keeping his title hopes alive in the No. 84 ACI Motorsports Porsche.

The Masters class was won by Chris Bellomo in the No. 68 Kellymoss entry with the No. 32 GMG car of Kyle Washington (Indio, California) and Scott Blind (Fenton, Missouri) in the Ruckus Racing No. 45 closing out the class podium. Points leader Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) went for a ride after contact with Joel Johnson (Tolland, Connecticut). ACI Motorsports worked throughout the night to return the No. 55 ACI “Mystery Machine” to grid for Sunday’s race.”

Round 16. Sunday, October 20, 2024.
Ryan Yardley earned his third race win of the season in the No. 78 Topp Racing Performance Porsche (previous wins came at Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta). The deciding moment for the New Zealander came with a dramatic move into the lead with just over 20 minutes remaining in the 35-minute race. Hartog and Vanier both pushed the No. 78 but were not able to overtake Yardley who used the win to secure his second-place finish in the Pro class championship. Alex Sedgwick put on a dramatic drive to finish just behind Yardley driving the PT Autosport JDX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Vanier finished the race in third place. The young Brit would lose the position in post-race tech for a ride height violation. He would finish in fourth place in the championship behind Hartog, Yardley and Vanier.

Alan Metni entered the final round of the season with a two-point lead in the Pro-Am class over archrival and Kellymoss teammate Efrin Castro. That is not new territory for the two as they have decided the championship between them by two points or less in three of the four Porsche Carrera Cup North America seasons. Castro won the title in 2021 by two markers, Metni took the accolades in 2022 by one point. Castro also won the championship in 2023 over Marco Cirone (Canada). Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) spilt the two championship contenders with a second-place race finish.

The Masters class champion Matt Halcome did not waltz into the title deciding round. After the Georgian was turned on his side in race one, the ACI Motorsports and Porsche Motorsport North America crew worked to make necessary repairs in time to get the No. 55 car onto the grid for the final round Sunday morning. The race came down to the last corner when Kyle Washington and Bellomo made contact. That allowed Scott Blind to pass into the lead, putting Bellomo in second place and Halcome in third place. That one position tied Bellomo and Halcome in the points.

Champion’s take.
As the fourth overall champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Loek Hartog will see his named engraved on the Al Holbert Cup. The Cup, which is on permanent display at Porsche Motorsport North America, has been awarded to the Pro class champion each season since the series’ debut in 2021. Hartog’s name will now appear alongside Sebastian Priaulx (2021), Parker Thompson (2022) and Riley Dickinson (2023). The honor is significant as is the pedigree of success that follows the title. Each of the previous champions has gone on to win at the next level of the sport including in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.

In addition to a replica of the Al Holbert Cup for his trophy case, Hartog will also be awarded the tools to take his skill to the next level of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America. During Sunday evening’s Celebration of Champions at Porsche Austin, the Dutch driver earned a $100,000 USD Porsche Motorsport spare parts credit to be used during the 2025 season for a Porsche program within the United States. A trip to the Porsche Night of Champions in Stuttgart, Germany, a Porsche Factory tour and Porsche Museum tour are also included in his winnings. As a daily reminder of his achievement, Hartog also was awarded a TAG Heuer Carrera Championship Winning watch.

The champions in the Pro-Am and Masters classes also enjoyed the perks of success. Both Alan Metni – the Pro-Am class champion in the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche – and Chris Bellomo, Masters class champion in the No. 68 Porsche prepared by Kellymoss receive a Porsche road car allocation to be purchased at a Porsche Center within the United States. They will also join Hartog in Stuttgart at the Porsche Night of Champions as well as a TAG Heuer Championship Winning watch.

ANDIAL Cup. Loek Hartog, Alan Metni and Richard Edge (Masters)
Loek Hartog (Pro), Alan Metni (Pro-Am) and Richard Edge (Masters) have been crowned the inaugural ANDIAL Cup Champions for their respective classes in 2024. The ANDIAL Cup provides competitors an additional award for competing at the most iconic road courses in North America. All full season competitors receive automatic entry for the ANDIAL Cup, while those interested in running only at the more storied tracks will be presented the opportunity to compete for a championship. The tracks requisite to compete for the ANDIAL Cup are Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International, Road America, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Since forming in 1975, ANDIAL evolved into one of America's most successful and respected authorities on Porsche performance tuning for the track and the street. ANDIAL-prepared cars and engines won on almost every major race track in North America before being sold to Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) where elements of the company remain.

In recognition of his place with ANDIAL as well as the first president and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America, Alwin Springer presented the winners the custom made ANDIAL Cup trophy at the Celebration of Champions evening.

Yokohama Race Wins Award. Loek HartogLoek Hartog received the Yokohama Race Wins Award for the driver who has secured the most wins, seven, during the 2024 season from any class. The prize includes a custom painting by artist and racing enthusiast Rae Roberts.

Pole Award. Chris BellomoThe Pole Award is presented to Chris Bellomo for securing the most pole positions, nine, during the 2024 season regardless of class.

Fastest Lap Award. Loek HartogHaving set the quickest lap nine times this season, Loek Hartog clinched the Fastest Lap Award. A TAG Heuer Fastest Lap Award Watch was presented to him during the end of the season celebration.

Entrants Championship. For the fourth consecutive year, Kellymoss was honored as the Entrants, or Teams, champion. The Andy Kilcoyne and Victoria Thomas-owned operation received a full season entry for the 2025 Porsche Carrera Cup North America season.

COTA results.
• Pro class winners.
o Race 1. Zachary Vanier, No. 9 JDX Racing
o Race 2. Ryan Yardley, No. 78 Topp Racing Performance
• Pro-Am class winners.
o Race 1. Efrin Castro, No. 65 Kellymoss
o Race 2. Alan Metni, No. 99 Kellymoss
• Masters class winners.
o Race 1. Chris Bellomo, No. 68 Kellymoss
o Race 2. Scott Blind, No. 45 Ruckus Racing

• On point.
o Pro class. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss. Champion
o Pro-Am class. Alan Metni, No. 99 Kellymoss. Champion
o Masters class. Chris Bellomo, No. 68 Kellymoss, Champion
o Entrants. Kellymoss. Champion

• To the point. The complete final Porsche Carrera Cup North America point standings of 2024 can be found at: https://porschecarreracup.us/standings/ .

• Broadcast. All 2024 races are archived on Porsche Motorsport North America TV: (https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica).

• Online. Porsche Carrera Cup North America: www.PorscheCarreraCup.us

Next Up. March 12 – 13. Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida, Rounds 1 and 2.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

10232024

Porsche Carrera Cup North America Rounds 15&16
Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas PCCNA 8/24

Austin, Texas. The Porsche Carrera Cup North America concludes its fourth season this weekend at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. For the second consecutive season, the premier Porsche one-make championship in North America will crown its champions with a two-round finale in support of Formula 1®. Rounds 15 and 16 of the all-Porsche championship will run on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20.

The 3.4-mile, 20-turn Grand Prix circuit has drawn 36 pre-event entries across all three classes: Pro, Pro-Am and Masters. Each Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car (Type 992) is mechanically identical and rides on the same Yokohama ADVAN® A005 racing slick, making driver performance and team preparation the determining factors in every session. Since its founding in 2021, Porsche Carrera Cup North America has been a key training ground. Sebastian Priaulx (United Kingdom), inaugural champion in 2021, has Porsche race wins in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar and World Endurance Championships. Parker Thompson (Canada) took the championship in 2022 and progressed to become a current race winner in the IMSA GTD class. Most recently, 2023 champion Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas) won his premier and season finale races in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge in January of 2024 driving a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport for Kellymoss.

There will be a single 30-minute practice session on Friday, October 18. A 30-minute qualifying session for all classes will set the grid on Saturday morning. The twin 35-minute races, shortened by five minutes to fit the Formula 1 ® standard, will race in the afternoon on Saturday, October 19, and in the morning on Sunday, October 20.

• Field. 36 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for the weekend.
• Pro class. 16 | Pro-Am class. 9 | Masters class. 11
• Teams. Nine race teams are represented across all three classes.

• Entry list. The full Porsche Carrera Cup North America entry list can be found at: https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2023/10/09/2024PCCNACOTAPreEventEntryList.pdf
• Series Track Record. 2:06.808, Tom Sargent, No. 17 McElrea Racing, set in 2023.

• 2023 Race Winners.
- Pro. Race 1 & 2. Riley Dickinson, No. 53 Kellymoss
- Pro-Am. Race 1 & 2. James Sofronas, No. 14 GMG Racing
- Masters (previously called Am).
Race 1 & 2. Mark Kvamme, No. 43 MDK Motorsports

• Point Leaders.
Pro. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss
Pro-Am. Alan Metni, No. 99 Kellymoss
Masters. Matt Halcome, No. 55 ACI Motorsports
Entrants. Kellymoss

Current Porsche Carrera Cup North America Championship Point Standings.
https://porschecarreracup.us/standings/

• Schedule. All times Central.
Friday, October 18.
2:35 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. – Practice
Saturday, October 19.
9:50 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. – Qualifying (all classes)
3:40 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. – Race 1 (35-minutes)
Sunday, October 20.
11:00 a.m. – 11:40 a.m. – Race 2 (35-minutes)

• Hometown heroes. Two Texans will have an opportunity to celebrate their success with their hometown fans this weekend. Alan Metni, 2022 Pro-Am class champion, is an Austin resident looking to capture his second Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship at his home track in the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche. Jeff Mosing also lives in Austin and is targeting a victory at COTA in the No. 56 Topp Racing Performance Porsche.

• Formula 1 ® support. The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is the third weekend on the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America calendar to race in support of the Formula 1 ® World Championship. The second and third race weekends of the season were also headlined by F1. Rounds three and four were held at the Miami International Autodrome, May 3 – 5. Loek Hartog raced to the overall victory in race one while Zachary Vanier earned his first career win in race two. Rounds five and six came in Montreal where Carrera Cup was a support event for the Grand Prix of Canada on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, June 7 – 9. While rain battered both rounds, it was Yves Baltas who came across the finish line first in race one, and Hartog who took the checkered flag first in the second race of the weekend.

• Scheduling change. As was the case in both Miami and Montreal, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America standard schedule will be tweaked for the COTA Formula One ® weekend. A single, 30-minute practice session (2:35 – 3:05 p.m. CT) will take place on Friday, October 18 rather than the customary pair of 30-minute practices on other weekends. Qualifying on Saturday (9:50 – 10:20 a.m.) takes place as usual over a 30-minute period. Both rounds will be shortened to 35 minutes with round 15 set to take the green flag on Saturday at 3:50 p.m. CT. The season finale will come just before the United States Grand Prix at 11:00 a.m. CT.

• Celebrate good times. Porsche Motorsport North America will award the Al Holbert Cup for the fourth time on Sunday, October 20. For the second year, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Celebration of Champions will take place at Porsche Austin where the Pro, Pro-Am, and Masters classes, along with the Entrant champion, will be recognized.

• Al Holbert Cup. Since 2021, the Al Holbert Cup has been awarded to the overall champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The trophy was named in recognition of Holbert’s commitment, inspiration and leadership in the formation and organization of Porsche motorsports in North America. The silver cup carrying his name is crafted as a timeless and traditional trophy to commemorate each Pro class champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The Al Holbert Cup is engraved each year with the champion’s name and year of the championship. This award recognizes the true racing spirit of Al Holbert conveying his professional driving skill, engineering precision and a passion as a gentleman racer.

• To the point. Loek Hartog (Netherlands) secured his first Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro class championship with two podium finishes at Road Atlanta in rounds 14 and 15. The driver of the No. 24 Racing For Children’s Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car secured an insurmountable 87-point lead over Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom) in the PT Autosport JDX Racing No. 98. Sedgwick’s position is more vulnerable. He is a mere five points ahead of Ryan Yardley (New Zealand) in the No. 78 Topp Racing Performance machine and 29 ahead of Zachary Vanier (Canada) in the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche. Dan Clarke (Indianapolis, Indiana) holds fifth place in the overall standings, 38 points shy of second place in the No. 64 Era Motorsport racer.

To date, the Pro-Am class has traditionally been the most fiercely fought. The 2024 championship has been no exception. In fact, entering the final race weekend in Texas, four drivers have a realistic shot at winning the class. Alan Metni – driving the No. 99 Kellymoss entry – holds only a 10-point margin over his teammate and constant championship rival Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) in the No. 65. Castro has made a serious run at the title in the last two races scoring both Road Atlanta wins. All three Pro-Am titles are held by either Castro (2021, 2023) or Metni (2022). Castro is only one point ahead of Marco Cirone (Canada) who has the No. 84 ACI Motorsports Porsche in third place. Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) has raced the No. 44 Baby Bull Racing up to fourth place with two wins (round four at Miami and round six at Montreal). He is 19 points behind Metni.

The Masters class championship has come down to a two-driver showdown in Texas. Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) enters the final race weekend with 278 points scored over the first 14 races in the No. 55 prepared by ACI Motorsports. Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) sits 34 points behind in the No. 68 Kellymoss machine. No other entry in the class is capable of acquiring enough points to win the title.

The Entrants championship has again come down to two legendary names in North American one-make racing, Kellymoss and JDX Racing. Kellymoss, which has won the title all three previous seasons, retains the standings lead with 291 points, 33 ahead of JDX.

There are now only 56 points per class remaining for a driver to capture. A victory pays 25 points, second place counts for 20 and third place is awarded with 17 points. A pole position is worth two points while setting the fastest race lap will add an additional point to the total of a driver in each class. Each of the two races pays a total of 28 points.

• Broadcast. Races air live at PorscheCarreraCup.us, on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/@PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica, on the Peacock streaming app and at IMSA.tv.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

10152024

Review, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Race 11, Braselton, Georgia

* Porsche wins IMSA WeatherTech GTP and GTD Pro class Manufacturer titles at Road Atlanta finale
* Porsche Penske Motorsport secures first GTP class Team Championship
* Cameron/Nasr earn GTP class Drivers Championship ahead of teammates Jaminet/Tandy
* AO Racing sweeps GTD Pro championships for Teams and Drivers with Heinrich

Braselton, Georgia. Porsche has swept all championship categories in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championships’ top class, GTP, with the Porsche 963. IMSA’s winningest brand also added the full array of GTD Pro class championship trophies with the venerable 911 GT3 R racer.

The German sports car maker used second and third place finishes in the Petit Le Mans season finale to lock the Manufacturers’ championship by 91 points. The 10-hour endurance race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta also secured the Team championship title for the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport and the GTP Drivers’ championship for teammates Dane Cameron (Huntersville, North Carolina) and Felipe Nasr (Brazil). Their factory effort teammates Mathieu Jaminet (France) and Nick Tandy (United Kingdom) drove the No. 6 Porsche hybrid prototype to second in the Team and Drivers’ championship to secure a one-two season finish for the program.

In addition to securing the Manufacturer championship for Porsche, AO Racing fought to the closing seconds of the final race of the season to hoist the GTD Pro class Team trophy over the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R affectionately known as “Rexy”. With three race wins during the season, Laurin Heinrich (Germany) was awarded sole ownership of the GTD Pro Drivers’ title behind the wheel of the AO entry.

Full results on https://www.imsa.com/scoring/

• Image courtesy of Porsche.

10122024

Review, Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Rounds 13 & 14, Braselton, Georgia

Braselton, Georgia. Loek Hartog (Netherlands) clinched his first Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro class championship with a full race weekend still remaining on the 2024 schedule. The series’ rookie used two second place finishes at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to put his nearest championship contender out of mathematical reach of the title. Rounds 13 and 14 at the Braselton, Georgia track saw Zachary Vanier (Canada) and Ryan Yardley (New Zealand) each win their second races of the season on October 10 and 11 respectively.

Hartog has scored seven race wins in 14 rounds with an additional five podium finishes for a total of 303 points thus far. The point total puts the No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car 87 points ahead of Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom) in the No. 98 PT Autosport JDX Racing entry in the all-Porsche race series. The Pro-Am races were both won by 2021 and 2023 class champion Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic). Castro’s performance tightened the championship chase in the class to a narrow 19 points between Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) in the lead and Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) in fourth place. In the Masters class, the No. 18 ACI Motorsports machine of Richard Edge (Atlanta, Georgia) raced to victory lane in race one while Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) drove the No. 68 Kellymoss Porsche to the win in race two of the weekend. By virtue of two Georgia podiums, Bellomo closed to within 34 points of Masters class leader Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia).

Porsche Motorsport North America will crown champions in all three classes at the Porsche Carrera Cup North America season finale at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA), October 18 – 20 in Austin, Texas.

Round 13. Thursday. October 10, 2024.
Zachary Vanier saw an opportunity to secure his second Porsche Carrera Cup North America race win of the year and moved on it. Starting in third place on the Pro class grid, the Canadian followed points leader Loek Hartog – who jumped into the lead in the first turn – and polesitter Alex Sedgwick through the first 10 of 12 corners at Road Atlanta. When Hartog ran deep into turn 10B to defend against Sedgwick, second in points, who was making a move for the lead in the No. 98 PT Autosport JDX Racing Porsche, the pair left the door open. Vanier pushed into the space, making it three-wide going under the bridge and down the hill into turn 12. He cleared his teammate and Hartog at the end lap one in the lead. He never backed off and reached the checkered flag with a gap of just one second ahead of Hartog. Ryan Yardley moved ahead of Sedgwick for the final step on the Pro class podium in the No. 78 Topp Racing Performance Porsche.

The Pro-Am class battle was also a fight of the class points leaders. A surging Efrin Castro secured his second race win of the year – the first coming in Miami’s round three – in the No. 65 Kellymoss entry. The two-time class champion bettered his teammate Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) in second place with the win while Marco Cirone (Canada), in the No. 84 ACI Motorsports Porsche finished in third place while Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) was in fourth place driving the No. 44 Baby Bull Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

In the Masters class Richard Edge secured his third race win of the season – second in a row – in the No. 18 ACI Motorsports machine. Edge narrowly bettered his ACI teammate and fellow Georgian Matt Halcome – behind the wheel of the No. 55 – to the win. Halcome’s second place result helped pad his points lead over Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) with three rounds remaining. Bellomo drove the No. 68 Kellymoss Porsche to a fourth-place finish missing the last step of the podium to Scott Blind (Fenton, Missouri) who drove the No. 45 Ruckus Racing Porsche to third place.

Round 14. Friday, October 11, 2024.
Ryan Yardley piloted the No. 78 Topp Racing Performance Porsche to his second win of the season. As Vanier did a day earlier in race one, Yardley held off Loek Hartog. The “champion in waiting” pressed Yardley so hard that Hartog drove wide coming out of the 12th turn, taking all four Yokohama racing slicks off the track. Hartog saved the No. 24 Racing For Children’s Kellymoss entry, but with radiators now packed with grass and red Georgia clay, he had to slow as temperatures in the engine grew. Yardley, who won his first race in round seven at Watkins Glen International in June, held on to win by nearly two seconds. Hartog followed across the finish line in second place for the second day in a row putting himself out of reach in the championship. Race one winner Zachary Vanier finished in third place.

The Pro-Am battle was even more intense as the championship chase narrowed on points and widened on contenders. Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) won for the second consecutive day while teammate Alan Metni finished in second and Marco Cirone in third place, just as they had the day before. That brought the top four positions in the class to within 19 points of one another, only 11 points separate the top three.

The Masters class saw Halcome control the early season in the No. 55 ACI Motorsports Porsche. However, the competition began to close on him as the season progressed. With a race two win at Road Atlanta added to his total, Bellomo is within 34 points of Halcome, who finished in fourth place on Friday.

• Pro class winners.
o Race 1. Zachary Vanier, No. 9 JDX Racing
o Race 2. Ryan Yardley, No. 78 Topp Racing Performance
• Pro-Am class winners.
o Race 1 & 2. Efrin Castro, No. 65 Kellymoss
• Masters class winners.
o Race 1. Richard Edge, No. 18 ACI Motorsports
o Race 2. Chris Bellomo, No. 68 Kellymoss

• On point.
o Pro class. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss (clinches championship)
o Pro-Am class. Alan Metni, No. 99 Kellymoss
o Masters class. Matt Halcome, No. 55 ACI Motorsports
o Entrant. Kellymoss

• To the point. Complete Porsche Carrera Cup North America point standings can be found at: https://porschecarreracup.us/standings/ .

• Broadcast. All 2024 races are archived on Porsche Motorsport North America TV: (https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica).

• Online. Porsche Carrera Cup North America: www.PorscheCarreraCup.us

• Next Up. October 19 – 20. Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas, Rounds 15 and 16.

Quotes.
Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss, 2024 Pro Champion.
“It was an almost perfect year. Very thankful to all people who made it possible. It was a very good year with a lot of nice memories made and a lot of things learned, that is why I came here. It feels very special to do this with all of these people. They became a family for me.”

Zachary Vanier, No. 9 JDX Racing, Pro Winner, Race 1.
“That was absolutely amazing. This, by far, ranks as one of the best, if not the best, races of my career. Perfectly executed by the JDX team. We came here testing last week and we left with a relatively good program and something I thought we could come here and compete with. I think we showed that this weekend. We had a really good qualifying session which put us in contention for this and, of course, maximizing the race and capitalizing on everything we could. I am absolutely thrilled right now. I can’t thank the entire JDX team enough. This is truly amazing.”

Ryan Yardley, No. 78 Topp Racing Performance, Pro Winner, Race 2.
“Pretty exciting race. Nice to get the win here. It is always good to go from pole position, lead every lap and win the race. Massive thanks to everyone at TCS and Topp. Looking forward to COTA next week. I am looking forward to finishing the season on a high.”

Efrin Castro, No. 65 Kellymoss. Pro-Am Winner, Race 1 & 2.
“It is amazing. I want to take this moment to give thanks to God, to the Man Above. He set me up to have a great weekend. I have so much support from my pastor, from my family, from my friends. Everyone was behind me. I am glad I was able to pull this win because it still gives us a chance. I am racing for the kids – for Children’s of Alabama – and my goal for this year was to give them something to be proud of. They fight way harder to overcome their challenges than we do. This is a special moment for us. I am glad we got the two wins.”

Chris Bellomo, No. 68 Kellymoss. Masters Winner, Race 2.
“Things worked out at the start today. I had a really good race managing what was going on ahead of and behind me. We are going to give the championship our best shot at COTA. We had a really good test there. I am going to stay positive.”

• Broadcast. Races air live at PorscheCarreraCup.us, on the IMSA YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@imsaofficial, on the Peacock streaming app and at IMSA.tv. All are archived on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

10112024

The Porsche Carrera Cup North America enters the final two race weekends of the 2024 season without one of its class championships settled. The premier Porsche one-make series in the United States and Canada has been an intense battle throughout the year and the ultra-quick 2.54-mile, 12-turn Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta is always one of the hardest fought venues on the calendar. Twelve of 16 total rounds are complete in the all-Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car series. Rounds 13 and 14 will support the 27th annual Petit Le Mans weekend, October 9 – 12, at the Braselton, Georgia-area track.

Practices one and two will be run on Wednesday, October 9. The 30-minute qualifying session for all classes will set the grid on Thursday morning with the first of two 40-minute rounds getting underway that afternoon. The second race of the weekend will take the green flag on Friday morning.

• Field. 28 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for the weekend.
• Pro class. 15 | Pro-Am class. 7 | Masters class. 6 • Teams. Nine race teams are represented across all three classes.

• Entry list. The full Porsche Carrera Cup North America entry list can be found at: https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2024/10/02/2024PCCNAMRRAPreEventEntryList.pdf

• Series Track Record. 1:20.089, Laurin Heinrich, No. 12 311RS Motorsport, set in 2022.

• 2023 Race Winners. Series did not race at this venue in 2023
- Pro. Race 1 & 2. NA - Pro-Am. Race 1 & 2. NA - Masters (previously called Am). Race 1 & 2. NA

• Point Leaders.
Pro. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss
Pro-Am. Alan Metni, No. 99 Kellymoss
Masters. Matt Halcome, No. 55 ACI Motorsports
Entrants. Kellymoss

Current Porsche Carrera Cup North America Championship Point Standings.
https://porschecarreracup.us/standings/

• Schedule. All times Eastern.
Wednesday, October 9.
11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Practice 1
3:30 p.m. – 4:10 p.m. – Practice 2

Thursday, October 10.
8:35 a.m. – 9:05 a.m. – Qualifying (all classes)
5:05 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. – Race 1 (40-minutes)

Friday, October 11.
10:55 a.m. – 11:35 a.m. – Race 2 (40-minutes)

• Hometown heroes. While most drivers and teams in the series have a connection to Road Atlanta, two drivers are Georgians. Masters class championship leader Matt Halcome lives in Dallas, Georgia. The pilot of the No. 55 “Mystery Machine” Porsche won his first Porsche Carrera Cup North America title (PA991 class) here at the 2021 season-finale. Richard Edge lives in Atlanta. The driver of the No. 18 Porsche sits in third place of the Masters class entering rounds 13 and 14. Both drivers race for ACI Motorsports which is headquartered three hours away in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

• Legacy Track. Road Atlanta is a “Legacy Track” on the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup schedule. The track joins Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International, Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway as tracks that hosted the premier one-make race series in its 2021 debut season. With the intense travel schedule last year, Road Atlanta was not included in the 2023 season. However, the series returns for 2024 given the popularity of the track and the importance of the Petit Le Mans race weekend.

• History maker. Road Atlanta was the home of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America finale its first two seasons, 2021 and 2022. Both years, the champions were crowned in dramatic fashion. Seb Priaulx won two of the three Porsche Carrera Cup North America races run on the 2.54-mile track earning himself the first Al Holbert Cup awarded to the overall champion of the series in 2021. Parker Thompson captured the first of two races held at the Braselton, Georgia facility in 2022 to win the overall title. Since 2023, the championship finale has been held at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas. The 2024 champions will be crowned there again this year, October 18 – 20, in support of the United States Grand Prix Formula 1 ® weekend.

Past overall race winners at Road Atlanta.
2021. Race 1. Seb Priaulx, Race 2. Kay van Berlo, Race 3. Seb Priaulx
2022. Race 1. Parker Thompson, Race 2. Laurin Heinrich

• To the point. Loek Hartog (Netherlands) remains comfortably at the front of the Pro class field but has not locked up the championship entering round 13. Hartog has raced the No. 24 Racing For Children's Kellymoss Porsche to seven overall wins including the most recent four races. He added three additional podiums to tally for a total of 262 points. The Kellymoss driver is 76 points ahead of PT Autosport JDX Racing driver Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom) and 95 markers ahead of Ryan Yardley (New Zealand) in third place. Sedgwick has one win this season in the No. 98 while Yardley also holds a single victory driving the No. 78 Topp Racing Performance Porsche.

The Pro-Am category has always been the most hotly contested, and 2024 is no exception. Two Indy race wins jumped Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) from third place to the points lead in the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche. The 2022 class champion holds a three-point gap over Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) in the No. 44 Baby Bull Racing machine. Marco Cirone (Canada) – who entered Indianapolis in the lead – fell to third but remains only five points behind Metni. In fact, 2021 and 2023 champion Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) sits only 20 points behind his Kellymoss teammate in the No. 65, still in the fight for his third Pro-Am class championship.

Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) has seen the Masters class field close behind him coming to the final two race weekends. However, the driver of the No. 55 ACI Motorsports Porsche remains 41 points ahead of Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) in the No. 68 Porsche prepared by Kellymoss. Kellymoss retains the Entrants standings with 251 points, 35 markers ahead of JDX Racing.

There are still 112 points remaining in the season. A driver can capture up to 56 points in a weekend. A victory pays 25 points, second place counts for 20 and third place is awarded with 17 points. A pole position is worth two points while a fastest race lap will add an additional point to the total of a driver in each class. Each of the two races pays a total of 28 points.

• Broadcast. Races air live at PorscheCarreraCup.us, on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel at: www.youtube.com/@PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica, on the Peacock streaming app and at IMSA.tv.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

10072024

Review, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Race 10, Indianapolis, Indiana

• Porsche customer race teams score GTD Pro and GTD class wins with 911 GT3 R race car in IMSA six-hour Battle on the Bricks
• AO Racing goes from last to first for GTD Pro victory at Indianapolis
• Wright Motorsports earns first GTD class win of the year
• Porsche leaves Indianapolis holding GTP points lead with October finale looming
• Porsche Penske Motorsport leaves Brickyard one-two in GTP standings
• Jaminet/Tandy earn podium result with No. 6 Porsche 963
• Cameron/Nasr maintain points lead with ninth place finish
• JDC-Miller MotorSports fights back from a lap down to finish fourth

Speedway, Indiana. Porsche customer race teams took class victories in both the GTD Pro and GTD classes with the venerable Porsche 911 GT3 R race car today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Wet weather and critical strategy calls at the “Battle on the Bricks” six-hour endurance race for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship provided AO Racing and Wright Motorsports the perfect combination to take the top step of the podium in the two GT classes.

Having started last in today’s race after having their qualifying time disallowed as a result of a ride height violation, the Porsche with the popular “Rexy” livery was able to charge from the back of the 56 car grid to class victory. It was the third race win of the season for AO Racing’s No. 77 “Rexy” Porsche 911 GT3 R in the all-professional driver GTD Pro class. Former Porsche Junior driver Laurin Heinrich (Germany) now leads the GTD Pro Drivers’ standings by 99 points. This was the second race win in the car Porsche factory ace Michael Christensen (Denmark). AO Racing leads the Team standings by 99 points while Porsche is 122 points ahead of Aston Martin in the Manufacturer standings.

Today’s endurance race win was the first victory of the season for Wright Motorsports in the GTD class. It ranks as the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career win for both Adam Adelson (Los Angeles, California) and Elliott Skeer (San Diego, California). Porsche veteran Jan Heylen (Tampa, Florida) joined the Porsche one-make graduates in the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R for his first win of the season.

In the top GTP class, the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet (France) and Nick Tandy (United Kingdom) fought to a third-place finish overall. The 2023 winners of the Battle on the Bricks finished just ahead of Porsche 963 privateer JDC-Miller MotorSports. Driving the No. 85 Porsche 963, Tijmen van der Helm (Netherlands) Richard Westbrook (United Kingdom) and Phil Hanson (United Kingdom) finished one spot behind the factory car at the end of six hours of racing.

The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Dane Cameron (Huntersville, North Carolina) and Felipe Nasr (Brazil) finished in ninth place after a power steering issue dropped them seven laps behind the overall winners. However, the car scored enough points (220) to enter the final race of the year – the Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on October 12 – with a 14-point lead over their teammates in the No. 6.

Full results on https://www.imsa.com/scoring/

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport.

09222024

Porsche Carrera Cup North America,
Speedway, Indiana.
Rounds 11 & 12

Speedway, Indiana. Loek Hartog (Netherlands) is now one step closer in his quest for his first Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 24 Racing For Childrens Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car swept the weekend in the Pro class of North America’s premier one-make championship collecting maximum points with two race wins, two pole positions and two fastest race laps in the pair of 40-minute races. The total of 52 points moved him to a more secure but not guaranteed spot atop the Pro class Drivers’ standing with two race weekends remaining in the season.

Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) swept the Pro-Am class race wins in the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup moving himself into the top spot in the class. In the Masters class, Scott Blind (Fenton, Missouri) and Richard Edge (Atlanta, Georgia) split the two races in the category.

The penultimate weekend of Porsche Carrera Cup North America will take place October 9 – 11, moving one step closer to crowning its fourth champion with rounds 13 and 14 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The 2.54-mile road course in Braselton, Georgia has been the site of Porsche Carrera Cup North America events in three of its four years including being the season finale in 2021 and 2022. The pair of races will support the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Petit Le Mans weekend.

Round 11. Friday. September 20, 2024.
Loek Hartog wasted little time finding speed in the No. 24 Porsche prepared by Kellymoss. He started from the overall pole position for Friday’s race and finished in the top position at the end of 40 minutes of racing. Entering round 11, race one at Indianapolis, the series rookie led the Pro class points chase on the shoulders of five race wins. He strengthened his hold on the championship with a sixth victory, his third in a row, as well as two points for the pole position and another point for fastest race lap. Despite Hartog crossing the yard of bricks to capture the win by nearly 8.5 seconds, the competitiveness of the field was illustrated by the top four in the Drivers’ point standings also taking the checkered flag in the top four at Indianapolis. Hartog led Ryan Yardley (New Zealand) who was second overall in the No. 78 Topp Racing Performance Porsche while Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom) raced to third place behind the wheel of the PT Autosport Porsche prepared by JDX Racing. Sedgwick entered Indy second in points just ahead of Yardley. Zachary Vanier (Canada) came to Indy ranking fourth in points and finished fourth in race one in the No. 9 JDX-prepared Porsche. Indianapolis-resident Dan Clarke was fifth in the race, sixth in points, piloting the No. 64 for Indy-based Era Motorsports.

Alan Metni, 2022 Pro-Am class champion, won his third race of the year in the class. The Texan was ahead of two-time Pro-Am champion and Kellymoss teammate Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) in second place and Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) in third place driving the No. 44 Baby Bull Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Scott Blind made the most of his visit to the famed Brickyard road course capturing his first Porsche Carrera Cup North America Masters’ class victory in the Ruckus Racing No. 45. Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) followed his first career Masters’ class win at Road America with a second-place finish at Indianapolis while his Kellymoss teammate, John Goetz (Weston, Connecticut), was third in the No. 57 Porsche.

Round 12. Saturday. September 21, 2024.
By virtue of setting the second-fastest lap in qualifying on Friday, Loek Hartog again started from pole position on Saturday. While Alex Sedgwick pressed hard throughout the race, the championship points leader was able to pull away late in the race to earn his seventh victory of the 2024 season. Sedgwick finished in second place – his fourth-straight podium finish this season. The result keeps the No. 98 PT Autosport JDX Racing Porsche within 76 points of Hartog and keeps the championship alive with four race events remaining. Hartog has accumulated 262 points to date, including sweeping every point this weekend for race wins, pole positions and fastest race lap. Dan Clarke drove the No. 64 Era Motorsports Porsche to a third-place finish in race two on Saturday.

Once again, the Pro-Am class race was hotly contested. During the race Jordan Wallace (Annapolis, Maryland) paced the field in the No. 23 Kellymoss Porsche. Lap after lap he was able to hold off former class champion Metni, but near the middle of the race, Metni was able to draw from his extensive experience to pass Wallace and pull a gap before the checkered flag fell. Just behind, Wallace was feeling the pressure of veterans Marco Cirone (Canada), Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) and two-time champion Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) closing out the top five. While the on-track battle was intense, the championship fight is even closer. With Metni going to victory lane in both races, the 2022 class champion jumps from fourth place to the lead by a single point (187). Uretsky holds 186 markers and Cirone – who entered the race in the points lead – falls to third but only three points behind Metni.

The Masters class saw Richard Edge earn his second victory of the season – the first coming in race two at Watkins Glen. The championship leader, Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) earned a second-place finish with race one winner Scott Blind standing on the third step of the Masters’ podium. Perhaps the most significant moment for the championship came on the opening lap when Chris Bellomo retired after contact, dropping further behind Halcome. The Georgian now leads the Californian 246 – 215 points.

• Pro class winners.
o Race 1 & 2 Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss
• Pro-Am class winners.
o Race 1 & 2. Alan Metni, No. 99 Kellymoss
• Masters class winners.
o Race 1. Scott Blind, No. 45 Ruckus Racing
o Race 2. Richard Edge, No. 18 ACI Motorsports

• On point.
o Pro class. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss
o Pro-Am class. Alan Metni, No. 99 Kellymoss
o Masters class. Matt Halcome, No. 55 ACI Motorsports
o Entrant. Kellymoss

• To the point. Complete Porsche Carrera Cup North America point standings can be found at: https://porschecarreracup.us/standings/ .

• Broadcast. All 2024 races are archived on Porsche Motorsport North America TV: (https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica).

• Online. Porsche Carrera Cup North America: www.PorscheCarreraCup.us

• Next Up. October 9 – 11, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia, Rounds 13 and 14.

Quotes.
Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss, Pro Winner, Race 1 and 2.
“Coming into Indy, I didn’t expect to get two more wins, but I am extremely happy with that. Alex [Sedgwick] made it very difficult for me in the beginning to pull away. But I knew I had a strong car for the end of the race. I managed to have a very consistent race both days. I can’t wait for Road Atlanta. It is our next one and the one I am most looking forward to.”

Alan Metni, No. 99 Kellymoss. Pro-Am Winner, Race 1 and 2.
“The battle with Jordan [Wallace] was a lot of fun. A lot of clean, fun racing. I enjoy coming here. We have had good pace all year. We haven’t been able to put it all together, but we finally did and that was an awesome result. If I win out from here for the rest of the year, that will make me happy. That’s my goal. “

Scott Blind, No. 45 Ruckus Racing. Masters Winner, Race 1.
“That was a hard-fought race. A lot of tight racing. We had a really good car. We had a great race with Chris [Bellomo]. It is always just a fabulous time. The crew did an amazing job. What a great place to win!”

Richard Edge, No. 18 ACI Motorsports, Masters Winner, Race 2.
“That felt really good. Yesterday we had some tough luck. My radio went out so I didn’t hear the track limit warnings yesterday and that cost me a ten second penalty so that was tough day. I focused on today, got a good start and focused on hitting my marks and keeping the guys behind me. Overall, I am happy. Really happy for everyone.”

• Broadcast. Races air live at PorscheCarreraCup.us, on the IMSA YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@imsaofficial, on the Peacock streaming app and at IMSA.tv. All are archived on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

09222024

Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
Rounds 11&12.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Speedway, Indiana.

Speedway, Indiana. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is hallowed ground in motorsports. That is especially true of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America where the premier one-make series on the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America has raced in each of its four seasons to date. A total of seven races have been held in the all-Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car series on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course since 2021. Rounds 11 and 12 of the 16-race, 2024 season will take place September 19 – 21 as part of IMSA’s Battle on the Bricks weekend.

With three race weekends remaining on the calendar, each 40-minute race – two rounds per weekend – remain vital in all three classes of competition: Pro, Pro-Am and Masters. Even the Entrants championship – currently being led by Kellymoss with 201 points – remains mathematically achievable for the top 12 teams. Loek Hartog (Netherlands) remains the target atop the Pro class. Hartog is ahead of an aggressive pack led by Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom), Ryan Yardley (New Zealand) and Zachary Vanier (Canada) who trail by no more than 76 points. Marco Cirone (Canada) leads the Pro-Am class by a single point over Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) while Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) holds a 41-point buffer over Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) in the Masters class.

Practice gets underway on Thursday, September 19 with the first 40-minute round taking the green flag on Friday, September 20 and the second race of the weekend, another 40-minute round, on Saturday, September 21.

• Field. 30 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for the weekend.
• Pro class. 15 | Pro-Am class. 9 | Masters class. 6

• Teams. 8 race teams are represented across all three classes.

• Entry list. The full Porsche Carrera Cup North America entry list can be found at: https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2024/09/11/2024PCCNAIndianapolisPreEventEntryList.pdf

• Series Track Record. 1:24.953, Riley Dickinson, No. 53 Kellymoss, set in 2023.

• 2023 Race Winners.
- Pro. Race 1 & 2. Riley Dickinson, Kellymoss
- Pro-Am. Race 1 & 2. Efrin Castro, Kellymoss
- Masters (previously called Am). Race 1 & 2. Scott Noble, MDK Motorsports

• Point Leaders.
Pro. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss
Pro-Am. Marco Cirone, No. 84 ACI Motorsports
Masters. Matt Halcome, No. 55 ACI Motorsports
Entrants. Kellymoss

Current Porsche Carrera Cup North America Championship Point Standings.
https://imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com/?season=242024&evvent=14Road+America

• Schedule. All times Eastern.
Thursday, September 19.
11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. – Practice 1
2:35 p.m. – 3:05 p.m. – Practice 2

Friday, September 20.
9:35 a.m. – 10:05 a.m. – Qualifying (all classes)
3:00 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. – Race 1 (40-minutes)

Saturday, September 21.
11:10 a.m. – 11:50 a.m. – Race 2 (40-minutes)

• Hometown heroes. Indianapolis is not only the “Racing Capital of the World,” but also the home of Porsche Carrera Cup North America regulars. A native of the United Kingdom, veteran open wheel racer turned Pro class winner Dan Clarke has called “Circle City” home for years. While his Champ Car career never allowed him the opportunity to race in the Indianapolis 500, he has one Indy Lights series start at “The Brickyard” in 2010; he finished fourth. While Clarke’s teammate Sabré Cook is a native of Grand Junction, Colorado, she lives in Indianapolis in pursuit of her racing career. The two drivers race for Era Motorsports which is also based in Indy. The veteran sports car racing team joined the series at the Road America stop in August.

In 2023, Clarke finished second in race one and fifth in race two here at Indianapolis. Cook had a season-ending incident early in the second race of the weekend. While the accident was not of her making, concussion symptoms prevented her from competing in the final races of the 2023 season.

• Legacy Track. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a “Legacy Track” on the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup schedule. The track joins Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International, Road America and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as tracks that hosted the premier one-make race series in its 2021 debut season. Indianapolis, Watkins Glen, Sebring and Road America have hosted a Carrera Cup weekend each season.

• Back home again. Porsche Carrera Cup North America was the feature series for the two Porsche Sports Car Together Fest events held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2021, 2022). The series ran three races at “The Brickyard” in 2021, its inaugural season, to balance out events canceled due to Covid-19 concerns. That brings the total number of Carrera Cup North America rounds held here to seven entering the weekend.

Past overall race winners:
2021. Race 1. Seb Priaulx, Race 2. Parker Thompson, Race 3. Seb Priaulx
2022. Race 1. Parker Thompson, Race 2. Riley Dickinson
2023. Race 1. Riley Dickinson, Race 2. Riley Dickinson

• Weathervane. Indianapolis Motor Speedway has proven to be a championship indicator for the Porsche Carrera Cup North America over the years. Each year’s champion won at least one race at Indianapolis in the season they captured the Al Holbert Cup for an overall championship. 2021 Champion Seb Priaulx (United Kingdom) won twice here that season. Parker Thompson, 2022 Champion, won the first race of the weekend the year of his title. In 2023, Riley Dickinson captured both 40-minute rounds on the way to his championship season.

• Graduate school. Kay van Berlo (Netherlands) and Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas), both Porsche Selected Driver Program North America pilots, will join with current Carrera Cup driver Jake Pedersen (Orem, Utah) to race in Sunday’s six-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Battle on the Bricks. The trio, all current Kellymoss drivers who also piloted Kellymoss entries in Porsche Carrera Cup North America, will share the GTD class No. 90 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3 R. Van Berlo has one GTD race win in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (Laguna Seca, 2023). It marks the first time either Dickinson or Pedersen have ever driven in the GTD class.

• Newcomers and returners. Stanislav Minskiy will be making his Porsche Carrera Cup North America debut at Indianapolis. The Pro-Am class driver from Mytischi, Russia joins the MOMENTOP FMS x RGB Racing team in the No. 27. Javier Ripoli (Venezuela) returns in the No. 91 to the Pro-Am class, also with MOMENTOP FMS x RGB Racing, for the first time since the first two rounds at Sebring.

• Al Holbert Cup. Since 2021, the Al Holbert Cup has been awarded to the overall champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The trophy was named in recognition of Holbert’s commitment, inspiration and leadership in the formation and organization of Porsche motorsports in North America. The silver cup carrying his name is crafted as a timeless and traditional trophy to commemorate each Pro class champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The Al Holbert Cup is engraved each year with the champion’s name and year of the championship. This original cup is on display at Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) headquarters in Carson, California. A replica trophy is presented to the champion as their tangible reminder of their milestone season. This award recognizes the true racing spirit of Al Holbert conveying his professional driver’s skill, engineer’s precision and a gentleman racer’s passion. A true link between the past, present and future of Porsche. The Al Holbert Cup will be presented to the overall 2024 champion on the evening of October 20 at the Celebration of Champions in Austin, Texas.

September 30 will mark the 36th anniversary of the loss of North American Porsche motorsport pioneer Al Holbert. A storied racer and one of the all-time leaders in IMSA race victories (49) and pole positions (27), Holbert was a consummate engineer-racer. The Warrington, Pennsylvania-native earned three 24 Hour of Le Mans overall titles as well as two Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victories racing with Porsche. He became synonymous with the brand and became an intricate part of IMSA racing in the 1980s. Through his skills as a driver, owner and businessman the wildly popular No. 14 Holbert Racing Porsche 962 prototypes remain iconic today. As the first Director of Motorsports for Porsche North America – today’s equivalent position to PMNA president and CEO – Holbert outlined the future of the German sports car manufacturer’s North American racing endeavors. He guided the brand to a fulltime foray in Indy car racing and managed its position as a sports car juggernaut. While tragically killed in 1988 in a private plane crash, Holbert’s vision for the marque lives on.

• To the point. With six more rounds remaining in the 2024 race season, the championship picture is coming into focus. At the front of the field, podium runs at the five most recent rounds and five overall race wins total, place rookie Loek Hartog (Netherlands) and the No. 24 Kellymoss Racing For Children’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car ahead of the field by 57 points over Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom). Sedgwick trails with one race win (race two at Watkins Glen) and two podium finishes in the No. 98 PT Autosport JDX Racing Porsche. Sedgwick earned a pair of third place finishes at Indianapolis last season giving the second-year driver a boost of confidence entering the final championship push this week. Ryan Yardley (New Zealand) moved into third place in the Pro standings at the most recent weekend at Road America in the No. 78 Topp Racing Performance Porsche. Zachary Vanier (Canada) – driving the No. 9 JDX Racing entry – is 76 points behind Hartog and five markers back from Yardley. Yardley and Vanier have each scored one race win (Yardley, Watkins Glen, race one – Vanier, Miami, race two). Michael Cooper (Huntington, New York) holds fifth place in the standings driving the No. 88 Baby Bull Racing Porsche to 116 points, -90 to Hartog.

The Pro-Am class battle is the tightest on the grid as Marco Cirone (Canada) is only a single point ahead of Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida). The No. 65 Kellymoss entry for two-time class champion Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) is a mere 19 points behind Cirone. 2022 class champion Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) holds fourth place in the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche only five points behind his longtime rival Castro. Jordan Wallace (Annapolis, Maryland) is still in search of his first series win in the No. 23 Porsche prepared by Kellymoss but has been on the precipice of the top step throughout his rookie season in the Pro-Am class.

Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) has led the Masters class since the opening race of the season. Since that time, he has driven his popular No. 55 ACI Motorsports Scooby Doo “Mystery Machine” livery to four wins and has not failed to podium in any round. He leads the Masters championship standings by 41 points over Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) in the No. 68 Porsche prepared by Kellymoss.

Kellymoss continues its hold on the Entrants standings with 201 points. That places the two-time champions 22 points ahead of JDX Racing and 46 over Topp Racing Performance.

168 points remain available for the season. To collect all the points, a driver would need to win each round, win the pole position and set the fastest race lap for each remaining race. 56 total points are the maximum a driver to capture in a weekend. A victory pays 25 points, second place 20 and third place is awarded with 17 points. A pole position is worth two points while a fastest race lap will add an additional point to the total of a driver in each class. Each of the two races pays a total of 28 points.

• Broadcast. Races air live at PorscheCarreraCup.us, on the IMSA YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@imsaofficial, on the Peacock streaming app and at IMSA.tv. All are archived on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

09162024

Review, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Race 8, Alton, Virginia

* AO Racing defends GTD Pro points lead at all GT car weekend
* Wright Motorsports Porsche customer team scores top 10 in GTD class
* BGB leads one-two Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport finish in Michelin Pilot Challenge

AO Racing leaves round eight of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekend at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) maintaining its points lead in the hotly contest GTD Pro class. The pink No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, known as “Roxy” and driven by Laurin Heinrich (Germany) and Klaus Bachler (Austria), finished seventh in the class. The result was enough to retain the team’s championship lead entering the final two events of the 2024 race season. Wright Motorsports was the top finishing Porsche in the GTD class with drivers Adam Adelson (Los Angeles, California) and Elliott Skeer (San Diego, California) driving the No. 120 to ninth place finish in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR. On Saturday, August 24, BGB Motorsports led RS1 across the finish line for a Porsche one-two finish in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race. It was the first win of the season with the Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport for the veteran team.

Alton, Virginia. Porsche customer team AO Racing fought the ups and downs of both the historic VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) circuit and the intense competition of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to hold the top spot in the GTD Pro class. The pink No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R race car known as “Roxy” and shared by drivers Laurin Heinrich (Germany) and Klaus Bachler (Austria), did not get the overall finish they battled for in the all-GT car field but did secure a top 10 finish. Its seventh-place class result was good enough to maintain a 17-point lead in the category entering the final two races of the 2024 race season. Wright Motorsports led the Porsche privateer entrants in the GTD class in the two-hour and 40-minute feature on Sunday, August 25 with a ninth-place finish in the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

One day earlier, BGB Motorsports broke a two-race win streak by its fellow Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport competitor RS1 with a victory in the two-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at VIR. The two mid-engine Porsche race cars charged across the finish line one-two. It was the first win of the year for the BGB entry of Thomas Collingwood (Canada) and Spencer Pumpelly (Atlanta, Georgia).

The Race.
AO Racing came to the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course in Alton, Virginia with high expectations and an opportunity for an overall victory. However, the Illinois-based race team’s primary goal was to leave the final sprint race of the IMSA season maintaining the GTD Pro class points lead. An early race black flag for a tire pressure violation forced the team to stop to serve the penalty and get four new Michelin racing slicks. The team also took the opportunity to refuel and change drivers with Bachler stepping out and Heinrich slotting behind the wheel of the dinosaur inspired liveried Porsche 911 GT3 R. Despite its best efforts, the resulting strategy change ultimately did not allow the popular Porsche to work its way back to the front. Heinrich, who holds the GTD Pro drivers’ points lead, finished the race chasing the leaders to a seventh-place result.

The PJ Hyett-owned and Gunnar Jeanette-managed operation holds the lead in the category for GT3-style race cars by virtue of two race wins (WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Detroit) and multiple podium finishes in the all-professional drivers class.

In the GTD class – using cars identical to those of the GTD Pro category but with pro-am style driver lineups – a pair of Porsche privateers challenged for class success: High Class Racing/MDK Motorsports and Wright Motorsports. Wright showed early speed in their return to the IMSA series leading the second practice session outright. However, the Ohio-based operation qualified only eighth overall – third in class – to set Sunday’s grid. Past Porsche one-make champion Elliott Skeer (San Diego, California) started the race and contended near the front of the field before going wide and off track ten-minutes into the race. He would fall from second to fourth place before returning to the track. He and Adam Adelson (Los Angeles, California) continued to fight in the green and yellow No. 120 Porsche, eventually settling for ninth place at the checkered flag. The No. 86 High Class Racing Porsche finished 11th in class with drivers Andrea Fjordbach (Denmark) and Kerong Li (China) in their VIR debut.

AO Racing now holds a 17-point margin over Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo with two endurance races remaining on the schedule: the six-hour Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

Michelin Pilot Challenge.
For the third consecutive race, the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport took top honors in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. However, unlike the two most recent rounds for the series (Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America), it was the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche and not the No. 28 RS1 Cayman that won the GT4-spec race at VIR on Saturday. The first race win of the 2024 season for the longtime Porsche entry of Thomas Collingwood (Canada) and Spencer Pumpelly (Atlanta, Georgia) came after two hours of racing in the “Virginia Is For Racing Lovers Grand Prix”. The BGB machine finished just 0.373 seconds ahead of the RS1 car of Trent Hindman (Ocean Township, New Jersey) and Stevan McAleer (Scotland) in second place. The No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche of Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas) and Michael McCarthy (Clearwater, Florida) finished in fourth place, less than 1.5 seconds out of victory lane.

The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport, closely based on the road-going Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS, now has four GS class race wins in eight rounds of the 2024 season. Included are the two victories by RS1, this weekend’s VIR win by BGB and the season-opening four-hour race at Daytona International Speedway by the No. 91 Kellymoss with Riley car. Hindman/McAleer hold second place in the Drivers’ standing only 50-points behind Matt Plumb. RS1 sits the same amount out of the Team championship lead while Porsche a mere 30 markers from the lead in Manufacturer standings. A race win pays 350 points.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and Porsche Carrera Cup North America, will next race at the “Racing Capital of the World”, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The weekend, headlined by the six-hour Battle on the Bricks WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, will see the return of endurance racing and the top class, GTP, to the track. The world-famous track in Indianapolis, Indiana will play host to all three of the IMSA championships September 20 – 22.

GTD-Pro class.
1. Sellers/Snow (USA/USA), BMW No. 1, 86 laps
2. Tincknell/Rockenfeller (UK/Germany), Ford Mustang GT3 No. 64, +3.368 seconds
3. Riberas/Gunn (Spain/UK), Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo No. 23, +4.199 seconds
4. Mueller/Hand (Germany/USA), Ford Mustang GT3 No. 65, +11.668 seconds
5. Jarvis/Kirchhöfer (UK/Switzerland), McLaren 720S GT3 EVO No. 9, +16.404 seconds
7. Heinrich/Bachler (Germany/Austria), Porsche 911 GT3 R No. 77, +`9.754 seconds

GTD class.
1. Koch/Grenier (USA/Canada), Mercedes-AMG GT3 No. 32, 86 laps
2. Robichon/De Angelis (Canada/Canada), Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, +0.897
3. Goikhberg/Spinelli (Canada/Italy), Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, +2.983 seconds
4. Ward/Ellis (USA/UK), Mercedes-AMG No. 57, +3.914 seconds
5. Gallagher / Foley (USA/USA), BMW M4 GT3 No. 96, +4.208 seconds
9. Adelson/Skeer (USA/USA), Porsche 911 GT3 R, No. 120, +12.117
10. Li/Fjordbach (China/Denmark), Porsche 911 GT3 R No. 86, - 1 lap

Full unofficial results and championship standings can be found at: https://imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com/?season=242024&evvent=15VIRginia+International+Raceway

Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport.

08252024

Preview, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Race 8, Alton, Virginia

• GT-only field gives Porsche customer teams opportunity for overall win in Virginia
• Three Porsche 911 GT3 R privateers on IMSA entry list
• AO Racing continues at the top of GTD Pro points
• Three rounds remain to crown IMSA WeatherTech champions in all classes
• Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport represents German sports car manufacturer in two support series

GT race cars will be the center attraction at the next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, August 23 – 24. Porsche customer race teams will contend for overall victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Michelin Pilot Challenge and the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. With the Porsche 911 GT3 R in the GTD Pro and GTD classes – including the GTD Pro points leading “Roxy” entry of AO Racing – and the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in the two GT4-based race series, Porsche privateers are well placed to add to the brands success at the historic Alton, Virginia race track.

August 20, 2024. Alton, Virginia. For the first time this season, the GTD Pro and GTD classes will headline an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekend. With no prototype classes in the field, the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, round eight for the GT3-spec classes, will present the opportunity for three Porsche 911 GT3 R race cars to contend for the overall victory. The two-hour, 40-minute race at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) features 23 cars spread over the two classes on the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course in Alton, Virginia. Additionally, the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport will provide seven entries – five in Michelin Pilot Challenge and two in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge series – the opportunity for overall wins in the GT4-style support races at the historic southern Virginia race track.

“Whenever we get to have our customer teams in the spotlight it is a great opportunity to show Porsche at its best,” said Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America. “We are at the point in the season where every lap counts. There is a great deal of pressure on the teams and the drivers, but we have been extremely impressed by how AO Racing, High Class Racing with MDK and Wright Motorsports have performed. We will continue to support them with every tool we have from engineering to quick responses from our parts department. These are the days that make champions, and these are championship caliber race teams.”

The entries.
Porsche customer teams are entered in both the GTD Pro and GTD classes. While racing identically built Porsche 911 GT3 R race cars, the two are differentiated by driver lineup; GTD Pro allowing full professional driver pairings while GTD uses a Pro-Am style approach. The Porsche 911 GT3 R is designed and built in Weissach, Germany and sold domestically through Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA).

Unlike most tracks on the IMSA calendar, no driver competing in Sunday’s race in a Porsche has previously won a WeatherTech race or pole position at VIR. That has more to do with opportunity than talent as the Porsche entry list for the weekend is ripe with skilled pilots. In the GTD Pro class, “Roxy”, the fan favorite pink Porsche 911 GT3 R of AO Racing, has a pair of past Porsche Junior Drivers, Julien Andlauer (France) and Laurin Heinrich (Germany), behind the wheel of the No. 77. With three races remaining, the Illinois-based team currently leads the Team point standings in the class while Heinrich stands alone atop the GTD Pro Drivers’ rankings with two race wins this year (WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Detroit). Porsche leads the Manufacturer category for the class.

Full-season entrant High Class Racing/MDK Motorsports brings the No. 86 to VIR for the first time. The team, experienced in sports car racing but new to the GTD class, has gained on the competition over the course of the season with drivers Anders Fjordbach (Denmark) and Kerong Li (China). Campaigning a partial schedule, Wright Motorsports returns for the final trio of GTD class races. The No. 120 Porsche entered by the Ohio-based race team is in search of its first victory of the season but has two podiums (Sebring and Laguna Seca) to its credit already this year.

The race.
The beautiful circuit near the southern border of the state has a long history with Porsche. In fact, a Porsche 550 RS driven by Bob Holbert won its class in the first race held at the track in 1957. Included in the tally of victories for Porsche is the first IMSA sports car race ever held. In 1971, Porsche legend Hurley Haywood (St. Augustine, Florida) and co-driver Peter Gregg celebrated Haywood’s return from a tour of duty in Vietnam with a win the GTU class piloting a Porsche 914/6 for Brumos Racing. Porsche holds eleven race wins under IMSA sanction since 2002, including overall wins in 2006 and 2011 with a Porsche-powered Daytona Prototype race cars as well as 2015, 2019 and 2022 in Porsche 911-based race cars. Porsche is second for most wins among manufacturers at VIR.

The support.
The Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport will be the car of choice for customers of the German marque in two of the support events this weekend. In the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, five of the road-car-based mid-engine Porsche sports cars are on the entry list led by the No. 28 RS1 entry of Stevan McAleer (Scotland) and Trent Hindman (Ocean Township, New Jersey). The pairing is fresh off back-to-back wins in the veteran team’s black, white and red Porsche. The two-hour race, the Virginia is for Racing Lovers Grand Prix, is scheduled to take the green flag on Saturday, August 24 at 2:15 p.m. ET with coverage on IMSA.tv and the Peacock streaming app.

Two additional Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport race cars will take part in the twin, 45-minute IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races to be held on Saturday and Sunday. Race one will take the green flag ahead of the Michelin Pilot Challenge on Saturday, August 24 at 12:20 p.m. ET. Race two will get underway on Sunday, August 25 at 8:40 a.m. ET. Both rounds can be found on IMSA.tv and the Peacock streaming app.

Where to watch.
The main event of the weekend, the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, will air live on USA Network beginning on Sunday, August 25 at 12:00 p.m. EST/9:00 a.m. PST. Flag-to-flag coverage will stream on Peacock while IMSA Radio will have the full race as well as post-race highlights live on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and on Sirius XM channel 206 (Web/App channel 996).

Upcoming.
These entries will join the GTP class – including the quartet of Porsche 963 hybrid prototypes – at the final two rounds of the 2024 championship season. Up next is the first six hour of back-to-back endurance rounds when the full slate of cars returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Battle on the Bricks, September 19 – 22. The season will close at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta’s 27th running of Petit Le Mans, October 10 – 12.

Driver quotes.
Laurin Heinrich, Driver, No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“Heading to the last important part of the season, three races to go, as the championship leader you can feel the tension is rising but it is something great. In the end, it pushes us to perform even better. For me personally, doing my very first laps around Virginia is something really special. It is a track I have been driving on the simulator for years now. Going through the esses, down the hill, around the Oak Tree Corner for the first time in real life is going to be something really cool. It should be a track that suits us better than the previous ones. Being a GT only round, it is a bit of different dynamic. With no prototypes, it is a bit more of a sprint style. On a track like VIR, we will see some good racing. I am looking forward to it.”

Adam Adelson, Driver, No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“I'm super excited to be racing at VIR for the second time this year. It's my favorite track. I’ve always looked up to these IMSA weekends there. The weekends where they really put the GT cars on a pedestal… up where they deserve to be. These are such amazing vehicles. To be in the top-class racing at VIR is a dream come true to me.”

Elliott Skeer, Driver, No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
“There is nothing better than GT racing in North America. To do it at a place like VIR truly represents old school GT racing at its finest. It is definitely going to be an incredible event. Having raced SRO there recently really makes me feel prepped and ready to go for what the IMSA WeatherTech fight can be. Definitely everything in my life is leading up to try to win an IMSA event and I can't think of a better one to try and get it at than VIR!”

An overview of the drivers and teams
GTD-Pro class (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
AO Racing No. 77: Laurin Heinrich (Germany) / Sebastian Priaulx (United Kingdom)

GTD class (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
High Class Racing / MDK Motorsports (No. 86); Anders Fjordbach (Denmark) / Kerong Li (China)

Wright Motorsports (No. 120); Adam Adelson (Los Angeles, California) / Elliott Skeer (San Diego, California)

The schedule (local time, EST)
Friday, August 23
2:30 – 4:00 p.m. – Free practice 1

Saturday, August 24
10:15 – 12:00 p.m. – Free practice 2
4:50 – 5:05 p.m. – Qualifying: GTD Pro / GTD

Sunday, June 23
12:10 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. – Race: Two Hours, 40 minutes

Further information, photos and videos are available on Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com

The “X” channel @PorscheRaces as well as the Instagram accounts @porsche.motorsport and @porschepenskemotorsport provide live updates from Porsche Motorsport with the latest information from racetracks around the world.

*Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport.

08202024

Review, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Race 8, Elkhart Lake, WI

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Porsche Penske Motorsport scored a one-two overall finish today at the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America. It is the fourth victory of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the Porsche factory program and is the second one-two sweep of the year. The No. 6 Porsche hybrid prototype shared by Mathieu Jaminet (France) and Nick Tandy (United Kingdom) led their teammates Dane Cameron (Huntersville, North Carolina) and Felipe Nasr (Brazil) in the No. 7 factory Porsche 963 across the finish line at the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin-area track.

Today’s victory in the two-hour, 40-minute race – the final “sprint round of the GTP class season – was the second win for the No. 6 team following its first victory of 2024 at Detroit in June. The No. 7 has overall GTP class wins in the 24 Hours At Daytona and the Six Hours of The Glen and currently leads the team and driver point standings. Porsche leads the way in the GTP manufacturer rankings with two races – both endurance rounds – remaining for the GTP class.

AO Racing finished in fourth place in the GTD Pro class as Laurin Heinrich (Germany) and Julien Andlauer (France) raced the pink No. 77 “Roxy” to the highest overall finish for a Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Full results on https://www.imsa.com/scoring/

Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin Rounds 9 & 10

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The Porsche Carrera Cup North America leapt into the second half of the 2024 season at one of the sport’s most popular race tracks: Road America. “North America’s National Park of Speed” hosted rounds nine and ten of the 16-race season with momentum growing toward one of the closest fought finales in the history of the series. Despite this being the first visit to the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin track for Loek Hartog (Netherlands), the series’ overall points leader used the homefield advantage of his veteran entrant, Kellymoss, to sweep the weekend. Kellymoss, based approximately 90-minutes away in Madison, Wisconsin, added to its tally by providing Masters class driver Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) his first two career Carrera Cup wins as well.

Next, the series will travel to the world-famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. Rounds 11 and 12 will take place as part of the Battle on the Bricks, September 20 – 22, in conjunction with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s six-hour race weekend. It will be the fourth year the series has raced at Indy.

Round 9. Saturday. August 3, 2024.
The battle at the front of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America field echoed the fight for the Pro class championship. Loek Hartog (Netherlands) would lead the 40-minute race flag-to-flag while the battle raged behind him for second place. In the end, it was Hartog’s closest competitor in the season long championship, Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom) who finished just behind the No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche in his own No. 98 PT Autosport Porsche prepared by JDX Racing. It was an impressive run for the Brit who started in tenth place on the 32-car grid of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars. Jimmy Llibre (Dominican Republic) started and finished in third place, but the driver of the No. 2 ACI Motorsports Porsche had pressured Hartog throughout the race before settling in on the final step of the Pro class podium.

Pedro Torres (Wellington, Florida) scored his second consecutive Pro-Am class win in the No. 16 ACI Motorsports entry. Having driven the Porsche to victory in round eight at Watkins Glen International in June, Torres repeated with a class win at Road America. Driving the No. 68 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in the Masters class, it was veteran Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) who earned his first career Porsche Carrera Cup North America win.

Round 10. Sunday. August 4, 2024.
Loek Hartog added a fifth season victory to his series-leading tally with a green-to-checkered race in round 10. After a hard-fought battle in the opening lap with Dan Clarke (Indianapolis, Indiana) in the new the No. 64 Era Motorsport entry, the championship leader was able to pull steadily away from the field. Zachary Vanier (Canada) worked his way from sixth on the grid up to a second-place finish in the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche. Clarke would ultimately work his way back up to the podium in third place, an impressive accomplishment for the team’s first Porsche Carrera Cup North America weekend.

James Sofronas (Villa Park, California) scored his third race win in eight races to keep Torres from continuing his streak of Pro-Am class race victories. Torres would chase the Porsche racing veteran across the line just ahead of third-place Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) in the No. 44 Baby Bull Racing machine. Chris Bellomo was able to hold off class points leader Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) to score his second career Porsche Carrera Cup North America victory in the Masters class.

• Pro class winners.
o Race 1 & 2. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss
• Pro-Am class winners.
o Race 1. Pedro Torres, No. 16 ACI Motorsports
o Race 2. James Sofronas, No. 14 GMG Racing
• Masters class winners.
o Race 1 & 2. Chris Bellomo, No. 68 Kellymoss

• On point.
o Pro class. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss
o Pro-Am class. Marco Cirone, No. 84 ACI Motorsports
o Masters class. Matt Halcome, No. 55 ACI Motorsports
o Entrant. Kellymoss

• To the point. Complete Porsche Carrera Cup North America point standings can be found at: https://porschecarreracup.us/standings/ .

• Broadcast. All 2024 races are archived on Porsche Motorsport North America TV: (https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica).

• Online. Porsche Carrera Cup North America: www.PorscheCarreraCup.us

• Next Up. September 19 – 21, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana, Rounds 11 and 12.

Quotes.
Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss, Pro Winner, Race 1 & 2.
“It was my first weekend Porsche Carrera Cup North America sweep here at Road America, home ground for Kellymoss. Very happy with this race. This is how I like it. I couldn’t be happier. Many firsts here!”

Pedro Torres, No. 16 ACI Motorsports. Pro-Am Winner, Race 1.
“We had a good start. I was able to miss some of the issues that happened. I was able to keep up the gap in the high-speed stuff and manage the low-speed stuff. It was fun. The guys did an amazing job. You can see what Curt [Swearingin, team owner of ACI Motorsports] has done with this team. Everyone [at ACI] is getting podiums now. He has made a massive investment here and it is showing. I am proud of that.”

James Sofronas, No. 14 GMG Racing. Pro-Am Winner, Race 2.
“It feels great to be back in the winner’s circle. We needed this one. We didn’t quite have the car yesterday and that was frustrating. I love racing here. The GMG guys worked all night. Definitely 100 percent effort; no giving up in their approach. It feels good. Road America is the best place in the country to race. Super thanks to GMG, Porsche Motorsport and Yokohama.”

Chris Bellomo, No. 68 Kellymoss. Masters Winner, Race 1 & 2.
“It definitely did take a while to get that first win but I am very happy for the sweep on the weekend. I’ve been working really hard just trying to improve. From here, we will just keep trying to chase more wins.”

• Broadcast. Races air live at PorscheCarreraCup.us, on the IMSA YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@imsaofficial, on the Peacock streaming app and at IMSA.tv. All are archived on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

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Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America season is becoming one of the most intensely fought title chases in series’ history. No one can rest easy entering the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America from August 1 – 4. The 4.048-mile, 14-turn “National Park of Speed” offers one of the greatest tests to drivers in a series where success comes down to the pilot behind the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and the team behind them in an all-Porsche paddock. Fast, technical and demanding a razor’s edge balance of patience and aggressive driving, the Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin track is an old-school style nemesis to the next generation of Porsche champions.

The premier one-make championship has eight rounds remaining across four race weekends and no class championship – Pro, Pro-Am or Masters – is a lock. In fact, the contenders in Pro and Pro-Am have changed in each weekend run thus far. While Loek Hartog (Netherlands) has remained atop the Pro class running order nearly all season, his pursuers have changed regularly each round. The Pro-Am class leaders have also swapped the top spot seemingly every lap and, while Matt Halcome (Dallas, Georgia) has remained at the top of the Masters class, the 2021 Pro-Am 991 class champion knows one misstep can close the gap quickly.

Practice gets underway on Thursday, August 1 with the 40-minute round nine taking the green flag on Saturday, August 3 and its twin, round ten, on Sunday, August 4.

• Field. 36 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for the weekend.
• Pro class. 15 | Pro-Am class. 12 | Masters class. 9
• Teams. 11 race teams are represented across all three classes.

• Entry list. The full Porsche Carrera Cup North America entry list can be found at:
https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2024/07/24/2024PCCNARoadAmericaPreEventEntryList.pdf

• Track Record. 2:07.586, Riley Dickinson, No. 53 Kellymoss, set in 2023.

• 2023 Race Winners.
- Pro. o Race 1 & 2. Riley Dickinson, Kellymoss
- Pro-Am. o Race 1 & 2. Efrin Castro, Kellymoss
- Masters (previously called Am). o Race 1 & 2. Scott Noble, MDK Motorsports

• Point Leaders.
Pro. Loek Hartog, No. 24 Kellymoss
Pro-Am. Marco Cirone, No. 84 ACI Motorsports
Masters. Matt Halcome, No. 55 ACI Motorsports
Entrants. MDK Motorsports

Current Porsche Carrera Cup North America Championship Point Standings.
https://imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com/?season=242024&evvent=12Watkins+Glen+International

• Schedule. All times Central.
Thursday, August 1.
3:00 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. – Practice 1

Friday, August 2.
9:35 a.m. – 10:05 a.m. – Practice 2
5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Qualifying (all classes)

Saturday, August 3
11:45 a.m. – 12:25 p.m. – Race 1 (40-minutes)

Sunday, August 4
11:35 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Race 2 (40-minutes)

• Hometown heroes. Kellymoss brings a record nine entries to its “home” race at Road America. The operation, started in 1988, is housed in an 80,000 square foot facility in the capital city of Wisconsin approximately 90 miles away. In 2023, Kellymoss won two of the three classes (Pro and Pro-Am) in both rounds here. The operation also won here in the first year of the series as well. Past Kellymoss Road America race winners Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) and Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) are both entered this week. Castro is the only driver capable of back-to-back wins at Road America having earned both race titles here in 2023.

• Legacy Track. Road America is a “Legacy Track” on the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup schedule. The track joins Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as tracks that hosted the premier one-make race series in its 2021 debut season. Road America, Watkins Glen, Sebring and Indianapolis have hosted a Carrera Cup weekend each season.

• Back home. After one year racing in support of the NASCAR Xfinity Series here at Road America, Carrera Cup North America is back on the IMSA SportsCar Weekend in 2024.

• Porsche Driver Development Workshop. Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) continued its long tradition of preparing the next generation of professional race drivers. The 2024 Porsche Driver Development Workshop was held in Mooresville, North Carolina July 18 – 19 at Team Penske, factory partner to Porsche in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTP class. Ten drivers received valuable career experience in sessions with experts from the disciplines of physical training, nutrition, technology, media and career planning. The workshop was held exclusively for Porsche EBOOST North America Junior Program and Porsche Mobil 1 ® Female Driver Program North America drivers.

• PT Autosport to continue driver program. PT Autosport’s Aspiring Driver Shootout program continues this season, with 88 drivers making the cut to the second round of deliberations. Each applicant was asked to submit answers to both video and written questionnaires and a personal profile, with up to 12 aspiring drivers to be chosen to attend the November 11 – 13 Shootout at New Jersey Motorsports Park. The winner will earn a driver partnership package of up to $250,000 for the 2025 and 2026 racing seasons, with second and third also receiving scholarships toward a racing school.

• Changes and opportunities. Since the most recent round at Watkins Glen International, June 20 – 23, a major change to the entry list left drivers scrambling for new homes. When MDK Motorsports announced their departure from the series on June 28, race winners Yves Baltas (New York City, New York) and Dan Clarke (Indianapolis, Indiana) as well as frontrunners Sabré Cook (Grand Junction, Colorado) and Kenton King (San Marino) were need of new teams. All four found rides in time for the weekend. Baltas moved to veteran Porsche entrant GMG Racing while Clarke, Cook and King moved to Era Motorsport.

• A new Era. The events of June 28 brought the plans of one sports car racing team forward several months. While Era Motorsport intended to enter the Porsche Carrera Cup North America in 2025, the opportunity to draft two of the Pro class’s top drivers, Dan Clarke (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Sabré Cook (Grand Junction, Colorado) as well as Pro-Am driver Kenton King (San Marino), changed those intentions. It assembled a program to support a three-car effort in the series effective immediately. The team was founded in the United Kingdom in 2018 and expanded to North America in 2020. With an entry campaigning in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s LMP2 class already on its resume, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America was a natural place for the team’s Indianapolis, Indiana-based operation to expand. Era has an LMP2 class win at the Rolex 24 At Daytona LMP2 (2021) and won the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship in 2021.

• To the point. The battle at the front of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America standings is heated. Loek Hartog (Netherlands) continues to sit atop the Pro class standings with 150 points. The driver of the No. 24 Racing For Children’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car prepared by Kellymoss has three wins and two additional podium finishes including a pair of second places at the most recent weekend at Watkins Glen International. A victory in round eight – the second race at “The Glen” – moved Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom) and the No. 98 PT Autosport Porsche readied by JDX Racing into second place with 119 points. The position swap came when Michael Cooper (Huntington, New York) missed the podium at Watkins Glen in the No. 88 Baby Bull Racing Porsche. Cooper holds third place just ahead of Ryan Yardley (New Zealand).

The Pro-Am class is even more intense as the top spot again swapped back between the two leading contenders at Watkins Glen. Marco Cirone (Canada) took advantage of a low points haul in round eight by Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) to drive the ACI Motorsports No. 84 into a 13-point lead in the class. Meanwhile, former class champion Alan Metni (Austin. Texas) used a round seven win to jump into the top three. Having only missed one podium in the first eight races of the season, Dallas Georgia’s Matt Halcome continues his firm grip on the Masters class padding his lead to 43 over Mark Kvamme (Columbus, Ohio). However, Kvamme has withdrawn from the series moving Chris Bellomo (Portola Valley, California) to the effective second position in the title chase.

Kellymoss once again holds the upper hand in the Entrants standings with 151 points. With MDK Motorsports withdraw, the Madison, Wisconsin-based Kellymoss is the effective leader in the category. JDX Racing (139 points) and Topp Racing Performance (127) follow in second and third place.

224 points remain available for the season. To collect all the points, a driver would need to win each round, win the pole position and set the fast race lap for each remaining race. A victory pays 25 points, second place 20 and third place is awarded with 17 points. A pole position is worth two points while a fastest race lap will add an additional point to the total of a driver in each class.

• Broadcast. Races air live at PorscheCarreraCup.us, on the IMSA YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/@imsaofficial, on the Peacock streaming app and at IMSA.tv. All are archived on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

• On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

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Porsche EBOOST North America Junior Program and Porsche Mobil 1® Female Driver Program North America

* Porsche Motorsport North America hosts workshop for Junior and Female Driver Programs
* Porsche Penske Motorsport center of 2024 driver training
* Experts provide valuable insight to the next generation of potential Porsche racers
* History of young driver training deep and successful internationally and domestically

Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) continued its long tradition of preparing the next generation of professional race drivers last week. The 2024 Porsche Driver Development Workshop was held over two days at the headquarters of Team Penske, factory partner to Porsche in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTP class. Drivers received valuable career experience both hands-on and in sessions with experts from the disciplines of physical training, nutrition, technology, media and career planning. The workshop, eligible only to Porsche EBOOST North America Junior Program and Porsche Mobil 1 ® Female Driver Program North America drivers, took place July 18 – 19.

Carson, California. The highlight of the Porsche EBOOST North America Junior Program and Porsche Mobil 1 ® Female Driver Program North America each year since 2021 has been the Porsche Driver Development Workshop. While it has changed in name, format and timing since the launch of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, the core focus of the program has remained steadfast: to offer Porsche one-make drivers’ knowledge to maximize their careers. All Porsche EBOOST Junior Drivers and Porsche Mobil 1 Female Drivers are invited to attend the official workshop each season. The program provides an opportunity for the drivers to receive a range of educational tools, training and support to take the next step in their career. The 2024 program was held July 18 – 19 at Team Penske headquarters in Mooresville, North Carolina. One year earlier, it had been held at the Porsche Experience Center Atlanta in 2023. All drivers came from either the Porsche Carrera Cup North America or the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama.

While the specifics of the agenda change each year, the basics have remained the same since Porsche first began a similar program in Europe for young prospects. This system was brought to North America in 2012 and ran as the Porsche Young Driver Academy through 2019. It was rebooted in 2021 with the advent of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America and became more focused on drivers currently running in the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America.

This year, drivers received a behind-the-scenes look at the highest level of team operations at Team Penske and the Yokohama Development Center, both in Mooresville. Other elements of the Workshop included nutritional advice, media and social media instruction as well as the opportunity to train with the Porsche Penske Motorsport GTP race team. American Porsche factory driver Dane Cameron and former international Porsche one-make champion and current Porsche Penske driver Matt Campbell (Australia) were also on hand to offer key insights on how to navigate a career in sports car racing.

The early years.
While Porsche has chosen full Junior drivers from the Porsche Global Junior Shootout for decades, Porsche Cars North America and Porsche Motorsport North America first implemented its own program to assist the best young drivers in the United States and Canada to the next level of professional motorsport as well. Beginning in 2012 and running through 2019, each year the Porsche Young Driver Academy (PYDA) brought four racers under the age of 24 to a two-day program than included both a classroom day and a track day to hone and display their skills through direction of experts in their fields.

Like today, the Academy put the drivers through intensive classroom activities with the objective to broaden and sharpen talents not only behind the wheel but also out of the cockpit. While education was the hallmark of the by invitation-only event, the PYDA also helped determine the IMSA Hurley Haywood Scholarship recipient. At the time, the scholarship was awarded annually to help provide the selected driver with a package of tangible assets to present to teams in IMSA Porsche one-make racing for the next season. During the span of the program, 33 drivers graduated including future champions like Riley Dickinson, Trent Hindman, Roman De Angelis, Michael De Quesada, Zach Robichon, Elliott Skeer, Madison Snow, Alec Udell and 2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric.

2024 Porsche Driver Development Workshop Attendees.
• Paul Bocuse. Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama
• Zachary Vanier. Porsche Carrera Cup North America. Pro class winner: Miami (Race 2)
• Elias De La Torre IV. Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
• Jimmy Llibre. Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
• Loni Unser. Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama. Female Driver Development Program participant.
• Therese Lahlouh. Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama. Female Driver Development Program participant.
• Madeline Stewart. Porsche Carrera Cup North America. Female Driver Development Program participant.
• Caroline Candas. Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama. Female Driver Development Program participant.
• Paige Morales. Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama. Female Driver Development Program participant.
• Sabré Cook. Porsche Carrera Cup North America. Female Driver Development Program participant. Highest finishing female driver in Porsche Carrera Cup North America, to-date – P8, three times in 2024.

• Image courtesy of Porsche Motorsport North America.

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