Riley Dickinson has wrapped up his Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America championship-winning season in fine style by completing the season’s final round at Circuit of the Americas with victory in front of a huge US Grand Prix crowd.

Starting from pole, the Kellymoss racer held off McElrea Racing’s Tom Sargent in turn one and was never headed in the run to the flag.

Behind him, however, the action was fierce as drivers were pushed to – and over – the limit to try to score a strong result in the final race of the season.

Three caution flags flew during the race as hopes were dashed and championship results upturned.

Am class leader Scott Noble’s hopes of clinching the championship were ruined by contact on lap one which put him out the race. His teammate and team owner, Mark Kvamme, was able to race to victory to also score back-to-back championship wins.

Mechanic drama and contact hit Pro class drivers Bayley Hall (McElrea Racing); Jake Pedersen (Rearden Racing); Elias de la Torre (JDX Racing) and Dan Clark (NOLASPORT) while Baby Bull Racing’s Michael Cooper’s chance of scoring a podium came unstuck after contact from Sargent, who was also hit behind by MDK Motorsports’ Jimmy Libre.

Libre showed impressive speed before his race came to an end in the barriers on lap 11 when JDX Racing’s Will Martin clashed with NOLASPORT’s Thomas Merrill and launched his front wheels high in the air.

By the time time Martin was able to regain control, he struck Libre going throught esses and both cars spun off – Libre’s hitting the barrier hard.
This brought out the final safety car, which sadly caused the race to finish under yellow.

“We had a little bit of everything: some full course yellows, some restarts, quite a bit of action in turn one,” Dickinson said.
“Taking what we learned yesterday, I had a good idea of what to expect from the restarts. Bringing in what we learned on those restarts, I was able to use it today to put our best foot forward.

“A huge thank you to everyone at Porsche for allowing us to come and race at such an incredible venue. This has been a pretty surreal event. It being my home track, it is pretty special, but I think it has been for all the teams.

“What a fantastic way to finish out our season. This is a testament to everyone at Kellymoss. When I heard we had the opportunity to finish our season at COTA, I was thrilled.

“I knew how much this event means to the world of racing but also to me and to my partner Porsche of Austin. It has been a special experience. Thank you to our friends at Racing For Children’s, it has been a special journey with them.”

Topp Racing’s Ryan Yardley collected his best finish of the second to run second behind Dickinson – a fitting record for the New Zealander who threatened to climb the podium several times during the year only for misfortune to take him out of contention.

Tom Sargent completed the podium in third place and cemented his championship position of second at season’s end.

The Rafa Racing Club Pro-Am class had a new “Sherrif” in town, with GMG Racing’s James Sofranos taking his second win in succession.

He led home MDK Motorsport’s Chris Bellomo and championship winner Efrin Castro.

“We are going to have a bigger involvement in Carrera Cup North America next year, and I wanted to experience it for myself firsthand,” Sofronas said.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew the race today was going to be rough and tumble, so having probably 500 starts in different series in my career, I knew what to expect.

“At one point at the start, I got hit on both sides, and the steering wheel snapped 90-degrees. I was in midair while a car was four-wheels up on the inside curbing in [turn] two. I don’t know how I didn’t wreck. I think the only reason I didn’t was because I just hit a car to my left and to my right and it straightened me out.”

Mark Kvamme walked away with the Am class win and championship for the MDK Motorsports boss but it was a bittersweet day for the team owner whose customer, friend and rival Scott Noble had his championship hopes dashed by contact.

Noble graduated to Carrera Cup after winning the GT4 America Championship last year in Porsche Cayman with Jason Hart and led the points heading into COTA – but finished the weekend with a damaged car and a broken heart.

“This was 100 percent not the way I wanted to win this championship,” Kvamme said.

“Scott [Noble] has been such a great competitor all season long. He races super fair. We had a great race yesterday. I wanted to battle with him today and see what happens.

“I hate to say it, but that’s racing. That has happened to me in the past, and I feel really bad for him. At the beginning of the season, I had him. But then he just put this head down and worked. He came right at me.

“Right now, he is faster than me. So, I just had to be as smart as I could in the races. It has been a great year.”

Newly crowned Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America champion Riley Dickinson made good use of his local knowledge to score his 10th victory of the season today at Circuit of the Amercias.

The Kellymoss driver made a move around the outside of McElrea Racing’s Tom Sargent to jump into the lead on the opening lap.

The field was quickly brought under the control of the safety car after another Austin local, Travis Wiley, suffered contact exiting turn one and subsequently spun in the COTA esses after his left rear went down.

On the restart, Dickinson was never headed as he charged to a 7.686-second win over Sargent and JDX Racing’s Alex Sedgwick.

“That was a bit of a crazy move there in turn one and ultimately over into turn two at the start,” said Dickinson.

“I need to give a huge shout-out to Tom for racing me clean and hard, but fair. I’m super stoked to get this one done in front of the hometown crowd.

“When we came onto the grid before the race, I was able to look up into turn one and see all the fans down the hill – there wasn’t a single blade of grass wasn’t taken up by someone. it was a pretty heart, heart-stopping moment that got the adrenaline going.

“I have to say a huge thank you to everyone at Kellymoss. We’ve worked extremely hard, to make sure that we were able to get this one done properly.”

While James Sofronas’ GMG Racing squad has contested plenty of Carrera Cup races, today was the first time that Sofranas himself had driven in the series, and he came away with a victory over new Rafa Racing Club Pro-am champion Efrin Castro (Kellymoss) and Chris Bellomo (MDK Motorsports).

The remarkable result was even more impressive considering this was Sofranas’ first professional race back after suffering a back injury at Road America in August.

“It’s been a lot of work behind the scenes to recover from the back injury. Back issues are never good in sports, especially racing cars,” Sofronas said.

“And of course, this is the bumpiest I remember COTA ever being, so I was grinding my teeth through some of the laps.

“But it feels amazing. I haven’t been in a car for almost three months per doctor’s orders. So, finally, getting a chance to jump in without any practice or testing and have a strong result in the first race is amazing.

“Having Efrin in the field – the current champion for the Pro-am class – running with him was great. I’ve wanted to race all year in this class, but obligations to take care of clients first, and then this injury put me out, so great way to finish up the year with my first win and my first entry in Carrera Cup.”

The battle for championship honors between MDK Motorsports rivals Mark Kvamme and Scott Noble will go down the wire tomorrow in the final round after MDK owner Kvamme was able to put a stop to Noble’s six-race winning streak.

“That was a must-win situation for me. This morning I lost out on the pole to Scott 5/100ths of a second. I got lucky to get around him in turn one at the start and after the yellow, he passed me down in turn 10 with a really clean pass.

“But I could tell his tires were going away. It was pretty obvious because he was just hauling the mail early and then, I could see that he was struggling a little bit, and I was able to take advantage of it to get back past him.”

John Goetz completed the Am class podium for Wright Motorsports today in third.

The last round of the 2023 season will be held on Sunday on the US Grand Prix race day. The final 40-minute battle begins at 10:50 am.

He scored his first Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America round win at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion, and now McElrea Racing’s Tom Sargent has scored his first series pole position.

The Australian set the fastest time in qualifying at Circuit of the Americas at 2 minutes, 6.808 seconds to oust recently crowned series champion and local Texan, Riley Dickinson.

JDX Racing’s Alex Sedgwick continued his impressive recent form to be third fastest ahead of Dickinson’s teammate Michael McCarthy for Kellymoss.

Seven teams filled the top ten positions on the Pro grid, with Baby Bull Racing’s Michael Cooper in fifth followed by Ryan Yardley (Topp Racing); Thomas Merrill (NOLASPORT); yesterday’s fastest car in practice, Travis Wiley; Jason Hart (MDK Motorsports) and Sargent’s McElrea Racing teammate, Bayley Hall.

“I’m absolutely over the moon to earn my first series pole here at COTA,” Sargent said.

“I haven’t had a pole all year, but we’ve been so, so close on so many occasions. So to finally get this this weekend, plus to do it at the Formula One round, and the last weekend for Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America, is really cool.

“The team’s been working so hard throughout the year, and this result at the last weekend proves that. It’s exciting to be off the front row for the race this afternoon, and we’ll see if we can convert to a win.”

While Efrin Castro has clinched the Rafa Racing Club Pro-am title, some new names shone brightly in qualifying, with Chris Bellomo scoring his first series pole – continuing his strong podium-scoring form from Rennsport Reunion.

Series newcomer Kayden Kelly was second fastest in the third NOLASPORT entry, with Castro in third.

“I was super happy with the results at Laguna, and we carried that over this weekend. My coach, Johannes van Overbeek, and I have been working hard, and things just really worked out well today in qualifying.

“I have raced here before, and I really enjoy it. It’s a fun, challenging track, and I’ve had some good results here in the past.”

The battle for the AM class is coming down to the wire at Circuit of the Americas. MDK Motorsports’ Scott Noble holds the points lead over team boss Mark Kvamme, and he extended that gap by a further two points after a hard-fought qualifying session.

“There is a lot on the line this weekend. Both Mark Kvamme and myself knew that getting pole could contribute to who wins the championship,” Noble said.

“He put down a good time, and I took a second set of tires and just beat him by 5/1000ths of a second. So that’s pretty close, and I’ll certainly be an exciting race.”

The Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America field will greet the green flag at Circuit of the Americas at the US Grand Prix at 2:10 pm today. Watch live at imsa.tv.

Porsche Motorsport North America Junior Development Program driver Travis Wiley used his local knowledge to good effect to top the timesheet in today’s single practice session at the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.

The Austin native stopped the clocks at 2 minutes, 8.188 seconds to head the Porche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America times as the series readies to complete its final two rounds of the season in Texas.

This is the second race weekend in a row where the young star has headed a practice session – the Topp Racing driver also going P1 in a session at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

“It felt really good to come in first in this morning session. Local knowledge definitely helped. I was able to navigate my way around this place pretty quickly,” Wiley said.

“The car felt good. We just have a few things to work on before qualifying tomorrow. 

“Racing here at home, it’s going to be fun seeing all my family and friends.

“After being away for so many events all year, I finally get to show off what I do to my friends and family. So it’s really exciting for me.”

Wiley wasn’t the only surprise rising towards the top of the scoring tower at Circuit of Americas.  McElrea Racing newcomer Bayley Hall was second fastest this morning – contesting his third race weekend in succession.

Hall made his series debut at the Porsche Rennsport Reunion, flew home to race at Mount Panorama Bathurst last weekend, and has now returned to the US to finish his two-race American stint.

Hall showed this morning he is getting accustomed to the ABS braking system used in the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America.

“I’m getting much more comfortable with the ABS. Last week, I was at Bathurst in Australia in a Porsche without ABS, so this session this morning was all about getting back used to it, getting back into that flow,” Hall said.

“We were here a month ago for testing with a lot of other teams so it is awesome to be back. It’s such a great event from what I’ve seen on the outside so far, so can’t wait to keep going.”

Alex Sedgwick continued his strong turn of speed for JDX Racing to be third fastest this morning ahead of Wiley’s teammate – New Zealander Ryan Yardley and another local star – newly crowned series champion, Riley Dickinson.

In the Rafa Racing Club Pro-Am class, PJ Hyett continued where he left off at Rennsport where he won the second race of the weekend. Hyett topped the timesheet this morning ahead of NOLASPORT newcomer and Porsche Sprint Challenge by Yokohama racer Kayden Kelly and Chris Bellomo.

In the Am battle, points leader Scott Noble demonstrated he is ready to put this championship beyond doubt. Noble was the fastest Am driver this morning and actually setting a time that was faster than five drivers from the Pro class.

Noble’s team boss and championship rival Mark Kvamme was second fastest ahead of Wright Motorsports’ John Goetz.

Teams will be back on track on Saturday morning for qualifying at 8:35 am before contesting the 40-minute round 15 of the championship from 1:10 pm.

Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America enters its final two rounds of 2023 in front of what is expected to be the largest audience in series history. 

The Formula 1® Lenovo United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas will close the third North American season of the premier Porsche one-make race series. 

The race series, which exclusively runs the Type-992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, assumes a supporting role to the Formula 1 World Championship, October 20 – 22. 

This is the second stop this season for Porsche Carrera Cup North America with Formula 1. Rounds three and four of the series were held in conjunction with the Grand Prix of Miami, May 5 – 7. 

The 3.4-mile, 20-turn road course near the capital of Texas will officially crown champions in all three classes: Pro, Pro-Am and Am as well as an overall Entrants Championship for teams.

CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS FAST FACTS

• Full Field. 38 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for competition at COTA.
• Pro class. 23 Pro-Am class. 8 Am class. 7
• Teams. 13 race teams are represented across all three classes.
  
  
• Track Record. First time event. 

Point Leaders.
Pro: Riley Dickinson has earned 328 points and has provisionally been awarded the Drivers’ Championship for the Pro class. With 25 points per win, two points for each pole position, and one marker for each fastest race lap, 56 points remain available entering the Circuit of The Americas. Dickinson holds a 124-point margin over Tom Sargent (Australia) in second place (204 points) and is 139 points ahead of Will Martin (United Kingdom). 

Rafa Racing Club Pro-Am: Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) holds the top spot in the Pro-Am with 298 points, an 84-point margin over nearest competitor Marco Cirone (Canada). The 2021 class champion was recognized as a provisional two-time champ entering the previous rounds at Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7.  Cirone is not entered this weekend. Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) sits third in the Pro-Am class with 185 points. Uretsky, in the No. 44 Accelerating Performance Porsche is 113 points behind Castro. 

Am: The Am class remains between MDK Motorsports teammates as it has for most of the season. Team owner Mark Kvamme (Columbus, Ohio) saw his lead give way to teammate Scott Noble (Dallas, Texas) after the pairings lowest performing two rounds were dropped (see “Drop two” section below). Noble enters the finale with 296 points to Kvamme’s 284 (a 12-point deficit). 

Entrants: Kellymoss has provisionally won its third consecutive Entrants Championship. The race team owned by Andy Kilcoyne and Victoria Thomas has earned 322 points coming to COTA. An 87-point lead over JDX Racing and a 97-point margin on McElrea Racing in third place. 

Season winners 
Pro: Entering the final two rounds at COTA, 12 drivers have stood atop a class podium in the Carrera Cup North America winner’s circle. Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas) secured the provisional Pro class championship at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, two rounds ago.
The third-year driver did so earlier than any driver in the history of the series by racing the No. 53 Racing For Children’s Porsche to nine victories, three second-place finishes, and one third-place finish in the first 14 rounds.
Only once – following an accident – has Dickinson missed the Pro class podium. Joining Dickinson as a Pro class winner in 2023, Will Martin (United Kingdom) has driven the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche to three victories. Tom Sargent (Australia) has one win in his rookie season racing for McElrea Racing. While it is the first season in North America for the team, McElrea is a longtime entrant in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia.
Jason Hart (Flower Mound, Texas) will attempt to add a second win this weekend behind the wheel of the No. 20 MDK Motorsports Porsche. 

Rafa Racing Club Pro-Am: In the Pro-Am championship, Castro, who also won the inaugural title in 2021, has seven victories in the No. 65. Five other drivers have race wins as well – the most diverse list of any class. Jeff Mosing (Austin, Texas) has earned two wins but is not entered this weekend. Alan Metni, also of Austin and also not entered, joins Mosing with a pair of victories. Marco Cirone (Canada) most closely chases Castro in the points but enjoyed only one win. Moisey Uretsky (Miami, Florida) has driven the No. 44 Accelerating Performance Porsche to victory lane once while PJ Hyett (West Chicago, Illinois) is the most recent winner in the class, claiming race two at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca as part of Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7. 

Am: The Am category has been a seven-to-five-win split between MDK Motorsports teammates Scott Noble (Dallas, Texas) and Columbus Ohio’s Mark Kvamme, the 2022 class champion and owner of MDK Motorsports.

Entrants: Kellymoss leads the points and the win totals for entrants. The Madison, Wisconsin-based program has nine victories in the Entrants Championship while JDX Racing has three wins. McElrea Racing and MDK Motorsports each have tallied one overall victory. 

JDX consistency
JDX Racing has been a stalwart of Porsche one-make racing for years. The three-car team is a consistent performer including earning the 2022 Pro class championship with Parker Thompson. The Jeremy Dale-led program enters the finale second in the Entrants Championship, 87 points back from Kellymoss. With race wins by Will Martin (United Kingdom) in the black and gold No. 9 at Long Beach (Race 2), Watkins Glen (Race 2) and the most recent round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Race 2, Round 14 of the championship), the team has compiled more Pro class race wins than any organization other than Kellymoss. JDX Racing also brings Elias De La Torre (Key Largo, Florida) and Alex Sedgwick (United Kingdom) to COTA. Both De La Torre’s No. 4 and Sedgwick’s No. 98 are also in the Pro class. 

Racing to End Alzheimer’s
The mission of Racing to End Alzheimer’s, the presenting charity partner of defending Am class champion Mark Kvamme (Columbus, Ohio), is to increase awareness of this terrible disease, to raise funds for research and treatment, and to give families a way to honor their loved ones.
A key beneficiary of those research funds is the Nantz National Alzheimer Center (NNAC), based in Houston.
The NNAC was established by legendary sportscaster Jim Nantz in 2011, to honor his father, who passed away from the disease in 2008.
This weekend, the team carries 186 names on the No. 43 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car driven by Kvamme.  For a $250 donation, a loved one’s name is placed on the car as it races across the United States (https://www.r2endalz.org), with 100 percent of the donations matched, and shared between the team’s two beneficiaries. Since 2017, Racing to End Alzheimer’s has donated over $425,000 to the NNAC to assist vital research.

Hometown heroes:
Texas is home to five of the top drivers in Porsche Carrera Cup North America. Provisional Pro class champion Riley Dickinson is from nearby New Braunfels and is backed by local brand dealer, Porsche of Austin.
Nick Boulle, who pilots the No. 3 for MDK Motorsports, is from Dallas, while teammate Jason Hart – who drove the No. 20 MDK Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to a victory in race one at Watkins Glen International hails from Flower Mound.
Austin is home to Travis Wiley, who will drive the No. 77 Topp Racing. Austin is also home to defending Pro-Am champion Alan Metni who had to pull his No. 99 Kellymoss machine from the entry list after a non-racing accident sidelined him. A Texan could also walk away with the Am class title as current class points leader Scott Noble (No. 10 MDK Motorsports) is from Dallas. 

First time
While previous Porsche one-make series have raced at COTA, this marks the first time for Porsche Carrera Cup North America. 

Drop two
Entering the finale, Pro-Am and Am class drivers have had their lowest two race results removed from consideration for the points championship.
The two rounds are automatically dropped entering the final weekend at COTA. The final two races cannot be dropped. While Efrin Castro (Dominican Republic) secured the Pro-Am title entering the Rennsport weekend in the No. 65 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car – his second championship in the three-year history of the series – the eliminations have dramatically changed the Am class battle swapping the top-two positions.
By being allowed to drop round two at Sebring – where he scored zero points – and round five (race one at Miami) where he also failed to score any points, Scott Noble (Dallas, Texas) jumps from second place over teammate and defending class champion Mark Kvamme (Columbus, Ohio) into the lead.
He is now 12 points ahead rather than at an eight-point deficit.
Kvamme was able to remove two rounds where he scored no points as well, but Noble’s late season, six-race victory run has given him the better average finish. Kvamme will need to win both races at COTA to repeat as Am class champion.  

Al Holbert Cup: 
Since its inception, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America has awarded its overall championship trophy in honor of Porsche legend and path maker, Al Holbert. On Sunday evening, the Al Holbert Cup will be officially awarded to Riley Dickinson, the 2023 Pro Class and Overall Champion of the series in its third year. 
The Al Holbert Cup was created 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 a timeless and traditional trophy to commemorate each Pro class champion. This award recognizes the true racing spirit of Al Holbert, conveying his professional driver’s skill, engineer’s precision and racer’s passion. 
A storied racer and one of the all-time leaders in IMSA race victories (63) and pole positions (27), Al 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 full-time foray in Indy car racing and managed its position as a sports car juggernaut. On October 15, Holbert was unanimously named to the inaugural class of the IMSA Hall of Fame. 
Following his path, the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America continues to allow drivers, teams and partners to climb the ranks from novice to club racer and one-make champion to ultimately ascend to prototype racing against full-factory efforts at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans all behind the wheel of a Porsche.
Riley Dickinson’s name will join Seb Priaulx (2021) and Parker Thompson (2022) as Porsche Carrera Cup North America Champion.  

Entry list:
The full Porsche Carrera Cup North America entry list can be found by clicking here: 

To the point:
Current Porsche Carrera Cup North America Championship Point Standings. Click here.

Broadcast:
All races air on the Peacock streaming app, IMSA.tv and PorscheCarreraCup.us and are archived on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel – click here. 

On the web:
www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.

Schedule
All times Central
Porsche Carrera Cup North America will drop the second of its typical two, 30-minute practice sessions due to the tight scheduling requirements of Formula 1. A single session will be held on Friday morning, followed by qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 as lead-in to the United States Grand Prix on Sunday. 

Friday, October 20.

9:20 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. – Practice 1

Saturday, October 21.

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

2:10 p.m. – 2:50 a.m. – Race 1 (40-minute race)

Sunday, October 22.

10:50 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Race 2 (40-minute race)

Andy McElrea’s team has been a long-time top performer in Porsche competition for many years in Australia, but now McElrea Racing can count itself as a race winner in the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America.

McElrea’s Tom Sargent broke through for his first win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca during the incredible Rennsport Reunion 7 Porsche celebration.

Sargent had scored a run of second-place finishes in the opening five races of the season but now has climbed the top step of the podium for the first time in round 13.

Since its inception in 2009, McElrea’s team has scored 14 major championship wins “down under,” including three wins in the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia.

The New Zealand-born McElrea operates his organization from his Queensland base – the team running five entries in Carrera Cup and five in the Australian Porsche Sprint Challenge Championship.

A former championship-winning driver in Formula Ford and Trans-Am competition in New Zealand, McElrea not only runs his highly successful race team, but his other involvement played a role in setting up his new-for-2023 American division – Andy McElrea is also a racing dad.

Andy’s son Hunter recently completed his second season with Andretti Autosport in Indy NXT – the renamed Indy Lights championship. Hunter was rookie of the year in the series last year and finished second in the points this year..

“We’d had great success in Australia, and Hunter started on the Road to Indy over here in 2019. I have been spending a lot of time over here as he has climbed the ladder. That –  combined with the fact that the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America and the Australian series run the same 992 Porsche – it made sense to set up over here and see how competitive we might be,” McElrea said.

The Australian arm of McElrea Racing has been a prominent breeding ground for future Porsche stars. Matt Campbell won the Australian Carrera Cup championship in 2016 for McElrea – the first step on his climb to becoming a Porsche factory driver who now competes for Porsche Penske Motorsport in the GTP class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Jaxson Evans won the Australia championship with McElrea in 2018 and has gone on to be another prominent Porsche star – winning the French Carrera Cup championship in 2020, finishing third in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2021, and finishing second in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup the same year.

McElrea’s latest Australian championship-winning ace, Harri Jones, has now graduated to Supercup in 2023 – racing with BWT Lechner Racing.

Setting up in Mooresville, North Carolina, this year, McElrea Racing made its debut in the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America championship at the annual pre-season test in Sebring in March.

The “new kids on the block” were immediately on the pace – Sargent topping the times on both days despite neither he nor the team having even seen the historic Florida airfield circuit previously.

“We were confident we’re going to be competitive, but you never really know until you hit the track for the first time,” McElrea said.

“The fact that all Carrera Cup championships across the globe are using the same car is a huge help – we obviously know the car intimately; it is just the tracks that are completely new to us.

“For Tom to go on and score five runner-up finishes in the first six races is very rewarding. Those results certainly raised our expectations but that first win took a little while – I suppose good things come to those who wait.”

The strong success in the USA has not impacted the performance of McElrea’s Australian operation. Lead driver Jackson Walls is in second place in the points going into this weekend’s round at Bathurst this weekend..

“Even though our two workshops are more than 9,000 miles apart, our guys work very closely and are in constant communication. Data and ideas go back and forth constantly. For the moment – the majority of the info is heading from Australia over here, but that’s because we are running a lot more cars and have a lot more data,” McElrea said.

“The real secret of our success comes down to our people. When you are running so many cars, the whole organization can’t rely on just me – I have to have the right people in place.

“That was the biggest challenge in getting established over here, but we’ve been very fortunate to have put together a great group of people and my crew chief David Gahagan has done a terrific job putting an awesome crew together for our US program..”

McElrea Racing’s 2023 form has certainly sparked interest in a potential expansion for the team in 2024.

“We are used to running a lot of cars in Australia and would eventually like to mirror that model over here,” McElrea said.

“Bayley Hall from our Australian team is doing the last two weekends over here, but we’re fielding interest from a lot of people.

“But we’re not going to jump from two cars to match the ten we run in Australia immediately. Porsche Sprint Challenge is certainly a championship we’re keeping an eye on for the future – that would be a good next step for us.”

Porsche Motorsport North America has partnered with Rafa Racing Club to give fans an opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of racing.

Participate in our Sim Racing Time Trial Event and stand a chance to win two exclusive tickets to the Porsche Carrera Cup at the Circuit of the Americas during the United States Grand Prix weekend! 

🎮 Event Highlights: Test your skills in a high-stakes simulated racing environment! Compete with fellow racing enthusiasts and climb the leaderboards! 

🏆 Prizes: 1st Prize: Two tickets to the Porsche Carrera Cup at the Circuit of the Americas. …and more exciting rewards await! 

📅 Event Duration: From 1st October to 7th October 

👉 How to Participate: Click here for event details, rules, and to sign up.