Teamed with the title-winning JDX Racing squad for the 2023 Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America championship, PT Autosport and its British driver Alex Sedgwick is taking the first steps in developing young motorsport talent.

Sedgwick recorded his season-best qualifying and race finish performance recently in round nine of the championship at Road America. The Brit qualified second and scored a runner-up finish – his second podium, fifth top-five, and seventh top-ten result for 2023.

While his front-row start in round ten came unstuck with contact coming to the green flag – he still fought his way forward from the back of the field to score his eighth top-ten finish.

The 2023 season is the 24-year-old’s first full season in the US and his first in Porsche machinery. Sedgwick’s first race in the US actually came in 2020 when he recorded a 13th-place finish on the Phoenix oval in the ARCA Menards Series West.

Sedgwick’s runner-up finish came after a strong battle with rivals Will Martin and Tom Sargent in a race that was disrupted by a lengthy red flag period.

“You get into a rhythm in the race, so it was a bit tough to stop for so long,” said Sedgwick.

“I got such a big run on Riley at the restart – when I made that move on the start, there was more grip than I thought slightly offline, so I thought I’d give it a go.

“Turns out there is really only one line, so I understeered and went into the runoff, but fortunately was able to get back to second.”

PT Autosport’s partner JDX Racing is the reigning series champions – Canadian Parker Thompson took their Porsche to title success last year. This season the team has expanded to three cars, with Will Martin (P3) joining Sedgwick in the top four in the championship points.

17-year-old Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama race winner and Porsche Motorsport North America Junior, Elias De La Torre IV, completes their line-up.

Sedgwick may be waving the flag for PT Autosport in 2023, but the organization has its sights set on promoting future talent.

After two days of intensive fitness, media, simulator, and track competition, Brenna Schubert recently captured the second annual PT Autosport Aspiring Driver Shootout, earning a $100,000 racing partnership over the next two years with the team’s junior racing program.

Twelve candidates were chosen from 137 applications received from aspiring drivers located all over the world, spanning three continents, six countries, and 31 different American states. Applications came from a diverse base of gender, ethnicities, education levels, and social backgrounds – including students and graduates from 74 different universities. Four of the 12 finalists returned from the 2022 Shootout, including Schubert, who finished third last year.

PT Autosport’s 2022 Shootout winner Henry Drury will next compete August 11-13 in the Porsche Club of America event at New Jersey Motorsport Park, competing in a Spec Boxster with the PMR racing team.

Alex Sedgwick’s next Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup weekend will be at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for rounds 11 and 12 on September 16-17. The famous “Brickyard” was the scene of Sedgwick’s Porsche race debut last year in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama, where he finished third in race two behind Cup rival – ex-Champ Car racer Dan Clarke.

Despite having a Champ Car pole position and podiums to his name – both earned at Road America – Indianapolis-based British racer Dan Clarke still feels a bit like a rookie in this year’s Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America.

While Clarke has remained active in other areas of the sport since his days in the Champ Car World Series in 2006 and 2007, 2023 is his comeback year to full-time competition.

The most recent Carrera Cup round was a break-through weekend for the Brit, his NOLASPORT team, and also his teammate Thomas Merrill.

Clarke scored his first podium in Friday’s race, while his Trans-Am and Asian Le Mans Series championship-winning teammate Merrill scored his first Carrera Cup podium on Saturday.

“I think the first thing I said to the team at the checker was, ‘I need to sit down,'” Clarke said.

“After getting that podium, it took a while for everything to sink in. It’s really been a learning experience for us this year. We’re brand new to Carrera Cup, and normally coming away with a fifth place feels really good for us.”

Clarke earned pole position at Road America in Champ Car in 2006 and returned the following year to finish on the podium in second place. There must be something about the 4-mile Elkhart Lake circuit that gels with the Englishman.

“The Road America thing, that’s something that supporters and friends mentioned to me as well,” he said.

“I don’t whether there is anything specific about this place. My approach all year has been trying to figure out this car, these tires, and this series. But after finishing on the podium here in Carrera Cup, maybe there is something about this place.”

Having witnessed firsthand how competitive the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America is, Clarke believes the championship can be a giant launch pad for young talent.

“I feel like I’m a generation older now than many guys that would look at this series,” Clarke said.

“There’s a lot to learn about the car, but the Porsche is fantastic. You can drive it and race it hard, but running at the front is certainly tough.

“Talent can absolutely be spotted here. It’s a place where you can get noticed by people, and if you’re fortunate enough to work your way up to the series, it’s a good place to start.

“There’s a lot to learn initially and it’s tough. There are a lot of experienced drivers that moved up from this series last year, but a lot of the new guys coming in have been really, really fast.

“It’s a super competitive year. Finishing in the top 10 is really something, and if you can get in the top 10 qualifying consistently – honestly, that’s been the challenge for us. We’ve only really done it in the last two events, and the results are starting to show.”

Nearly 12 months have passed since Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America racer Riley Dickinson won his first race in the championship – a win that appears to have opened the floodgates for the Texan.

Dickinson raised his win total to eight today at Road America with his second victory of the weekend for Kellymoss. After winning his first race last year at round fourteen in Indianapolis in 2022, Dickinson has triumphed in seven of the twelve races contested – seven from ten in 2023.

While the 21-year-old charged to his second win of the weekend, today’s race incident-filled race again jumbled the order. The experience of Thomas Merrill and Michael Cooper, however, sent the two championship-winning drivers to the podium.

The second and third-place finishes are the best results for the Carrera Cup “rookies.” Both have championship wins to their credit in other categories – Merrill in Trans Am and the Asian Le Mans Series and Cooper in World Challenge.

While yesterday’s race was disrupted by a long red flag period, today had a pair of disruptions that only resulted in yellow flag segments. The drama started before the green flag, with front-row sitter Alex Sedgwick and Dickinson making contact.

Other racers to strike trouble – and sometimes each other – during the 40-minute battle included Sabre Cook, Marco Cirone, Stefan Rzandzinski, Michael McCarthy, Tom Sargent, Ryan Yardley, Will Martin, and Dan Clarke.

“Overall, it was a great weekend for Kellymoss,” Dickinson said.

“We put a lot into this to make sure we would be able to hit on all cylinders. So, to have Efrin and I win both races this weekend is pretty special. A huge thank you to all of Kellymoss, and I am very happy we could do that for all of them.

“It was a really good points weekend for us, and I am really happy with how everyone performed.”

The Rafa Racing Club Pro-am and Am classes also featured repeat winners on both days at Road America.

2021 Pro-am champion Efrin Castro (Kellymoss) earned his second back-to-back win of the season – repeating the same result, he earned earlier this season in Miami

He was joined on the podium by Moisey Uretsky (Accelerating Performance) and Chris Bellomo (MDK Motorsports), who earned his first series podium.

The inter-team battle between team driver and owner continued at MDK in the Am class, with Scott Noble (driver) again triumphing over championship leader Mark Kvamme (owner).

They were again joined on the podium today by Wright Motorsports’ John Goetz.

Teams from the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America championship will now have more than a month to prepare for rounds 11 and 12 of the championship at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Carrera Cup will be part of the “Battle on the Bricks” IMSA weekend on September 15-17.

Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America championship leader Riley Dickinson extended his championship points gap with a victory at Road America today for the “home-town” team Kellymoss.

The victory at “America’s National Park of Speed” marked an extreme turnaround for the 21-year-old Texan who last year only finished seventh and 10th in the two races here.

Dickinson came under intense pressure from eventual runner-up Alex Sedgwick who converted his front-row start to his best-ever finish of P2.

The Brit had two chances of challenging Dickinson in turn 1 – on the opening lap and again on the restart after a long yellow flag / red flag delay caused by contact between Rafa Racing Club Pro-Am racers PJ Hyett and Jeff Mosing.

The contact put both cars heavily into the wall in the high-speed Carousel section of the Road America circuit. Both drivers were evaluated and released from the infield care center.

After a frantic battle in the Pro class, Dickinson was eventually joined on the podium by not one but two British-born racers.

NOLASPORT’s British-born, Indianapolis-based Dan Clarke earned his first-ever podium finish in his “rookie” Carrera Cup season. While he may be new to the championship, Clarke is a former Champ Car racer who started from pole at Road America in 2006 and finished on the podium here in 2007 in second place.

Today’s victory by Dickinson is his sixth of 2023 from nine races contested so far to date.

“First and foremost, I want to wish Jeff [Mosing] the best. That was obviously a huge hit for him,” Dickinson said.

“Overall, it was a good race. The car’s balance was completely shifted from what we experienced in practice and qualifying.

“Every time we have been on track, the balance has been completely different because of the various cars that are out there running. We learned a lot, and it was obviously a good points day for us.”

Dickinson’s Kellymoss teammate and close friend Efrin Castro also scored victory today in the Rafa Racing Club Pro-Am class.

The win was Castro’s third of 2023, following his pair of wins earlier this season at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Joining him on the podium were Marco Cirone and Moisey Uretsky – also race winners in the class earlier this season.

MDK Racing’s Scott Noble was another racer to find his way back to victory lane in the AM class. Noble won the opening race of the season at Sebring and scored his second victory today – leading home his team boss and championship leader Mark Kvamme.

Wright Motorsport’s John Goetz joined the two MDK racers on the AM podium.

The Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America will be back on track tomorrow for round ten of the championship at 12:15 pm.

Riley Dickinson continued to dominate proceedings for Kellymoss by scoring the fastest time in qualifying for the fourth time out of five races in the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America.

The 21-year-old Texan held off the two-car “British invasion” assault by JDX Racing, with Alex Sedgwick scoring his best series qualifying in second today – only .122 of a second from Dickinson.

Long Beach winner and fellow JDX racer Will Martin was third fastest ahead of McElrea Racing’s Tom Sargent.

Impressive performances came from former World Challenge champion Michael Cooper who was fifth fastest for Babybull Racing in only his second race weekend in the series.

Former Champ Car racer Dan Clarke was also strong in P6. Clarke started from pole here in 2006 in the Champ Car World Series and went on to finish 6th in the race. The following season he finished second in the race.

Dickinson enters this weekend at Road America looking to reverse his form here from last year when he finished seventh and 10th in the two races.

“ Yeah, that was a very tricky session –hands down – probably the toughest one we’ve had all year,” Dickinson said.

“The track evolved so much like a street course – every single lap. Even when the peak of the tire was falling off a bit, we could still tell that the track was evolving quickly.

“So when we put the second set on, it actually improved a lot more than what we were expecting. The car’s balance changed quite a bit, but a huge thank you to everyone at Kellymoss. We’ve been working extremely hard for this one considering this is the team’s home track.”

In the Rafa Racing Club Pro-Am class, Efrin Castro set the pace, while PJ Hyett impressed to record the second-fastest time at his home track. Hyett – a Carrera Cup racer and owner/driver for AO Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – yesterday was the fastest Pro-Am driver overall from both practice sessions.

The AM class looks like a close battle ahead after Scott Noble topped his team boss Mark Kvamme in qualifying. John Goetz was third fastest for Wright Motorsports.

Round nine of the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America is set to go green at 2:55 pm.