For the fourth consecutive year, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America will open its season at Sebring International Raceway. The 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit in central Florida, will be the site of rounds one and two of the eight weekend, 16 race schedule for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars (type 992).
A record number of entrants and new faces highlight an international grid. In addition, the race marks the first time the premier one-make race series has run on the Yokohama ADVAN racing slick. New marketing partners highlight the growth of the series as do new teams and race venues on the calendar.
SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY FAST FACTS
- Full Field. 41 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for competition at COTA.
- Pro class. 17 Pro-Am class. 14 Masters class. 10
- Teams. 15 race teams are represented across all three classes.
- Track Record. 2:01.667, 2023, Riley Dickinson, Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
Point Leaders.
First event weekend of the 2024 season.
Pro. 2023 Champion: Riley Dickinson, No. 53 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Pro-Am. 2023 Champion: Efrin Castro, No. 63 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Masters. 2023 Champion: Mark Kvamme, No. 43 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Class formerly known as the Am class).
Entrants. 2023 Champion: Kellymoss
Testing time: Porsche Carrera Cup North America held its two-day open test at Sebring on March 4 – 5. Gustav Burton (No. 47 MDK Motorsports) led the way turning a time of two-minutes, 3.188-seconds. Alan Metni (No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche) charged to a 2:04.250 lap time as the fastest Pro-Am driver. Matt Halcome was quickest in the Masters class (No. 55 ACI Motorsports) with a lap of 2:04.589 seconds. All of the quick laps were set in the fourth of five sessions.
Hometown heroes: Five drivers on the entry list consider Florida their home state: Elias De La Torre (Key Largo), Angel Benitez (Miami), Pedro Torres (Wellington), Moisey Uretsky (Miami) and Carlos De Quesada (Tampa).
International appeal: Since its inception, Carrera Cup North America has drawn interest from drivers around the globe wanting to test their mettle in the series. 2024 promises to be one of the most hotly contested with drivers from eleven countries entered.
Solid gold: Mobil 1, a founding partner of Porsche Carrera Cup North America and an OEM partner to Porsche and Porsche Motorsport worldwide, will use the series to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Each car in the field will carry a gold Mobil 1 sticker to highlight the partnership between Porsche and the manufacturer of synthetic motor oil and other automotive lubrication products.
Master’s Class: With the start of the 2024 race season, Carrera Cup North America will take on a new naming structure for one of its three classes. While Pro and Pro-Am remain the same, the class formerly known as “Am” is now Masters.
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.
Class Descriptions
Pro. The highest level of competition in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The class is recognized through its orange color scheme. The car entry number will be delineated in orange on the doors, the windshield and rear glass. Headlight covers will be clear with orange cross-marks.
Pro-Am. Restricted to drivers who are 35-years or older as of January 1, 2024. The class is recognized through its green color scheme. The car entry number will be delineated in green on the doors, the windshield and rear glass. Headlight covers will be clear with green cross-marks.
Masters. This class is open to drivers who are 50 years old or older as of January 1, 2024. The class is recognized through its yellow color scheme. The car entry number will be delineated in yellow on the doors, the windshield and rear glass. Headlight covers will be clear with yellow cross-marks. Class was formerly known as “Am”.
Yokohama premiere
Porsche Motorsport North America and Yokohama Tire Corporation announced a multiyear partnership expansion beginning with this weekend’s Sebring rounds. The premier one-make championship joins fellow Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America programs, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West exclusively utilizing the Yokohama tire. The agreement gives Yokohama exclusive rights to market and sell competition tires on-site at all Porsche one- make championships in North America. Yokohama will provide the ADVAN® A005 racing slick and ADVAN® A006 tire for wet conditions on all Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars in the Pro, Pro-Am and Masters classes of Carrera Cup North America..
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.
Racing to End Alzheimer’s
The mission of Racing to End Alzheimer’s, the presenting charity partner of defending Am class champion Mark Kvamme (No. 43 MDK Motorsports), is to increase awareness of this terrible disease while giving families a way to honor their loved ones in a very tangible way while raising funds for research and treatment. 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)..
Entry list
The full Porsche Carrera Cup North America entry list can be found by clicking 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.
On the web:
www.PorscheCarreraCup.us.
Schedule
Wednesday, March 13.
9:40 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. – Practice 1
2:10 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. – Practice 2
Thursday, March 14.
9:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. – Qualifying (all classes)
4:55 p.m. – 5:35 p.m. – Race 1 (40-minute race)
Friday, March 15.
7:15 p.m. – 7:55 p.m. – Race 2 (40-minute race)
