A host of past race winners, champions, and current stars of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship are set to join a star-packed grid for the inaugural race of the Porsche Endurance Challenge this weekend at Circuit of the Americas.
Debuting this weekend in Texas, the new series will feature one-hour endurance races at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin (August 11) and Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California (September 29) before returning to COTA for the six-hour event on November 24 to crown its 2024 champions.
The championship is open to Porsche 911 GT3 Cup and 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport models and will accompany both the Porsche Sprint Challenge by Yokohama and the Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama championships this weekend.
Two previous Carrera Cup champions and the 2024 points lead head the list of Cup stars heading to Austin this weekend.
2022 title-winner Parker Thompson returns to the Porsche fold to co-drive with Anthony Mcintosh aboard a JTR Motorsports Engineering-entered GT3 Cup.
Riley Dickinson followed in Thompson’s footsteps to take the 2023 title. This season, his regular race-winning ride has been aboard a Cayman in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge competition, but he will drive with Blake McDonald in BR Motorsport’s entry.
While Dickinson jumps from Cayman back to a GT3 Cup entry, 2024 Carrera Cup championship leader Loek Hartog is going in the other direction. The Dutch Kellymoss racer will compete in the Porsche Endurance Challenge alongside Michael Clark.
But this trio are not the only Carrera Cup race winners to enter the Porsche Endurance Challenge.
Three winners from the past three seasons will be part of the action this weekend.
Our most recent Cup winner, Canadian star Zachary Vanier, has joined forces with Sprint Challenge regular Mike Mim in the MVII Racing by Regal Motorsports. The last time Vanier climbed aboard a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, he tasted victory at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Texas veteran Jason Hart returns to the MDK Motorsport driver’s seat as he steps in alongside Sprint Challenge rookie Conrad Geis. Hart raced full-time in Carrera Cup in 2023, taking victory at Watkins Glen.
Another Texan – young star Trenton Estep – climbs back behind the wheel for his first drive of 2024. Estep will co-drive with MDK’s Paul Bocuse beginning at COTA. Estep took three Carrera Cup wins in 2022 en route to finishing fourth in the championship standings.
Rounding out the list of Cup stars racing in Texas this weekend are Madeline Stewart (racing with Rafa Racing Club’s Rafael Martinez aboard a Cayman), Peter Ludwig (racing with Shane Leathers in a Fall Line Motorsports GT3 Cup), and Scott Blind, who enters the endurance championship this weekend after taking his Rukus Racing Porsche to a podium finish in Miami.
Rounding out the list of Cup stars racing in Texas this weekend are Madeline Stewart (racing with Rafa Racing Club’s Rafael Martinez aboard a Cayman), Peter Ludwig (racing with Shane Leathers in a Fall Line Motorsports GT3 Cup), and Scott Blind, who enters the endurance championship this weekend after taking his Rukus Racing Porsche to a podium finish in Miami.
The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and the list of moonlighting Cup stars are just the start of a massive field competing in Texas this weekend.
The entry list also includes racer-actor Patrick Dempsey; Porsche legend Patrick Long; four-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Jan Magnussen; the vastly experienced Alexandre Premat (DTM, GT racing, Le Mans Series, Australian Supercars); 12 hours of Sebring winner and Intercontinental GT Champion, Tristan Vautier; Le Mans class winner, Ryan Dalziel; World Challenge and SRO GT4 Europe championship winner Alec Udell; former Trans-Am champion, Cameron Lawrence; World Challenge America and GT4 America champion, Eric Filgueiras and 2x Daytona 24 class winner, Jean-François Dumoulin.
Testing gets underway at Circuit of the Americas on Thursday, with official practice kicking off on Friday. Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and USA West will contest races on both Saturday and Sunday, with the opening round of the Endurance Challenge series going green at 3:05 p.m. (Central) on Sunday.
Watch the action live on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel – click here.
