Riley Dickinson capped off a dominant day at Sebring International Raceway, capturing the Race Brew Pole Award on Thursday morning and securing the first Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by Penfed victory of the season later in the afternoon.
The 2023 Pro class champion led flag-to-flag in his return to the series after a hiatus in 2024 and drove his Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to the checkered flag with a margin of more than five seconds.
“I feel much better now, certainly,” said Dickinson after the win.
“That was a long night last night, just going through everything, going through qualifying this morning and for the race this afternoon. It was a lot of hard work to get here, for sure.
“A huge thanks to everyone back at Kellymoss for all their hard work in the offseason to get this program ready to go. It was a bit of a last-minute deal, and it’s good to be back.”
Ryan Yardley – last year’s runner-up in the Pro class title hunt – finished second to begin his championship campaign with Topp Racing. Jimmy Llibre and the ACI Motorsports crew finished third.
Another ACI Motorsports driver, JP Martinez, had an exceptional day, starting first and finishing first in the Pro-Am class. However, Alan Metni was hot on his heels in the closing minutes of the race, ultimately coming up shy by .337 seconds of the win. Metni’s Kellymoss Porsche split an ACI Motorsports duo, with Marco Cirone finishing third.
“I’m so happy, I’m so stoked,” said Martinez. “I couldn’t ask for more in my debut race – to top the charts in practice and qualifying and finish first place in the first race. It was tough. Metni was behind me until the last lap and we were battling out. I’m happy I could hold him off, and I’m thrilled with first place.
“I want to give a big thank you to ACI. It was all teamwork, and all the guys there did an awesome job. They setup the car, all the coaches, so I’m really happy.”
Meanwhile, in the Masters class, Scott Blind has now visited victory lane in Sebring three times this month – in Porsche Endurance Challenge North America and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America nearly two weeks ago, and on Thursday afternoon in Carrera Cup. The Ruckus Racing Porsche was untouchable throughout the contest, as Richard Edge with ACI Motorsports finished second and Peter Atwater with JTR Motorsports Engineering finished third.
“This is amazing, I love Carrera Cup,” Blind expressed after the race. “My focus this year is Carrera Cup and to win here at Sebring; it’s just fantastic.
“Porsche Sprint Challenge has been a huge help. Practicing those starts here at Sebring was important because you know how sketchy it can be in Turn 1. Having those extra starts, it really helped a lot.”
Race two of round one will race into the darkness at Sebring International Raceway, starting at 6:15 p.m. ET. The race will be streamed live on IMSA and Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport North America social channels on Facebook, Linkedin, Threads, and X.
Race 1 Podium
Pro:
- Riley Dickinson
- Ryan Yardley
- Jimmy Libre
Pro-Am:
- JP Martinez
- Alan Metni
- Marco Cirone
Masters:
- Scott Blind
- Richard Edge
- Peter Atwater
Full race results can be found here, and all photos can be found here.
