While the world’s motorsport focus sits firmly on this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans – did you know the Circuit de la Sarthe is also hosting one of the world’s biggest Carrera Cup races around the 8.467-mile circuit this weekend?
A total of 63 Porsche Carrera Cup machines will contest a single 45-minute race on Saturday at 10:45 am, just before the warm-up session for the 24 hours.
This year’s event features a combination of entries from both the French and Scandinavian Carrera Cup Championships, with a number of other international drivers making a guest appearance.
Despite most of the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America regulars concentrating on the upcoming Watkins Glen rounds of the championship, there are several American racers in the Le Mans Carrera Cup event.
Jaden Conwright most recently drove a Porsche Cayman 718 in the Sonoma round of the GT4 America championship, but the American racer actually has past experience in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup competition as well as the French and Italian Carrera Cup championships.
The 24-year-old was second fastest in the first practice session on Wednesday and backed that up with the fourth fastest time in today’s session.
Dom Bastien is a Florida driver with lots of experience in not only GT4 and GT3 Porsche machinery – but he also has two races under his belt in the World Endurance Championship with Dempsey-Proton Racing.
Bastien also has competed in Carrera Cup competition in both the UK and Germany.
The final American driver in the field hasn’t competed in the Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America but has played a key role in one of the premier events on the championship’s schedule.
Jim Michaelian is President/CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach – an event where Carrera Cup is one of the major support races.
While he may not have competed in the North American championship, Michaelian actually has a number of race starts under his belt in the Italian Carrera Cup Championship in the past.
Qualifying for Saturday’s race will be run on Friday morning at 9:00 am.
While none of the drivers from this year’s Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America are competing in the cup race in France – three of our racers are actually contesting the 100th anniversary 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Reigning Am class champion and 2023 points leader Mark Kvamme is racing in the LMP2 class for Inter Europol Competition. One of his teammates is Danish sportscar legend Jan Magnussen who also drove for Kvamme’s MDK squad in this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Don Yount returned to Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup competition recently in Miami and will drive at Le Mans aboard an LMGTE Am Porsche with Proton Competition.
PJ Hyett will also make his Le Mans debut aboard his AO Racing “Rexy” dinosaur-themed liveried Porsche. Hyett drove in Carrera Cup in the US last year before establishing his team and entering the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
This weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans will be live-streamed in full on subscription service – Motor Trend TV Plus.
