Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America will make history this weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca when it becomes the first national championship to hold a points paying round at Porsche Rennsport Reunion.
Rounds 13 and 14 of the premier one-make Porsche championship will headline an incredible list of historic Porsche race car run and exhibition groups at the world’s largest gathering of Porsche enthusiasts.
Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7 will take place at the Monterey, California circuit from September 28 – October 1. Riley Dickinson enters the penultimate weekend of the 16 race, all 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car competition as the provisional champion of the Pro class and Al Holbert Cup but title competitions remain in Pro-Am and Am as well as the Entrant chase.
The driver of the No. 53 Racing For Children’s Kellymoss Porsche has also provisionally been awarded the Porsche Junior North America title for 2023 as well.
37 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are entered for competition among 14 race teams, with 22 in the Pro class, seven in Pro-Am and eight in Am. 8
By virtue of his back-to-back victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Rounds 11 and 12, Dickinson has earned 308 points and has provisionally been awarded the drivers’ championship for the Pro class. With 56 points possible for a driver accomplishing a perfect weekend: 25 points per win, two points for each pole position and one marker each for fastest race lap, 112 points remain possible to accumulate. Dickinson holds a 146-point margin over Tom Sargent in second place (162 points) and is plus 149 points up on Will Martin. While Dickinson’s lead is insurmountable barring any unexpected and uncharacteristic penalties for the three-year starter.
Dickinson’s teammate Efrin Castro holds the top spot in the Pro-Am with 278 points, a 64-point margin over nearest competitor Marco Cirone. However, Cirone is not currently entered in the Rennsport Reunion races this weekend. Moisey Uretsky sits third in the Pro-Am class with 161 points. Uretsky, in the No. 44 Accelerating Performance Porsche returns having not entered the most recent round at Indy.
The Am class continues to tighten between leaders from MDK Motorsports. Despite a pair of second place finishes at Indianapolis, points leader and team boss Mark Kvamme saw his lead shrink to his teammate Scott Noble. Noble’s No. 10 Porsche has been on a recent roll, streaking to four consecutive class victories — five on the season. The gap is now a minimal 18 markers between the two friends.
Kellymoss continues on course to secure its third consecutive entrants’ championship. The Madison, Wisconsin-based race team owned by Andy Kilcoyne and Victoria Thomas has earned 282 points to date. This gives the team an 81-point lead over JDX Racing and a 99-point margin on third place McElrea Racing.
Rapid rookies
Bayley Hall will drive the No. 24 McElrea Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car this weekend during rounds 13 and 14 of Carrera Cup as well as in the season finale at COTA. The Porsche Michelin Junior has been impressive in Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia this year driving for McElrea, scoring three top-10 finishes in what is only his second full year of one-make competition. Hall has tested three times with McElrea in the U.S. (Road America, COTA and Laguna Seca in preparation for the Rennsport weekend).
In addition to Hall, two other first-time Carrera Cup drivers have been added to the Pro class for the Rennsport Reunion stop. GMG Racing has entered Blake McDonald in the No. 11 while Wright Motorsports brings a third entry, the No. 51, for Nick Hayes.
Supporting role
This weekend marks the Porsche Carrera Cup North America’s tradition of being the headline series in one event each season. The one-make championship is the only professional race series at Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7, as it was for Porsche Sports Car Together Fest at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2021 and ’22. To date, the series has raced with IMSA four times — including the doubleheader with IndyCar at Long Beach. It ran as support to Formula 1 at Miami and the NASCAR Xfinity Series at Road America. The season finale with Formula 1 at the Circuit of The Americas will be held on October 20 – 22.
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca has been on the Porsche Carrera Cup North America schedule two of the three seasons of the series existence. Parker Thompson drove a JDC Racing Porsche to twin wins here in 2022 on his way to the Pro class championship.
Al Holbert remembered
Since its inception, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America has awarded its overall championship trophy in honor of Porsche legend and path maker, Al Holbert. This weekend is particularly poignant as it marks the anniversary of the death of Holbert in a private aircraft crash on September 30, 1988.
The Al Holbert Cup has been created in recognition of Holbert’s commitment, inspiration and leadership in the formation and organization of Porsche motorsports in North America. The silver cup carrying his name has been crafted as a timeless and traditional trophy to commemorate each Pro class champion. This award recognizes the true racing spirit of Al Holbert conveying his professional driver’s skill, engineer’s precision and a gentleman racer’s passion. A true link between the past, present and future of Porsche.
A storied racer and one of the all-time leaders in IMSA race victories (63) and pole positions (27), Holbert was a consummate engineer-racer. The Warrington, Pennsylvania native earned three 24 Hour of Le Mans overall titles as well as two Rolex 24 At Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victories racing with Porsche. He became synonymous with the brand and became an intricate part of IMSA racing in the 1980s.
Through his skills as a driver, owner and businessman the wildly popular No. 14 Holbert Racing Porsche 962 prototypes remain iconic today. As the first Director of Motorsports for Porsche North America — today’s equivalent position to PMNA president and CEO — Holbert outlined the future of the German sports car manufacturer’s North American racing endeavors. He guided the brand to a full-time foray in Indy car racing and managed its position as a sports car juggernaut.
Following his path, the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America continues to allow drivers, teams and partners to climb the ranks from novice to club racer and one-make champion to ultimately ascend to prototype racing against full-factory efforts at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans all behind the wheel of a Porsche. To date, Seb Priaulx (2021) and Parker Thompson (2022) have been awarded the trophy to-date.
Double time
Pro-Am class driver PJ Hyett has seven cars entered under the AO Racing banner as part of the Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7 run groups. The team will bring seven iconic cars to the celebration of Porsche motorsport history, led by a 2017 Porsche RSR, sporting a livery honoring F.A.T International and Porsche. In addition will be the original Porsche 962 which carried the F.A.T. livery in 1990, the 1983 24 Hours of Daytona winning “Swap Shop” ANDIAL Porsche 935L and the 2007 Porsche RS Spyder entered by Penske Racing and Porsche in that record-setting season.
Two Porsche sports cars so legendary as to be instant icons are also under the AO Racing tent: the 1985 Lowenbrau Porsche 962 HR1 and the shocking overall Petit Le Mans winning Porsche 911 RSR from 2015. Current fans of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD class racing will also be excited to see Hyett’s 2023 Porsche 911 GT3 R known as “Rexy”.
Entry list
The full Porsche Carrera Cup North America entry list can be found here.
Point standings
For the current Porsche Carrera Cup North America Championship Point Standings, click here.
Broadcast
All races air on the Peacock streaming app, IMSA.tv and PorscheCarreraCup.us and are archived at: https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.
On the web. www.PorscheCarreraCup.us
Schedule (All times Pacific)
Friday, September 29,
1:40 p.m. – 2:20 p.m. – Practice 1
Saturday, September 30.
9:40 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. – Practice 2
2:20 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Qualifying (all classes)
Sunday, October 1.
9:05 a.m. – 9:50 a.m. – Race 2 (40-minute race)
3:35 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. – Race 1 (40-minute race)