As a part-time brewer, Richard Westbrook is familiar with going up against the Guinnesses and Carlings of the world. As a racer for JDC-Miller MotorSports, he’s becoming familiar with going up against the big boys such as Penske and his former team, Cadillac.
JDC-Miller MotorSports was the first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship privateer team to take delivery of a Porsche 963 LMDh car, and along with Proton Competition, is taking on the might of the factory effort, Porsche Penske Motorsports and the other manufacturer-supported teams. While the privateers in IMSA have had a tougher go of it than those in WEC, where JOTA has taken a victory with its privateer 963, they soldier on with the hopes of finding the key to victory.
Westbrook has seen the privateer vs. factory equation from both sides. His last full season in IMSA competition was 2022, running a Cadillac for JDC-Miller. Last year he was competing for Cadillac Racing in FIA WEC, and he’s done stints with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ford GT effort and with Corvette Racing. The British driver acknowledges that, with the degree of complexity of the LMDh cars in the new era of IMSA GTP, it’s a tougher proposition than it was with DPi and GTE machinery.
“I would say it was easier than now, because the cars are so complicated — it requires a lot of help from the manufacturer,” Westbrook explains. “So yes, there is a disadvantage to being in a privateer GTP, compared to the DPi era, there’s no doubt about that. But, I have to say, at certain stages of the year, we’ve been punching above our weight; we’ve shown some great pace at certain races. It’s just trying to find that sort of consistent balance. A lot of it comes down to preparation in terms of the fact that we’re slightly restricted. Because these cars are so expensive, we can’t just go testing every week. Manufacturers have a lot more resources to go testing, particularly with their own simulators — which I’m well aware, having been part of the Cadillac factory program last year in WEC; we relied on simulators a lot. We don’t have those sorts of tools, so it just means that you have to prepare a lot better, and there’s a lot more guesswork.”
As Westbrook notes, there have been moments of clarity for him and his young Dutch teammate Tijmen van der Helm. They were quick at Sebring and ran toward the front until a rear axle failure. Watkins Glen was going well until Westbrook made a mistake that earned the team a penalty. But seeing JOTA — which becomes Cadillac’s factory WEC team in 2025 — win at Imola provides a spark of hope. And there are some approaches that JDC-Miller Motorsports might bring to the table that the factory team doesn’t.
“These cars are very complicated, and it’s very easy to over-engineer them. Sometimes, with a car this complex, simplicity is key,” he says. “We’ve tried to keep it simple. Sometimes we’ve got greedy and it’s burned us — like in Detroit. I think for a private team with the resources that we have, it’s even more important that you stick to what you know. You stick to your principles and you give the drivers a car that they can drive and attack with.”
Westbrook says the LMDh hybrid system, along with the brake-by-wire and all that’s going on with the rear of the car under deceleration, makes giving the drivers a car in which they can be confident a challenge. He isn’t one to shy away from a challenge, though — as is also evident in his opening Westbrooks Brewery in the UK, an idea that started fermenting three or four years ago, he says.
“You definitely don’t open a brewery to make money,” he laughs. “But it’s been an incredible success. Obviously not on a race weekend, but I do like a beer. Over the years I’ve seen the beer scene change a lot, particularly in America. I love what they’re doing in the States and I’m trying to do a little bit of that in the UK.”
Brewing isn’t as much of a departure as it might seem; Westbrook trained as a chef in college. Naturally, all the brewery’s offerings have a motorsports theme in their naming — Laguna, for Laguna Seca, a West Coast pale ale; Karrusel, a German pilsner; Lime Rock, a New England IPA; and a Mexican lager called Peraltada. They’re also gluten-free and low carb, in keeping with Westbrook’s primary career. And while beer drinking and driving race cars certainly don’t mix, there are some similarities in the processes that yield success.
“With this [Porsche 963], if you’re one percent off, you’re way out,” he explains. “It’s exactly the same with brewing. Brewing is chemistry, it really is, and if something is slightly out, it’s not good. It’s going down the drain. I would say it’s more complex than making wine. My father was in the wine industry and I know all about the methodology. Making wine and beer is so complex, and it’s so time consuming … a bit like racing. Everything needs to be perfect; you can’t leave anything on the table.”
Westbrook, van der Helm and JDC-Miller’s endurance addition, Phil Hanson, have their next shot at upstaging the factory teams with the yellow No. 85 963 at this weekend’s IMSA Battle on the Bricks, a six-hour race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team has already declared its intent to compete in the full WeatherTech Championship season for 2025.