38 Entries for Miami

Photo: Bob Chapman/Autosport Image

Porsche Carrera Cup North America will make its first of three visits to Formula 1 races this year with this weekend’s running at the Miami Grand Prix.

A total of 38 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars are set to do battle in the pair of 40-minute races at the Miami International Autodrome, for Rounds 3 and 4 of the season.

It includes several new additions to the grid, with MOMENTOP FMS Motorsport x RGB Racing expanding into a three-car effort with the additions of Michael Verhagen (Pro) and David Tuaty (Pro-Am) alongside the returning Angel Benitez, who contested last month’s season-opener at Sebring International Raceway.

An additional GMG Racing Porsche has also been entered for Ofir Levy, who will contest the 13-car Pro-Am class.

A total of 17 cars are set to do battle in Pro, with eight entries in Masters.

Several drivers who were present at Sebring are not taking part in the Miami round, which does not count towards the new-for-2024 ANDIAL Cup. It includes Pedro Torres, Naveen Rao, Javier Ripoll, Todd Parriott and Richard Edge.

MDK Motorsports’ Gus Burton enters the weekend with a slim one-point lead in the Pro class over Kellymos driver Loek Hartog, who both scored wins on the Florida airfield circuit.

Pro-Am sees Marco Cirone with a seven-point lead over GMG’s James Sofronas, while Matt Halcome leads the Masters class after sweeping the weekend at Sebring.

Two practices are set for Friday, with qualifying on tap for Saturday at 12:55 p.m. EDT. Race 1 starts at 5:50 p.m. that evening, with Race 2 on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. All races air on the Peacock streaming app, IMSA.tv and PorscheCarreraCup.us.

Pre-Event News & Notes:

***A changing of the guard was apparent in the top Pro class at the Sebring season opener. With 2021 champion Seb Priaulx as well as 2022 champ Parker Thompson now racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and 2023 champion and defending Miami race winner Riley Dickinson now competing in Michelin Pilot Challenge, a new Pro champion will be awarded the Al Holbert Trophy in 2024.

***New faces stood atop the podium at both rounds in Sebring. Hartog raced to his first race win in the series in round one at Sebring while Burton drove to his first win in Round 2.

***After two rounds, only one driver regardless of class, swept the weekend at Sebring: Halcome. The 2021 Pro-Am 991 class champion, and driver of the popular Mystery Machine liveried No. 55 ACI Motorsports Porsche, returned to the series in style winning both races in the competitive Masters class. He also captured the fastest race lap for both rounds.

***Michael Cooper has prioritized his Carrera Cup North America commitments with Baby Bull Racing over his ride with Blackdog Racing in Pirelli GT4 America this weekend, which races at Sebring. This weekend marks the only clash between the two series this year.

***PT Autosport will be split between the two Florida events this weekend, with Alex Sedgwick in Miami in the JDX Racing-run entry and one of the team’s junior drivers, Henry Drury, set for the Toyota GR Cup North America races at Sebring with Precision Racing LA w/ PT Autosport.

***Five drivers on the entry list consider Florida their home state: Benitez, Tuaty and Moisey Uretsky all call Miami home. Elias De La Torre lives in nearby Key Largo while Carlos De Quesada lives in Tampa. Two drivers, Jimmy Libre and Efrin Castro, are residents of the Dominican Republic making Miami their ‘home’ track.

***Situated outside the footprint of the Formula 1 paddock, the Carrera Cup North America paddock is open to any holder of a general admissions ticket to the Grand Prix. Fans can walk through and watch the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars being prepared for each practice, qualifying and the pair of races.

***Interest has continued to build around the recently announced Porsche Endurance Challenge North America series, a new four-event championship that’s set to kick off at Circuit of The Americas next month. Each round will feature a top category for the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car (type 992 and 991.2) and a class for the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

***The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama was the support series for the NTT IndyCar Series event at Barber Motorsports Park last weekend. The event supports the Racing for Children’s, a name familiar to one-make race fans for its beloved ‘hand print’ livery Kellymoss entries have carried for years in Carrera
Cup.

***On-site supporting were three drivers of the Racing For Children’s livery since 2021: Kay van Berlo (2021 – 2022), Riley Dickinson (2023) and Hartog. Efrin Castro raced in the pair of Sprint Challenge rounds at Barber in a Racing For Children’s livery earning an overall second place in race one and a fourth place result in race two.

***Sprint Challenge regular Chloe Chambers will be in Miami for the Grand Prix weekend. However, the 19-year-old will not be behind the wheel of a Porsche. Instead, Chambers will be piloting the No. 14 Campos Racing entry in the F1 Academy series. She comes to Miami off twin Sprint Challenge Cayman class victories at Barber with TPC Racing.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John