Teaming Up at IMS “Quite Special” for Dickinson, Van Berlo

Former Porsche Carrera Cup North America rivals Riley Dickinson and Kay van Berlo say teaming up in Kellymoss with Riley’s revamped GTD entry at this weekend’s Battle on the Bricks has been “quite special” on the eve of the squad’s first race outing since the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

The Porsche Selected Driver Program North America duo will share the No. 90 Porsche 911 GT3 R with Jake Pedersen, with Pedersen and Dickinson both making their IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debuts this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Being able to share the car with Kay has been quite special,” Dickinson told Sportscar365.

“We’ve grown together in the sport and to be able to step into the car with someone like Kay that I know is going to get everything out of the car and also for myself being able to go and reference off of him is invaluable to me.

“We’re going to be pushing one another, but at the end of the day it’s only going to help things and push the team further.”

Van Berlo also weighed in on joining forces with his former Carrera Cup rival and Kellymoss stablemate and expressed his excitement to be back on the WeatherTech Championship grid after competing in the team’s No. 92 GTD class entry last year.

“I’m excited to be back in IMSA,” said the Dutch driver. “IMSA is for me one of the best championships out there.

“Obviously Riley was my teammate in Carrera Cup so we know each other quite well. I know his strengths which is awesome. He’s a quick guy so I’m sure with someone like him on board, we can be competitive.”

While he’ll be making his WeatherTech Championship debut this weekend in Indy, Dickinson has experience on the IMS road course, having clinched the 2023 Carrera Cup title here one year ago.

“Here at The Brickyard, it’s obviously such a historic place,” said Dickinson.

“There’s been so many crazy, cool, historic moments throughout the lineage of this facility. For me, it’s become quite a special place for myself as well. There’s a lot of career milestones I’ve had here at this track.

“I think most important thing is just to be able to go run all the laps. Let’s say it’s a double stint in part of the race for me just to get the experience, to understand the rhythm of the traffic and how it flows, how you give way to GTP and LMP2 machinery, and just get an understanding of the way the race plays out, just understanding the strategy.

“Just getting a baseline. To have something to reference off of for whenever we do come back in the future.”

While the duo were unable to confirm Kellymoss with Riley’s entry at the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans next month, or its 2025 plans, they were optimistic about what the team could learn from this weekend.

“I got a call to be here. That’s all I know for now,” said van Berlo.

“Hopefully this is just the beginning of something long-term. So while I do value the immediate result this weekend, it would give everyone a boost and it would be nice to leave the weekend like that. I think we need to look at big picture.

“‘How much can we learn this weekend? How quickly can we grow and improve as a team, as drivers?’ Collectively and individually.

“I think that’s what it’s going to pay dividends down the road whether that be this year or sometime next year or maybe a couple years down the road.”

Dickinson also expressed excitement at the prospect of using the team’s efforts at IMS to propel Kellymoss with Riley’s GTD program.

“I think zooming out in the bigger picture with the Riley Motorsports effort with Kellymoss, having the Porsche GT3 program, that’s something that we’re trying to get off the ground,” said Dickinson.

“So I think in the future we hope that this is a longstanding program. This is just another step towards that and where we can definitely be putting our best foot forward week in and week out.”