All-Porsche 911 Cup Grid for Carrera Cup NA Next Year

Photo: Porsche

Porsche’s new 911 Cup car will make up the entire grid in Porsche Carrera Cup North America next year according to Porsche Motorsport North America President and CEO Volker Holzmeyer, who expects around 35 of the new cars in the series.

Launched in August, the Type-992.2 Cup car is set to debut in only four of Porsche’s single-make series worldwide next year, with North America being joined by Carrera Cups in Germany and Asia, as well as the flagship Mobil 1 Supercup.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Holzmeyer said he expects the batch of new cars to be delivered to customers by mid-January, more than a month prior to an official pre-season test at Sebring International Raceway before the season-opener in March at the same circuit.

“We will have enough cars to field the whole grid,” he said. “The whole field will have new cars. There will be no 992.1 in the Carrera Cup field next season.”

While Carrera Cup North America, entering its sixth season, has regularly seen grids north of 35 cars, Holzmeyer believes it’s a perfect number to self-regulate the grid moving forward.

“That’s where we also see the limit,” he said. “We had too many yellows in 2024.

“For me, [in order for there to be] green flag racing, the drivers have to behave. But it’s also somehow race control has to make them behave.

“We also have driver advisors to make sure everybody is in line and penalties are enforced. We worked together with IMSA on this and had great success this year.

“The grid size, of course, has an effect. We had races, like at Sebring with 44 cars, and we had green races. It’s a mix of everything.

“This year, we had 84 percent green flag racing, which I think is outstanding. It just shows how important it is for the customer.

“You get more demand if you have green flag racing. We rather have a quality 35 field than a 42 or 44-car field where the driver quality is a little bit more compromised.

“The focus is more on quality. I don’t think we will go into the direction again of having more than 40 cars even if the demand is there.”

The Type-992.2 model replaces the 992.1 version of the Cup car, which will continue to be used in the USAC-sanctioned Porsche Sprint Challenge North America presented by Yokohama, as well as Porsche Endurance Challenge competition.

Holzmeyer said he expects the new car, which features air conditioning and anti-lock brakes as standard, to be rolled out to both of the U.S.-based Challenge series in 2027.

Holzmeyer: International Talent Striving in Carrera Cup North America

Unlike other regional Carrera Cups, which has often fostered local drivers, Porsche has seen a rise of international pilots join the North America single-make series, as an entry point into the U.S. sports car racing scene.

Proof of this has come with two of the last three Pro class champions in Dutchman Loek Hartog (2023) and Kiwi Ryan Yardley (2025).

“It was always our target, to raise Carrera Cup to the top one-make platform where three classes and the Juniors can use it as a development series for them and step up to GT3 racing and get manufacturer contracts,” said Holzmeyer.

“We’ve had five champions from five different nationalities. I think that’s an interesting fact in that it’s more international than anything.

“Of course the target is to find the next factory driver, together with our Junior program. I think we are progressing.

“It shows that international drivers are joining Carrera Cup North America because it’s also an entry point into the U.S motorsport market, which is unique and a little bit separated from the European or Asian markets.

“We have good traction there and have international drivers reaching out who want to make their career in the U.S. and therefore Carrera Cup is a good platform.”

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