Carrera Cup Set for First-Ever F1 Support Event at Miami

Photo: Autosport Image

Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America is set to race alongside Formula 1 for the first time this weekend as part of the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.

A capacity grid of 40 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars are entered for the pair of 40-minute Carrera Cup races, including a cameo appearance by two-time series runner-up Kay van Berlo.

The Miami-based Dutchman, a Porsche North America Selected Driver, will climb behind the wheel of the No. 33 Accelerating Performance Porsche as part of the 21-car Pro class field.

Among the other additions include the return of Connor Flynn in the No. 95 Irish Mike’s Racing Porsche in Pro, while BGB Motorsports’ Thomas Collingwood also returns to action in his Pro-Am class entry.

Don Yount is set for his first start with MDK Motorsports in the ten-car Pro-Am field, which will be without defending class champion Alan Metni for the first time in series’ history.

Metni is set for a reduced schedule this year, competing primarily in the Carrera Cup races that run on IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekends.

After being limited to five cars at Long Beach, which was restricted to 35 entries overall, the Am class sees a return to nine entries with a number of regulars back behind the wheel for Rounds 5 and 6 of the season.

Riley Dickinson continues to lead the Pro class championship, with an 18-point lead over McElrea Racing’s Tom Sargent and Long Beach Race 2 winner Will Martin, for JDX Racing, a further 13 points behind in third.

Pro-Am sees Marco Cirone atop the leaderboard, six points ahead of Efrin Castro, while MDK’s Mark Kvamme leads the Am class heading into the weekend.

Track action begins on Friday with a pair of practice sessions, with qualifying on Saturday morning and Race 1 getting the green flag at 2:05 p.m. ET and Race 2 on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. ET, both of which will be streamed live on Peacock, IMSA.tv and PorscheCarreraCup.us.

The Miami event marks the first of two races supporting F1 this year, with Carrera Cup’s season finale coming on the U.S. Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend at Circuit of The Americas in late October.

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