Porsche 911 Cup Set for North America Debut in Sebring Opener

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

The new Porsche 911 Cup is set for its North American race debut this week at Sebring International Raceway, as part of the opening rounds of Porsche Carrera Cup North America.

A total of 27 cars are entered for the pair of 40-minute races supporting the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, in what will also mark the debut of new series partner Pirelli with its P Zero DHG tire.

The Type-992.2 race car, which made its global debut in last weekend’s Carrera Cup Asia event in Shanghai, delivers 520 horsepower from a normally aspirated 4.0-liter boxer engine and features refined aerodynamics, cockpit ergonomics and updated electronics, including a newly added air conditioning system.

Carrera Cup North America is just one of four championships that will feature the 911 Cup this year, alongside Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and Carrera Cups in Asia and Germany.

With 2025 title winner Ryan Yardley and second and third place finishers Riley Dickinson and Zachary Vanier all stepping up the Porsche Motorsport North America Pyramid this year, the highly competitive single-make series is set to feature a new Pro champion.

More than half of the field are entered in the top class, including returning contenders Aaron Jeansonne (Kellymoss), Tyler Maxson (Topp Racing) and Sabre Cook (JDX Racing) although there are a number of newcomers expected to make title bids.

It includes Kiwi Callum Hedge (JDX), German rising star Janne Stiak (ACI Motorsports), John Capestro-Dubets (GMG Racing), Connor Bloum (JDX) and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America champion Cole Kleck (Topp).

CSM Racing makes its series debut with Nikita Lastochkin in the Pro class, alongside additional entries from ACI for Alex Pratt and John Jodoin, while Jared Thomas will again be on the grid in his JTR Motorsports Engineering entry.

Former Pro-Am class champion Alan Metni is listed in the Pro class in his Kellymoss Porsche, meanwhile, alongside the returning Paul Bocuse, who is one of five Junior drivers in the field.

Four drivers are due to take part in the Pro-Am class, headlined by GMG team owner/driver James Sofronas, alongside Brady Behrman (van der Steur Racing), Josh Conley (Kellymoss) and a to-be-announced driver for ACI.

Scott Blind, who took home four Porsche single-make titles last year, will defend his championship in Masters aboard his Ruckus Racing entry, alongside veterans Richard Edge (ACI), John Goetz and Chris Bellomo (both Kellymoss) as well as Rob Walker (JTR).

Former Pro-Am front-runner Marco Cirone (ACI) moves to Masters, while Kevin Stadtlander (JDX), Kayden Kelly (Kellymoss) and Alain Scalzo (Scalzo Autosport) are among the newcomers to the single-make series.

Cars take to the 3.7-mile airfield circuit on Wednesday for a pair of practice sessions, followed by qualifying on Thursday morning. Race 1 is set for Thursday at 3 p.m. EST, with Race 2 set to get underway Friday at 5:45 p.m.

Both races can be seen live on Peacock as well as on IMSA’s YouTube channel and PorscheCarreraCup.us.

Pre-Event News & Notes:

***The move to the Porsche 911 Cup car marks only the second new race car to be introduced in the single-make series, with the Type-992.1 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car debuting alongside the series launch in 2021. Pirelli, meanwhile, becomes the third different tire partner following Michelin (2021-23) and Yokohama (2024-25).

***Teams got a first look at the new car and tire combination during the official pre-season test on Feb. 16-17 at Sebring. Five drivers ran a lap under the existing lap record, led by Topp’s Maxson in 2:01.250 during the second day’s morning session. Stiak, Jeansonne, Hedge and Thomas were the remaining five, all from different race teams.

***Carrera Cup North America has, throughout its history, been an opportunity for international drivers to compete. After five seasons, each championship-winning driver has come from a different country: Seb Priaulx (UK), Parker Thompson (Canada), Dickinson (U.S.), Loek Hartog (The Netherlands) and Yardley (New Zealand).

***Yardley, Dickinson, Hartog, as well as Vanier and fellow former Carrera Cup driver Michael McCann Jr., will all be at the wheel of Porsche 911 GT3 R Evos in GT World Challenge America powered by AWS this year, showcasing the success of Porsche’s Pyramid system in North America. The SRO America-run series kicks off its season next weekend at Sonoma Raceway.

***The Mobil 1 Female Driver Program continues for a fourth year. Both Madeline Stewart and Ashely Freiberg competed in Carrera Cup North America last year while benefiting from the program. This year they progress into IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and Pirelli GT4 America respectively in Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports. Freiberg joins fellow Female Driver Program participants Loni Unser, Therese Lahlou, and Erika Hoffmann in the SRO America paddock this year. Meanwhile Cook will contest the Pro class of Carrera Cup North America with JDX.

***There are several new faces in Carrera Cup North America this year. Stiak, the 19-year-old German racer, joins ACI and his first season in North America. He’s the 2024-25 Porsche Carrera Cup Middle East champion and has already competed in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, Italia and Mobil 1 Supercup.

***Latochkin of CSM got as far as Indy Lights before moving to sports car racing. In 2025, he ran selected races with with the team in Pilot Challenge, while also competing in drift events.

***JDX’s newest driver, Hedge, was a successful open-wheel driver. He competed in Indy NXT the past two seasons, scoring a pair of podium finishes, and was the 2023 Formula Regionals America champion. He has Porsche experience, however, and in 2023 he also won Carrera Cup Australia.

***The Grand Prix of Long Beach returns to the Carrera Cup North America calendar after two years away, effectively replacing Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, which sees one fewer Formula 1 support race but continued events at the Miami International Autodrome and Circuit of The Americas serving as the F1 undercard.

***Sebring is a long-standing favorite on the Carrera Cup North America calendar, opening the season every year since its series debut in 2021. A year ago, Dickinson and Kellymoss swept the weekend overall on his way to second in the season championship.

***Solairus Aviation returns not only as the title of the Solairus Aviation Pro-Am and Solairus Aviation Masters class, but as the series presenting partner at Sebring. Mobil returns as the Mobil Pro class title partner.

***The Porsche eSports Carrera Cup North America mirrors its real life counterpart, with 40 Type-992.2 Porsche 911 Cup cars competing through iRacing in a one-make championship. The series makes its debut at Sebring on Wednesday evening. Carrera Cup North America’s defending rookie champion and Kellymoss driver Jeansonne has qualified for the championship, but his first priority is his “analog” season.

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