
Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche
Richard Westbrook said his role as a Porsche EBOOST Junior Program driver advisor feels like “coming full circle” and allows him to “give something back” to the Carrera Cup platform, which helped launch his career.
The British sports car great won the 2004 title in Carrera Cup Great Britain on his way to a pair of Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup championships in 2006 and 2007. His success in the German brand’s single-make ranks helped earn him his role as a Porsche factory driver a year later.
Westbrook’s CV is prolific and includes class wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, multiple overall podiums at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and a FIA GT Championship title.
As the driver advisor to Porsche’s expanded crop of young driving talents competing in Carrera Cup North America, Westbrook provides on-track support and mentorship to Paul Bocuse, Tyler Maxon, Wesley Slimp, Yves Baltas, and Zachary Vanier as they look to elevate their individual careers in the single-make ranks.
“It’s a nice story,” Westbrook told Sportscar365. “I started up in Carrera Cup UK, went Supercup, became a Porsche factory driver, and then ended my career back in a Porsche. So it was always like coming full circle.
“So when the opportunity came up to mentor drivers that are getting into Carrera Cup at a very young age, with the support of a manufacturer, I was just like, ‘I want some of that,’ because I want to give something back.
“The big thing for me for these young kids to really grasp and understand is that they’ve got a manufacturer behind them already, which is unheard of.
“It certainly never happened to me. It’s an amazing opportunity for them, and my job is making sure that they get the most out of it.”
Westbrook, who also advises JDC-Miller Motorsports’ GTP effort in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, began his Porsche junior driver advisor role at the Carrera Cup round in Miami, where Baltas swept the weekend overall, with Maxson and Vanier also collecting podium hardware.
With the season now at its halfway point this weekend at Watkins Glen International, Westbrook says he wants to see his junior drivers succeed to leverage their Carrera Cup success, the same way he did.
“I had a dream start because Miami was my first event, and I got a 1-2 in Race 1,” said Westbrook. “But that had absolutely nothing to do with me. It was just an awesome weekend, and I could just focus on them. In Miami, I didn’t have the GTP stuff to worry about.
“I want one of my juniors to win the Carrera Cup [North America] and progress to the Supercup and go and do something big there. When I first got with them, I told them I made that quite clear. That’s what I want to get out of it.
“Any young driver that comes to me for advice, I always say one thing, ‘Go and win a Carrera Cup. Go and win the Super Cup.’
“There’s no guarantee in motorsport. But the closest guarantee you can get is winning a Carrera Cup and then a Supercup. That’s the closest guarantee you can get for having a career in sports car racing.”
Now in his third race weekend as the driver advisor, Westbrook has been impressed with the level of competition in North America’s Carrera Cup branch and has begun to develop a solid working relationship with his junior drivers.
“The level is way higher than I thought,” he said. “You’ve got guys qualifying on pole in Miami, winning the race in Miami and then qualifying P10 here.
“There’s big swings, which is normally a good sign of how competitive it is. It’s not one person dominating. It’s becoming more competitive.
“They can use me as much as they like. They don’t need to use me at all. But I’m there for them, and they know that.
“We’ve got to know each other now, and I know which ones need more help in which direction. Some need different areas to work on than others. The speed is there, and it’s just really sort of honing their skill set.
“I’m putting a lot of trust into them as well. I’m trying to push them because, fortunately, I have a really good bunch of guys that can be pushed.”
John Dagys contributed to this report
