USAC to Sanction New Porsche Sprint Challenge North America

Photo: Porsche

The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama will launch next year as part of Porsche Motorsport North America’s expanded pyramid, officials from PMNA and USAC announced on Monday.

It follows news of the new Porsche Carrera Cup North America, which has taken the place of Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama on IMSA weekends beginning next year.

The new Sprint Challenge, sanctioned by USAC, will utilize previous generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars and current-generation Porsche GT4 machinery and serve as a direct feeder series to Carrera Cup.

The eight round, 16-race series will be run largely on SRO America weekends, with Yokohama selected as the series’ official tire partner and presenting sponsor.

Erik Skirmants has been appointed series manager.

Sprint Challenge will be broken up into three classes: Platinum for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (type 991.2) race cars, Gold for type 991.1 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars and the Silver class for the mid-engine Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.

Driver and team championships will be awarded with the Platinum and Silver driver champions being invited the Porsche Night of Champions in Weissach.

“The addition of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama to the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid continues our effort to offer a clear and competitive path for everyone wishing to race GT cars,” said PMNA President and CEO Dr. Daniel Armbruster.

“We believe that this step provides a place to compete whether you are moving up the steps or want to find a more structured and competitive environment than track days or club racing can provide.

“Additionally, this gives us the opportunity to continue our long relationship with Yokohama.

“They have been a tremendous partner and we believe will continue to play an instrumental part in the development of young drivers.

“We are also pleased to have our first partnership with USAC. They have shown to be the stepping-stone in American open wheel racing for generations and will now play that role in sports car racing.

“We will have a very busy 2021 and I am excited for Porsche, our partners, customers and fans.”

The North American championship is the seventh Sprint Challenge to compete worldwide, joining similar series in Great Britain, the Middle East and Asia as well as Porsche Sprint Challenges in the North European Zone, Central Europe and Benelux.

The inaugural season of will kick-off at Sebring International Raceway in March and hold its finale in October at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Seven of the eight weekends will count toward the championships, with Mont Tremblant serving as a non-points “prelude” event to introduce Canadian competitors to the series.

2021 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America Schedule:
March 12-14 — Sebring International Raceway
April 9-11 — Barber Motorsport Park
April 30-May 2 — Circuit of the Americas
June 11-13 — Virginia International Raceway
July 23-25 — Mont Tremblant*
July 30 – Aug 1 — Road America
Sept. 17-19 — Watkins Glen International
Oct. 15-17 — Indianapolis Motor Speedway

*Prelude/non-points event

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