Porsche: SRO America “Perfect Showcase” for Rising Talent

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

The influx of Porsche entries into SRO America has created the “perfect showcase” for the German manufacturer and its ‘Pyramid’ system according to Porsche Motorsport North America President and CEO Volker Holzmeyer.

A total of eight Porsche 911 GT3 R Evos are entered in this weekend’s season-opening GT World Challenge America powered by AWS round at Sonoma Raceway, alongside seven GT3 cars in GT America powered by AWS and eight Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsports in Pirelli GT4 America.

It makes Porsche the most-represented brand, outside of the two single-make series, in the SRO America paddock, representing significant year-over-year growth.

The arrival of new Porsche programs, such as those from Kellymoss, Wright Motorsports and McCann Racing in the GT3 ranks, as well as Kellymoss also in GT4, has brought a plethora of rising Porsche-affiliated talent to the paddock.

It includes the last three Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro class champions in Riley Dickinson (2023), Loek Hartog (2024) and Ryan Yardley (2025), who are all in GT3 entries, along with other former single-make series front runners including Tom Sargent, Zachary Vanier and Michael McCann Jr.

Jimmy Llibre and Yves Baltas, meanwhile, are set for their GT4 America debuts, alongside the returning Matheus Leist, who also competes in Carrera Cup.

Additionally, both Sargent and Yardley, who is set for a dual season GT3/GT4 SRO America program, are Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Drivers this year.

“Of course we’re always working on this, especially trying to place our Carrera Cup front runners,” Holzmeyer told Sportscar365.

“The job like the Selected Driver program, that’s one part of it to pick one or two of the top runners to make sure they end up in a GT3 car. We support that heavily.

“There’s some funding behind it but of of course it’s also networking, bringing the right gentleman driver together with the right pro from Carrera Cup.

“It’s amazing they’ve all been Carrera Cup driver from the last two years.”

It has largely been made possible due to the Pro-Am nature in SRO America, which has seen numerous gentlemen drivers from the USAC-sanctioned Porsche Sprint and Endurance Challenge North America series, as well as the Pro-Am class in Carrera Cup, also stepping up and helping create opportunities.

“There’s also a lot of gentleman drivers also coming out of Carrera Cup but also Sprint Challenge,” said Holzmeyer.

“With the amount of cars we have now, it’s the perfect showcase. But it’s also a little bit random, because it depends on one gentleman driver wanting to step up to GT3 racing.

“Often his or her business has to also work together with the schedules. It’s not that plan-able but for sure this year is a big year in GT3.

“I think it’s good for SRO that we are bringing that many cars. There needs to be a spot for GT3 racing in the U.S. next to IMSA, where people can get started.

“Because IMSA, the WeatherTech Championship, is not a place to get started.”

PMNA’s Established Support Network Well Equipped to Handle Influx of Entries

Holzmeyer said PMNA’s existing infrastructure of at-track support and its extensive U.S.-based parts supply network is more the capable to support the 20-plus Porsches racing on every SRO America weekend.

“Our truck has always been full,” he said. “We have a little bit more stuff on site but mainly we increased our inventory, of what we have here in the U.S., GT3 spare parts-wise.

“The car count is always the trigger for that.

“The last two years we also purchased a second warehouse into our company to have big, bulk items stored, so that in case a truck is emptied out or customers are purchasing a lot in Carson or Los Angeles, we have a second warehouse which is always filled by sea freight.

“That changed our availability on spare parts dramatically than the last two or three years.

“We have much more stock, and have been bringing it all in via sea freight. It’s saved on costs and we have much availability in the U.S., spare parts-wise, across all of our models.

“It’s much easier for us to react on some spikes.”

Holzmeyer said PMNA has recently begun stocking full bodyshells for its Porsche race cars, which had previously been special-ordered from Germany, for instance.

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