Vital Speed Ferrari Returns; Westphal Joins Team

Photo: Rick Dole/SRO

Vital Speed Motorsports will return to the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS this year but with Jeff Westphal as part of its lineup.

Reigning IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge champion Westphal will share Vital Speed’s Ferrari 488 GT3 with Trevor Baek.

Trevor Baek shared the car with Rich Baek in last year’s opener at Circuit of The Americas, in the only race outing for the Oregon-based team.

Westphal previously drove alongside Trevor Baek in Vital Speed’s car at the 2018 California 8 Hours, but most of Westphal’s recent experience came in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge last year, where he claimed the title with CarBahn Motorsports.

He also returns to the IMSA GT4 class alongside co-champion Tyler McQuarrie this year, again driving the team’s Audi R8 LMS GT4. 

In addition, he drove a similar Ferrari GT3 to Vital Speed’s car in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, where he raced for Scuderia Corsa.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.