Porsche Motorsports Event Notes. Pirelli World Challenge Championships at the Grand Prix of Alabama Dateline. Birmingham, Alabama Circuit. Barber Motorsports Park Track Length/Turns. 2.38-miles/15-turn Road Course Round. GT/GTA/GT Cup: Rounds 6 & 7; GTS: Rounds 5 & 6 Next Round. Speedfest Victoria Day Weekend, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, May 15-17 GT/GTA/GTS/GT Cup Porsche Events. Pirelli World Challenge Date. GTS Class: Race 1: Friday, April 24, 4:55 p.m. CT/ 5:55p.m. ET, Race 2: Saturday April 25, 1:40 p.m. CT/2:40 p.m. ET GT/GTA/GT Cup Classes: Race 1:Saturday, April 25, 11:20 a.m. CT/12:20 p.m. ET Race 2: Sunday, April 26, 10:55 a.m. CT/11:55 a.m. ET Race Duration. 50-minutes Classes. GT (Porsche 911 GT3 R), GTA (Porsche 911 GT3 R), GT Cup (2015 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup), GTS (Porsche Cayman S) Porsche Profile. Event Story Lines Porsche Young Driver Academy Reunion Since the creation of the Porsche Young Driver Academy in North America in 2012, Barber Motorsports Park has been the site of the multi-day, multi-facetted program. As hosts of the Young Driver Academy, Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) and Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA), have used the Porsche Sport Driving School headquartered at the Birmingham, Alabama-area track to help observe, train and provide insight to over a dozen drivers in that three-year span. While this program is not a driver search or promise of a seat in a racecar of any type, it does helps its students accumulate valuable tools to advance their careers. Three of the participants return to the picturesque Alabama track this weekend for a class reunion of sorts to compete in the Pirelli World Challenge portion of the weekend. Each will be racing a variant of the world s most familiar automotive silhouette, the Porsche 911. 2013 participant Michael Lewis (Laguna Beach, California) will race the No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in the GT Amateur (GTA) class of the Pirelli World Challenge Championships at the Grand
Prix of Alabama. Lewis used his time at the Academy as a springboard first to a Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama ride in 2014 and this year became the first Porsche Young Driver Program recipient with EFFORT Racing. Lewis has won four of the five GTA class races held thus far including last week s Roar At The Shore in Long Beach. Both Colin Thompson (Doylestown, Pennsylvania) in the No. 11 Kelly Moss Porsche and Sloan Urry (Salt Lake City, Utah) in the No. 02 TruSpeed 911 GT3 Cup were 2014 participants. The two will compete in the one-make GT Cup class for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars racing to Porsche Supercup regulations. Like Lewis, Thompson is a fourtime race winner thus far in 2015 and currently leads the GT Cup point standings. Michael Lewis, Driver, No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Barber is a pretty special track to me. This is where my whole relationship with Porsche began at the Porsche Young Driver Academy in 2013. That launched me into the Porsche Young Driver Program for this year with EFFORT Racing in Pirelli World Challenge. It feels like a bit like a reunion to come back here this weekend. Home Track Advantage? Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham not only offers top professional race weekends featuring the Pirelli World Challenge and the Verizon Wireless IndyCar Series, a worldclass auto and motorcycle museum and perhaps the best collection of exotic trees and plants anywhere, but it is the home of the Porsche Sport Driving School (PSDS). Participants get the opportunity to pilot the latest Porsche models: 911 Carrera S, Boxster S, Cayman S, Panamera Turbo and Cayenne and experience the Porsche 911 Turbo S. Whether the participant owns a Porsche or not, he or she is exposed to the most highly refined performance driver training methods and techniques available. Attendees become more efficient and safer drivers. PSDS is also a great starting point for those interested in entering formal racing competition. Under the guidance of Porsche Certified instructors, participants learn not only the basics, but the fine points of the performance driving as well. Perfecting the most efficient driving line, the importance of being smooth, trail braking techniques, heel/toe downshifting and refining car control skills are part of the curriculum. There are many different programs including a women s only weekend and a Precision Couples Driving package all with emphasis on maximum track time to enhance the driving experience. The magnificent facility has been used as the sight of the Porsche Young Driver Academy for the first three years of the program s existence. Details for all the PSDS programs are available at: https://www.porschedriving.com/cmfiles/docs/click%20here%20to%20download%20a% 20detailed%20PSDS%20brochure.pdf Correction. Mitch Landry Finishes Second at Long Beach GT Cup Event Mitch Landry was erroneously left from the Porsche Cars North America post-race press release following last Sunday s Roar at the Shore Pirelli World Challenge race. The Lake Charles, Louisiana-resident raced the No. 97 Landry Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry to second-place in Long Beach. Porsche Point of View.
Jens Walther, President/CEO, Porsche Motorsport North America This week's round of the Pirelli World Challenge will likely start to separate the contenders for the champions in each class. The track is challenging but it is also a major task for teams to travel across the country following Sunday's fifth round at Long Beach. This event could be an early turning point in the season. For Porsche, Barber Motorsports Park is an important venue. The facility is home to the Porsche Sport Driving School and also the site of past Porsche Young Driver Academies. Several participants in the Young Driver Academy are here this weekend in key championship chases including the point leader of GTA, Michael Lewis [class of 2013], and GT Cup, Colin Thompson [class of 2014]. With the return of the GTS class, we will also see GTSport Racing s pair of Porsche Cayman S. We are looking forward to the weekend." Michael Lewis, Driver, No. 41 EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R I think the EFFORT Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R will do well at Barber but I don t know exactly where it will be strongest since I have not been there yet in the car. This weekend, I will definitely use the track experience I gained while at the Young Driver Academy. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car I drove then is very different than the 911 GT3 R, but the overall line, some braking points, the curbing that you can use, should be the same. We are doing pretty solid this year. We are leading the points in GTA. I am learning a lot about racing with other manufacturers and what their cars do differently. It s playing chess as you learn the strengths and weaknesses of the other cars. That has been different over my previous experience in one-make series like the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge I raced last year where all the cars have the same strengths and weaknesses. Where to Watch. Pirelli World Challenge Television Race Broadcast: Sunday, May 3, 2:00 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network Live Race Streaming: WorldChallengeTV.com Live Timing and Scoring: http://www.world-challenge.com/liverace Race Weekend Schedule. (All times CT) Thursday, April 23, 2014 Pirelli World Challenge Test Session 1 GTS 10:00 10:45 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge Test Session 1 GT/GTA/GT Cup 11:00 11:45 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge Test Session 2 GTS 3:15 4:00 p.m. Pirelli World Challenge Test Session 2 GT/GTA/GT Cup 4:15 5:00 p.m. Friday, April 24, 2014 Pirelli World Challenge Practice Session 1 GTS 9:30 10:30 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge Practice Session 1 GT/GTA/GT Cup 10:45 11:55 p.m. Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying GTS Qualifying Session 1:40 2:15 p.m. Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying GTS Race 1 4:45 5:55 p.m. (60-minutes) Saturday, April 25, 2014 Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying Session GT/GTA/GT Cup 8:00 8:45 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge Pre-Race GT/GTA/GT Cup 11:10 11:20 a.m.
Pirelli World Challenge Race 1 GT/GTA/GT Cup 11:20 a.m. 12:20 p.m. (60-minutes) Pirelli World Challenge Qualifying GTS Race 2 1:40 2:35 p.m. (60-minutes) Pirelli World Challenge Autograph Session 2:45 p.m. 3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 26, 2014 Pirelli World Challenge Pre-Race GT/GTA/GT Cup 10:45 10:55 a.m. Pirelli World Challenge Race 2 GT/GTA/GT Cup 10:55 11:55 a.m. (60-minutes) Porsche Entries. Pirelli World Challenge (15 Total Porsche entries) GT (1) Porsche 911 GT3 R No. 31 EFFORT Racing Ryan Dalziel (Scotland) GT Amateur (GTA)(2) Porsche 911 GT3 R No. 41 EFFORT Racing Michael Lewis (Laguna Beach, California) No. 90 Autometrics Motorsports Joseph Toussaint (R) (Houston, Texas) GT Cup (9) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup No. 11 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Colin Thompson (R) (Doylestown, Pennsylvania) No. 13 ANSA Motorsports Lorenzo Trefethen (R) (Napa, California) No. 17 GMG Alec Udell (The Woodlands, Texas) No. 18 TruSpeed Autosport Phill Fogg, Jr. (Portland, Oregon) No. 29 NGT Motorsport Eduardo Cisnerois (R) (Miami, Florida) No. 77 Phoenix American Motorsports Preston Calvert (R) (Potomac, Maryland) No. 81 DragonSpeed Victor Gomez (R) (Puerto Rico) No. 97 Landry Racing Mitch Landry (Lake Charles, Louisiana) No. 02 TruSpeed Autosport Sloan Urry (Salt Lake City, Utah) GTS (3) Porsche Cayman S No. 16 SGV Motorsports John Allen (R) (Denver, Colorado) No. 72 GTSport Racing Buz McCall (Boca Raton, Florida) No. 73 GTSport Racing Jack Baldwin (Marietta, Georgia) Past images from the venue. http://press.porsche.com/media/gallery2/v/photos/motorsports/happenings/2014- +Pirelli+World+Challenge-+Barber+Motorsports+Park/ 2014 Porsche Young Driver Academy Images. http://press.porsche.com/media/gallery2/v/photos/motorsports/happenings/porsche+youn g+driver+academy+iii/ Porsche Cars North America Media Site. http://press.porsche.com/ Porsche North America Race Team Site. http://porscheracingusa.porsche.com/ Porsche Motorsports Media Information. Current news, images and notes relating to Porsche can be found on our press kit. Please contact David Engelman or Tom Moore for the latest Porsche Motorsports media kit. Contacts. Dave Engelman
Porsche Cars North America Media Relations Manager Office. 770-290-3617 Mobile. 404-386-4665 dave.engelman@porsche.us Tom Moore Motorsports Public Relations Consultant Office. 615-778-1614 Mobile. 615-509-5000 tom@darkhorseautosport.com ###