Riley Dickinson will join Kay van Berlo in the Porsche Selected Driver Program North America in 2024. The defending Porsche Carrera Cup North America champion will receive support in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge as he takes next step in his motorsport career. Van Berlo returns to SRO GT4 America competition where he found success last season.
Carson, California. Porsche Motorsport North America has named two drivers to its 2024 Porsche Selected Driver Program North America. Following an impressive season in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, 2023 overall champion Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas) has been named to the Porsche Selected Driver Program North America for the first time. Dickinson joins Kay van Berlo (Netherlands) who earned his role as a Porsche Selected Driver North America in 2023. The Porsche Selected Driver North America program was re-invented in 2023 to provide promising young drivers a curated path to the top ranks of professional motorsport. The Selected Driver program acts as a final, official hand to drivers who have moved through the ranks of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America to open competition championships such as IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as well as in the SRO.
Selected Driver status, hard earned in the premier Porsche one-make race series, comes with not only the recognition as one of the German sports car manufacturer’s up-and-coming drivers in North America, but also enhances a driver’s career. Both drivers will receive mentoring from Porsche legend Patrick Long as well as financial support and assistance in securing a seat with a Porsche customer race team at the next level as part of the position. In addition, each driver will have the honor of carrying the Porsche Selected Driver Program North America signet on his helmet and uniform for the season.
Dickinson brought up from Porsche one-make racing
The Selected Driver title highlights Dickinson as a special talent. The objective of the program is to assist drivers who show high levels of skill and potential for long-term success with a hand-up to the next plateau of the sport through support both in and out of the car. A Selected Driver is neither an official Porsche factory driver nor a Porsche Junior but is highlighted for the open competition categories.
Dickinson launched his open competition career in the IMSA’s Michelin Pilot Challenge series with a come from behind victory in the four-hour race at Daytona. He co-drove a Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport with fellow Porsche Carrera Cup North America graduate Michael McCarthy and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama driver Brady Golan for the Andy Kilcoyne and Victoria Thomas-owned Kellymoss with Riley operation. Dickinson and McCarthy will contend the season together.
Dickinson won 11 of 16 rounds on his way to the Porsche Carrera Cup North America title. He scored four podium finishes (three second places and one third) in the remaining rounds. Only once did the third-year driver fail to finish on the podium. Piloting the Kellymoss prepared No. 53 Racing For Children’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car, Dickinson started from pole position 10 times and also set fastest race lap 10 times. His 139-point margin of victory in the Pro class championship was the highest in series history.
Van Berlo returns for second season as Porsche Selected Driver
Kay van Berlo will return as a Porsche Selected Driver North America for a second season. Van Berlo had significant success in his first season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the SRO GT4 America. The highlight of the year for the driver from the Netherlands was a GTD class victory in the No. 92 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3 R. The win came co-driving with past Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro-Am champion Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The two-time Carrera Cup North America Pro class championship runner-up also co-drove with Carrera Cup regular Curt Swearingin (Chattanooga, Tennessee) to sixth place in the SRO GT4 America Pro-Am championship driving the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport. The second year Selected Driver will receive the same level of support as Dickinson. Van Berlo returns to ACI in 2024 to share the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport with Swearingin.
Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America
The Porsche Motorsport Pyramid North America provides a clear path for drivers, teams and marketing partners to progress through the ranks of sports car racing. From novice instruction and track days with Porsche road cars through to full participation in professional open competition around the world with purpose-built Porsche racing machines, Porsche Motorsport North America (PMNA) provides a map, appropriate car and support throughout the journey. It is the perfect career pathway to move through the sports car racing echelons. At each step on the Pyramid, Porsche provides the appropriate tools, personnel and strategies to realistically model the career path for drivers, teams and partners.
Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO, Porsche Motorsport North America
“Riley is a deserving participant in the Porsche Selected Driver Program. He epitomizes everything that we look for. His record setting season in Carrera Cup North America on track as well as his personality and media skills off the track are what we want to see representing Porsche in North America. Kay is equally deserving to retain this recognition and completely justified in his role as a Selected Driver in the competitive fields of both GT3 and GT4 competition. Both drivers will represent Porsche well as members of the Porsche Selected Driver Program North America in 2024.”
Riley Dickinson, 2024 Porsche Selected Driver North America
“I’m very eager to continue my motorsports career with Porsche. Since the Selected Driver program was recently reintroduced to the North American market, it has been something that I have been working towards quite hard. This was easily the most logical step forward in my career. Being able to have the opportunity to work directly with Porsche Motorsport North America and have one on one mentoring from one of the greats of our sport, Patrick Long, will hugely be beneficial to me as far as my growth and development as a driver.”
Kay van Berlo, 2024 Porsche Selected Driver North America
“I’m super excited to continue as a Porsche Selected Driver North America. Last year showed me it is tremendously valuable to a driver like me that came from Porsche Carrera Cup North America and jumped immediately into an IMSA WeatherTech GT3 car. Looking back at everything I’ve been doing over the course of the year from IMSA to the SRO GT4 program to the 24 Hours of Spa, none of this would have been possible without the support of Porsche. The Selected Driver Program has offered me so many useful resources including Pat Long and I am in touch with Volker [Holzmeyer] quite often and so many others within Porsche. You are expected to be fast but when you reach a level like GTD, there is so much more you are expected to be aware of, so I am very grateful for these resources.”
The Porsche Motorsport North America X (formerly Twitter) channel is @PorscheRacesNA and can also be found at @PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica on Instagram.
