Race 1 - Saturday, August 3
Jimmy Llibre led a doubly special day for ACI Motorsports, winning in the ExxonMobil Pro class for the first time of his Porsche Carrera Cup North America career.
A victory in Carrera Cup had been elusive for Llibre, a longtime Porsche single-make driver, until Saturday afternoon at Road America. Llibre lunged for the lead in the opening turns of lap one, moving from third to first, and finishing by more than 1.5 seconds ahead of the field.
‟(I feel) a lot of emotions, but I’m really proud to represent my country, my teammates and ACI Motorsports,” said Llibre, who hails from the Dominican Republic. ‟A big thanks to all my sponsors who make this possible. Thank you so much ACI, and let’s go for more.”
The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars all jockeyed for position at the start of the 40-minute race, and second-place finisher Zachary Vanier took advantage of the action. Vanier started fifth prior to his sixth podium of the season, while Ryan Yardley followed in third.
Yardley’s finish means he closes the gap to Pro class championship leader Riley Dickinson to just five points prior to Sunday’s race at the 4.048-mile circuit.
ACI Motorsports was also victorious in the Solairus Aviation Pro-Am class, winning with championship leader JP Martinez. Martinez started second behind polesitter Alan Metni, but assumed the top spot within the first five minutes of the race.
‟I didn’t get to test here, so I felt I was on my back foot a little bit this weekend,” said Martinez. ‟But the team gave me an amazing car, so kudos to them. It’s a special day because we won overall first place and Pro-Am first place, so hats off to the team for doing such a good job. Extremely happy.”
Metni maintained second place by the race’s end, while Brady Behrman finished third.
Peter Atwater wound up as the only polesitter to win in class on Saturday, starting first and finishing first in the Solairus Aviation Masters class. It was also Atwater’s first-ever win in the series.
Rob Walker tried to keep his JTR Motorsports Engineering teammate within striking distance but was resigned to second place by just over two seconds. Championship leader Scott Blind completed the class podium.
‟I was just trying to hit my marks,” said Atwater. ‟The team put together a great car, we’ve been working on it for four days. It felt good, it’s good to have a teammate behind me and Scott always makes us push a little harder. He’s a tough guy to beat.”
Race 2 - Sunday, August 4
Tyler Maxson had been knocking on the door of a Porsche Carrera Cup North America victory in recent rounds, and the 20-year-old rookie finally accomplished the feat on Sunday at Road America.
Maxson is the sixth different winner in Carrera Cup through 10 rounds, and also the second consecutive first-time winner in the series following Jimmy Llibre’s success the day prior.
Driving a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car for Topp Racing, Maxson started from pole in both rounds at the 4.048-mile circuit but finally converted the position into a victory in Race 2. The series rookie previously finished runner-up at Watkins Glen International during the most recent race, and inches himself higher in the ExxonMobil Pro class championship.
‟Yesterday was big motivation,” said Maxson, also a member of the Porsche Motorsport North America EBOOST Junior Program. ‟I think we missed it a little bit yesterday, but the Topp Racing guys did what they do best, and they went to work on it overnight. We got a really, really fast package today, and we were just lucky I was able to execute on it and bring home the win for these guys.
‟After we settled in a little bit, I just tried to look forward and stop looking in the mirrors. Just tried to drive away as much as we could. When you have a really good car like that and you’re able to, it makes it a little bit easier. Hats off to the guys for the work they did last night and get this car ready to go for today.”
Maxson led a one-two sweep for Topp Racing on Sunday, finishing ahead of teammate Ryan Yardley in second place. Road America was crucial for Yardley as he narrowed the championship gap to leader Riley Dickinson, who completed the day’s podium. Only two points separate the drivers with three events remaining in 2025.
JP Martinez with ACI Motorsports replicated his winning performance from Saturday to Sunday, with the only difference being that he started from the top spot in Race 2. Martinez led flag-to-flag on Sunday to further advance his Solairus Aviation Pro-Am class championship efforts.
‟I couldn’t ask for a better weekend,” Martinez said from victory lane. ‟Two first-place finishes, I really needed those points for the rest of the championship, so I’m super happy. I want to give a big thank you to ACI – we won first place overall yesterday, first in Pro-Am yesterday, and today. That shows the incredible job that the team is doing. I’m really happy and we’re going to keep pushing the rest of the season.”
Metni finished in second place for the second consecutive day, while Javier Ripoll finished third.
Scott Blind recaptured his place atop the Solairus Aviation Masters podium by winning on Sunday. With six victories entering Road America, Blind – the championship frontrunner – missed first place in the last two races until Sunday’s victory.
‟We had a tough start to the week, qualifying was tough and the first race was really tough,” said the Ruckus Racing driver. ‟We just worked on the car; the guys just put a car together for me today that gave me the ability to fight the whole race. That was the difference.”
Richard Edge found himself involved in a lap one incident, but unofficially finished second, with polesitter and Race 1 winner Peter Atwater finishing third.
Pro class winners:
Race 1. Jimmy Llibre, No. 2 ACI Motorsports.
Race 2. Tyler Maxson, No. 77 Topp Racing.
Pro-Am class winners:
Race 1 and 2. JP Martinez, No. 4 ACI Motorsports.
Masters class winners:
Race 1. Peter Atwater, No. 12 JTR Motorsports Engineering.
Race 2. Scott Blind, No. 45 Ruckus Racing.
On point:
Pro class. Riley Dickinson, No. 91 Kellymoss.
Pro-Am class. JP Martinez, No. 4 ACI Motorsports.
Masters class. Scott Blind, No. 45 Ruckus Racing.
Entrant. Topp Racing.
Highlights:
• Championship Battle Closing Up. With three rounds and six races remaining, the Porsche Carrera Cup North America standings in the ExxonMobil Pro class is as close as it has been since the season began. With a pair of podium finishes at Road America, Ryan Yardley has decreased the margin to leader Riley Dickinson to just two points. Dickinson’s No. 91 Kellymoss Porsche followed Yardley across the finish in each race for a fourth-place and a third-place finish, respectively, on Saturday and Sunday to minimize the damage to his championship hopes. Topp Racing, boosted by the one-two punch of Yardley and Tyler Maxson, leads the Entrant standings. JP Martinez and Scott Blind continue their leads in the Solairus Pro-Am and Solairus Masters classes.
• Broadcast. All races can be seen live and are archived on the IMSA and Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport North America social channels on Facebook, LinkedIn, X and the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube channel.
• Online. Porsche Carrera Cup North America: PorscheCarreraCup.us
• Next up. September 19-21. Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Round 6 (Races 11 and 12).
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