Porsche Carrera Cup opener at Sebring swept by Dickinson, Martinez and Blind

Sebring, Florida. The fifth season of Porsche Carrera Cup North America opened March 12-14 at Sebring International Raceway in support of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring with a pair of 40-minute races. A total of 31 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) machines competed in the premier one-make series in North America, spread out across Pro, Pro-Am, and Masters classes. Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas), JP Martinez (Miami, Florida) and Scott Blind (Fenton, Missouri) swept the weekend in their respective classes to stake a claim on the early championship point leads

Race 1. Thursday. March 13, 2025

The season-opening race saw a familiar face in front of the 31-car field, as 2023 series champion Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas) made a triumphant return. Dickinson’s No. 91 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup led the full 40-minute race distance from the Race Brew Pole for a 5.623-second win over Ryan Yardley (New Zealand). Behind him, the battle for the remaining podium positions raged. Zachary Vanier swooped around the outside of Turn 1 at the start to move from fifth on the grid to second on the track temporarily, but gave the position back to Yardley as both battled until power-steering issues slowed Vanier.  Jimmy Llibre (Dominican Republic), who started eighth, took advantage of the slowing Vanier to move around he and Matheus Leist (Brazil) late in the race to earn his second career Carrera Cup podium.

The win is Dickinson’s 13^th career victory in the five years of Porsche Carrera Cup North America.

JP Martinez (Miami, Florida) and his No. 4 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup controlled the Pro-Am class from the front, building a lead early and holding off a hard-charging Alan Metni (Austin, Texas) on the final lap to earn his first Carrera Cup victory. Metni attempted a desperation pass going into Turn 16 on the final lap but Martinez held the point through the final corner to take victory. Scott Blind (Fenton, Missouri) led flag-to-flag in the Masters class for his third career victory in the No. 45 Ruckus Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Race 2. Friday. March 14, 2025

Friday evening’s race followed a similar pattern to the opener, as Riley Dickinson (New Braunfels, Texas) led the field to the green flag in the No. 91 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with second starting Ryan Yardley (New Zealand) just to his outside. With both drivers trying to gain the Turn 1 advantage, Dickinson, as the Race Brew polesitter waited within the rules to accelerate and held the first spot. Behind him, the field remained close, with Zachary Vanier (Canada) once again sweeping from fifth to third in the early corners.

The bunched field caused some side by side contact in the mid-pack, cutting a tire on the each of Grant Talkie and Paul Bocuse’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. Avoiding the slowing Talkie, Michael McCann, Sabré Cook and John Jodoin were collected with contact, ending each of their days and bringing out a full-course caution.

The safety car session and the ensuing restart didn’t hinder Dickinson, as he pulled away from Yardley once again and set sail for a 5.747-second victory. Yardley finished as the runner-up for the second-consecutive day, followed by Vanier.

In the Pro-Am class, JP Martinez (Miami, Florida) took advantage of a battle for second between Alan Metni and Marco Cirone to stretch his advantage. Metni moved around Cirone late in the race, but by then Martinez had the space he needed to score victory in his No. 4 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Scott Blind’s No. 45 Ruckus Racing Porsche streaked to the finish line for his second-consecutive Masters class win ahead of Richard Edge.

Highlights

Parity Amongst Teams. Though Riley Dickinson and Kellymoss swept the weekend overall, five different teams placed drivers in the top five during both Sebring races. Kellymoss placed both Dickinson and Aaron Jeansonne into the top five, while Topp Racing (Ryan Yardley), ACI Motorsports (Jimmy Llibre), Alegra Motorsports (Michael de Quesada), and JDX Racing (Zachary Vanier) earned strong finishes in the competitive series.

Conquering The Pyramid. Scott Blind conquered the Porsche one-make pyramid program at Sebring, taking wins in three different championships during the first two weeks of March. Blind opened the month with Porsche Sprint Challenge, where he claimed victory in the GT3 Cup Masters, then drove solo to an Am class win in Porsche Endurance Challenge on the same weekend. He followed that up with a weekend sweep in Porsche Carrera Cup less than two weeks later, all in the same Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Unfortunate Qualifying. Madeline Stewart’s weekend ended prematurely following contact during the 30-minute qualifying session on Thursday morning. Stewart’s JDX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup made contact with the wall following a Turn 2 spin, causing damage to the car that could not be repaired at the track. Stewart will return for Round 2 at Miami. 

Broadcast

All races can be seen live on IMSA and Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport North America social channels on Facebook, Linkedin, and X. The Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube page can be found at  https://www.youtube.com/c/PorscheMotorsportNorthAmerica.

Online

Porsche Carrera Cup North America: www.PorscheCarreraCup.us

Next up

May 2-4. Miami International Autodrome, Races 3 and 4.

Driver quotes:

Riley Dickinson, No. 91 Kellymoss. Pro Winner, Races 1 and 2: “It’s a great feeling to be back. After yesterday, I definitely learned a lot. That was my first time in a full Carrera Cup race on the Yokohama tires, so we certainly learned a lot throughout the race. We made a couple of adjustments in a positive direction on the setup with how the tire builds throughout the race. It feels good to be back and I’m excited to go back to Miami. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the calendar, so it should be good.”

JP Martinez, No. 4 ACI Motorsports, Pro-Am Winner, Race 1: “I’m so happy. I’m so stoked. I couldn’t ask for more in my debut race to top the charts in practice, qualifying and then finish in first place in the first race. It was tough. Metni was behind me until the last lap, we were battling and I’m happy to hold him off. I have to give a big thank you to ACI.”

Scott Blind, No. 45 Ruckus Racing. Masters Winner, Race 1: “This is amazing. I love Carrera Cup. This is my focus this year, and here at Sebring, it’s just fantastic. It’s been a huge help. Porsche Sprint Challenge has helped a lot. It can be sketchy in Turn 1 here at Sebring, and having those extra starts really helped.”