Sebring, Fla. The newest era of Porsche Carrera Cup North America opened this week at Sebring International Raceway with 27 brand new Type 992.2 Porsche 911 Cup cars racing on Pirelli P Zero tires.
Seven cars qualified under the previous track record in advance of the pair of 40-minute races, led by polesitter Tyler Maxson from Topp Racing.
Maxson went on to sweep the weekend and maximize his point haul, turning the fastest laps in both races on his way to a pair of victories overall and in the Mobil Pro class.
ACI Motorsports drivers Patrick Mulcahy and Marco Cirone swept the Solairus Pro-Am and Solairus Masters class, respectively.
Race 1. Thursday, March 19
Tyler Maxson won an eye-catching battle at Sebring International Raceway to open the season.
Maxson, a Porsche Junior Program North America driver, led the opening lap after
starting from pole position but fell back to Jared Thomas (JTR Race Engineering) on lap two. The battle began at Turn 16 of the 3.74-mile circuit and lasted down the front straight to Turn three before Thomas moved to the lead. Just 10 minutes later, Maxson was back in the lead and pulling away.
Maxson went on for the Mobil Pro class victory by nearly eight seconds, while setting the K1 Speed Fastest Lap of the race with a new Sebring track record of 2:02.662.
‟These TOPP guys have just put in so much work over the offseason to get us into the spot that we need to be,” said Maxson. ‟I’m just happy I could show it, that their hard work paid off. It’s still a long season, we’ve got a lot of races left to go. Really strong competition, so we’ve just got to keep the momentum going forward.”
Aaron Jeansonne (Kellymoss) closed in to the lead battle to challenge Thomas for runner-up. Thomas held on for second, but only by 0.146 seconds over Jeansonne.
ACI Motorsports driver Patrick Mulcahy put on a masterclass performance in the Solairus Aviation Pro-Am category, leading flag-to-flag and running amongst Pro drivers throughout the race. Mulcahy finished eighth overall in Race 1.
‟It feels absolutely amazing, I enjoyed every minute of it,” Mulcahy said. ‟JCD (Dubets), a good friend of mine, him and I battled for a long while and same with Connor Bloum. It was a blast out there.”
James Sofronas finished second place in class behind Mulcahy, followed by Brady Behrman in third.
ACI Motorsports was not only victorious in Pro-Am, but also with Marco Cirone starting and finishing first in the Solairus Aviation Masters class on Thursday.
The Canadian driver qualified on pole, but lost the position on the opening lap to his teammate Richard Edge. Cirone regained the spot midway through the race and Edge finished behind by less than one second.
‟It feels fantastic, especially the first one of the season,” said Cirone, who placed a season-high best of third place at Sebring in 2025. ‟Everything went well, including this morning’s qualifying. I want to thank the team for giving me an amazing car. If it wasn’t for them, I don’t think I’d be able to have that pace.”
Race 2. Friday, March 20
The three drivers who stood atop the Porsche Carrera Cup North America podium at Sebring International Raceway on Thursday returned on Friday after the second race of the series’ opening weekend.
In the Mobil Pro class, Tyler Maxson earned his first win on Thursday, but had to fight even harder for his success in Race 2 with Topp Racing. He beat a hard-charging Aaron Jeansonne on Friday by 0.674 seconds to the checkered flag.
‟These guys did so much work over the offseason, so I’m happy to show off what this car can do,” Maxson, a Porsche Junior Program North America driver, said. ‟Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into the rest of the year with these guys who have built such a strong package. We have such a strong team, just really happy to carry the momentum we ended off last year with.
‟Anytime you walk out with a double win and maximum points, it helps build confidence. But we’re not naïve to how difficult this championship is and how difficult this road is going to be. So we just have to keep working and trudging away, and try to get as good of a package for the next race.”
While Maxson fended off his sophomore rival Jeansonne, rookie Callum Hedge of JDX Racing slid into third place for his best finish of the weekend.
In the Solairus Aviation Pro-Am class, Patrick Mulcahy remained the driver to beat by winning both races at Sebring. On Friday, the ACI Motorsports driver finished more than 17 seconds ahead of his next closest competitor.
‟It always feels good to win a race handedly,” Mulcahy said. ‟It felt great, but it was hot out today. I can’t complain, it’s a good way to start the year – pole, double win. Let’s take it to Long Beach and do it again.”
Mulcahy finished ahead of James Sofronas (GMG Racing) in second place and Josh Conley (Kellymoss) in third.
Adding to the successful Sebring weekend was Mulcahy’s teammate, Marco Cirone, in the Solairus Aviation Masters class. After winning race one, Cirone ran a second clean, 40-minute contest to sweep the weekend.
‟The team gave me a great car,” said Cirone. ‟My coach, Dan (Clarke), is telling me what to do and evidently, it’s working.
‟Usually I do things on my own. I’m very stubborn but in this particular case, they’re telling me what to do and I’m doing it. And everything has worked out great, it’s been a wonderful weekend.”
Rob Walker (JTR Motorsports Engineering) climbed to within two seconds of Cirone for second place, followed by Kellymoss driver Kayden Kelly for third in class.
Pro class winners:
Race 1 & 2: Tyler Maxson, No. 77 Topp Racing.
Pro-Am class winners:
Race 1 & 2: Patrick Mulcahy, No. 54 ACI Motorsports
Masters class winners:
Race 1 & 2: Marco Cirone, No. 88 ACI Motorsports
On point:
Pro class: Tyler Maxson, No. 77 Topp Racing.
Pro-Am class: Patrick Mulcahy, No. 54 ACI Motorsports.
Masters class: Marco Cirone, No. 88 ACI Motorsports.
Entrant: Topp Racing.
Highlights
Sophomore of the Year. Last season, Tyler Maxson and Aaron Jeansonne battled through the last race of the season for the Rookie of the Year title. Maxson earned two wins to Jeansonne’s one, but Jeansonne took the title for first-year drivers. That battle now has carried over to the overall standings, with Maxson sweeping the weekend and Jeansonne earning a pair of podiums. Maxson leads the points 56 to 37 after the opening weekend.
A long wait. Marco Cirone’s season opening Masters class win for ACI Motorsports on Thursday was his first win in Porsche Carrera Cup North America since April of 2023, when he earned a Pro-Am victory. He didn’t have to wait nearly as long for his next one, winning again on Friday to take an early class point lead.
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, 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
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