Thirty-Four Cars Entered in the Three Classes
Entry List (Click here)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – The Porsche Carrera North America Presented by the Cayman Islands enters the heat of the summer and the championship battles in all three classes are also heating up. Thirty-four of the 500 horsepower Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars are set to contend for top honors in one of three classes – Pro, Pro-Am and Am – of the one-make race series at Watkins Glen International.
Rounds 7 and 8 of the 16-race season are scheduled for Friday and Saturday on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course, marking the official midpoint of the season. This is the second time the series has joined the famous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen weekend at the track tucked within the hills of New York’s Finger Lakes region. Here’s a breakdown of what to look for in each class.
Pro Class: With 16 cars entered in the top class, the race at the front will be among the toughest of the season. An early string of pole positions and class victories gave Kay van Berlo (No. 3 Kelly Moss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car) breathing room in the championship chase. However, the field closed on him at the most recent race weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where Parker Thompson (No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche) was able to capture two victories.
Van Berlo – who won both Watkins Glen rounds in 2021 – holds a 22-point lead over Thompson. The Dutch driver learned in his runner-up bid for the title last season that consistency is critical and will be looking to set his ship right after missing the victory podium for the first time this season at WeatherTech Raceway. Kelly Moss teammate Riley Dickinson is 56 points behind van Berlo in the No. 53 machine. However, the Texan is coming up to a series of races in which he performed well in 2021, boosting his hopes of closing on two top-three finishes from last year.
Pro class points leaders are: van Berlo 143, Thompson 121, Dickinson 87, Trenton Estep 85 and T.J. Fischer 60.
Pro-Am Class: Twelve cars will be challenging for the class win. All will be chasing Alan Metni (No. 99 Kelly Moss Porsche), who remains atop the Pro-Am category, a position he is well familiar with having led the championship for drivers 36 and older for the majority of the 2021 season before falling to second at the final race of the year.
Metni has two victories and two second-place finishes in 2022. However, a Round 6 issue put him within reach of Justin Oakes (No. 47 of NOLASPORT Porsche), who has one win this season. Curt Swearingin (No. 17 ACI Motorsports Porsche) jumped two places in the standings with a second-place finish at WeatherTech Raceway.
2021 class champion Efrin Castro (No. 65 Kelly Moss Porsche) follows, having scored his second race win of the season just ahead of Swearingin in Round 6
Pro-Am class points leaders are: Metni 108, Oakes 95, Swearingin 83, Castro 79 and Pedro Torres 68.
Am Class: Mark Kvamme (No. 43 MDK Motorsports Porsche) has remained atop the class points since winning three of the first four races of the year. With five competitors chasing him this weekend in the class for drivers 57 and older, he is 25 points – a full race victory – ahead of John Goetz (No. 57 Wright Motorsports).
Along with Kvamme and Goetz, Robert Hanley – who is not entered this weekend – is one of three drivers to score a victory this season. Bill Smith (No. 42 for Topp Racing) and Grady Willingham (No. 21 Goldcrest Porsche) close out the top five in points.
Am class points leaders are: Kvamme 130, Goetz 105, Hanley 94, Smith 93 and Willingham 57.
The 40-minute races start at 1:25 p.m. ET Friday and 11:05 a.m. Saturday. Both stream live on IMSA.com/TVLive.