SEBRING, Florida (November 9, 2020) – Moorespeed and team driver Riley Dickinson will close out the 2020 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama racing season with the same competitive edge they have raced with all season in the No. 53 Moorespeed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at this week’s season-ending doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway, November 11 – 13.
Competing in the top tier IMSA Porsche GT3 Platinum Cup division, Moorespeed and Dickinson have won three races as part of a run of 12 podium finishes in the first 14 of 16 rounds in this year’s championship.
The entire No. 53 team has battled for the Platinum Cup championship all season and arrives in Sebring second in the championship standings heading into Friday’s same-day doubleheader that brings the year to a close.
“Our plan is this week to go out there and give it 110%,” said Moorespeed President David Moore. “That’s what we do every time we go to a race. So, I expect no less from everybody on the team, and I know Riley is champing at the bit to get out there and finish the season off on a high note.”
Dickinson, 18, is completing his second season with Moorespeed and earned victories this year at Road America and on two different weekends of competition at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
“Going into this weekend, we are all looking forward to finishing out 2020 with a bang,” Dickinson said. “We have had overall a great year, the results may not have always been there, but moving forward there has been a lot for me to learn on and improve on for 2021 and onward. In the grand scheme of things, it was great for us, but it is still not over with this weekend ahead. I am looking forward to it and I am ready to get going.”
While the Platinum Cup championship is all but mathematically out of reach for Moorespeed and Dickinson, the No. 53 team will leave nothing on the table in Friday’s twin 45-minute sprints on the 3.74-mile Sebring circuit.
“We were always in the championship discussion,” Moore said. “For whatever reason, it hasn’t been our year for that, but we won races and were a contender at every event. Certain things didn’t go our way in certain races, but these things don’t come easy. Riley learned a lot and has developed a lot this year. There were some hard lessons learned too that overall will make him a stronger and better driver for the future. As long as we keep going out there and keep developing him – he is only 18 years old – he has a super bright future.”
The fact that the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup series is even competing at Sebring this weekend is a rare silver lining in a year of COVID-19 cancellations and rescheduling. Sebring wasn’t on this year’s original Porsche GT3 Cup calendar but was added in IMSA’s extensive rescheduling after the COVID-19 shutdown in the first half of 2020. Dickinson makes his race debut on the legendary 3.74-mile road course after previously only testing at Sebring.
“The previous time I was here February of last year for a test we did before the 2019 season,” Dickinson said. “I believe it was only my first or second track outside of Texas that I went to in a Cup car. It was pretty cool to come back and relive it for a little bit, and I immediately fell back in love with it. What I grew up with in karting was unbelievably rough and bumpy, so Sebring with all of the ‘character’ – if you want to call it that – in the track is really fun for me to drive on.”
Dickinson and Moorespeed got reacquainted with Sebring last weekend when they arrived in town early for a Sunday test. If the tropical storm conditions that have settled over Florida since last weekend continue through the week, Moorespeed and Dickinson will be ready.
“We had a really good test Sunday because we had multiple conditions at the same track on the same day,” Moore said. “We had varied conditions in our first run, dry conditions in our second and full-on wet in our third. We have been here before, and I have been coming here for I don’t know how many years. It is one of my favorite places and I see it becoming one of Riley’s favorite places now too. It’s not everybody’s, but he loves it, and we saw it during the test. We were able to run our program that we needed to do even with the conditions. It actually worked out to our benefit.”
The IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup schedule gets underway with a single practice session Wednesday afternoon. Another practice session Thursday morning sets the stage for qualifying that afternoon at 12:45 p.m. EST. Friday’s doubleheader has races scheduled for 8 a.m. EST and 2:35 p.m. EST, with both doubleheaders streaming live on www.IMSA.com.
About Moorespeed: Based in Austin, Texas, Moorespeed is a full-service automotive company specializing in sales, service, repairs and restoration of luxury sports cars and competition on the track in numerous North American road racing series. Founded in 1991 in Austin by brothers David and Chris Moore, Moorespeed offers comprehensive, turn-key service in which people are just as important as parts and relationships are just as vital as results. David Moore and Winslow Mankin, GM – Director of Customer Racing, welcome and work with every customer as a member of the Moorespeed family, regardless if they are racing or enjoying their sports car on the open road. Moorespeed’s road racing programs are designed for all skill levels, and driver development, both on and off the track, is a Moorespeed specialty. Moorespeed is all about the passion for high-performance automobiles and the people who drive them. A commitment to personal service and performance permeates every corner of the company. Learn more at www.moorespeed.com, and contact us at (512) 474-7223. Look for us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MoorespeedRaceEngineering and Twitter @MoorespeedTX.
