TPC Racing Competes for Two Porsche Sprint Challenge Titles this Weekend in Season Finale at Circuit of The Americas

  • Season-High Five TPC Racing Entries Arrive at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) Set for Competitive Close to 2022 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama Season
  • David Williams (992) and Michael Levitas (991) Second and Closing in Respective Porsche Sprint Challenge Championships Heading Into Season-Ending Doubleheader at COTA

AUSTIN, Texas (September 15, 2022) – TPC Racing brings its season-high five entries to Circuit of The Americas (COTA) this weekend for a Saturday and Sunday doubleheader on the 3.426-mile Formula 1 road course that brings the 2022 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama season to a close.

The five-strong TPC entry includes at least one car entered in each of the three classes competing this weekend across two Porsche Sprint Challenge series. Even better, two of TPC’s contenders come to COTA battling for a pair of Porsche GT3 Cup class season championships.

David Williams secured TPC Racing’s best results in the most recent race weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) two weeks ago with a pair of fourth-place finishes Saturday and Sunday in the top-tier Porsche GT3 Cup 992 class. The IMS results were the latest in a season-long run of consistent and competitive races for Williams that have collectively moved him into title contention in his No. 37 Mission BBQ Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in his first season of racing with TPC since 2015.

Williams comes to COTA a season-high second in the 992 championship rankings with 511 points, 53 points out of first place and 47 points ahead of the third-place competitor.

The other TPC title contender is Michael Levitas who is second in points in the Porsche Sprint Challenge 991 class for slightly older GT3 Cup models. Similar to Williams, Levitas has built his championship assault on a string of consistency that includes six podium finishes this season.

Levitas has scored top-three results on four of the year’s first six race weekends, including going two-for-two in podium finishes in the season-opening event at Sebring International Raceway and another podium sweep last month at Road America. He secured a second and third-place finish at Sebring and a pair of runner-up placings at Road America in addition to second at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) and third at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Fifth in the 991 point standings prior to Road America just two races ago, Levitas has charged to second in the championship coming into Texas in his No. 36 Erin Levitas Foundation/TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Levitas and the No. 36 team are just 43 points behind the 991-class championship leader and 16 points ahead of the third-place competitor.

Levitas and Williams have shared the victory lane podium at COTA in the past after a memorable and title-clinching IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge race in 2013. Competing in the Gold Cup class, Levitas wrapped up that season’s Gold Cup championship with a second place finish and was joined on the podium by his teammate Williams who finished third.

The third full-season TPC Racing entry closing out the season at COTA this weekend is Rob Lorndale in his No. 6 TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the 991 class. Lorndale has the most recent experience at COTA of the team’s five drivers after participating in the inaugural Porsche Sprint Challenge race in Austin early last year.

A consistent season of results has moved Lorndale into a position to possibly crack the top five in the final 991 championship standings at COTA. He heads into the weekend’s doubleheader in sixth place with 424 points, just 50 points behind the fifth place competitor and trailing the fourth place driver by 51 points.

Canadian driver Shaun McKaigue is set for his third race weekend with TPC at COTA following the doubleheaders at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July and two weeks ago at Indy. He backed up 10th place race finishes at Mid-Ohio with a 12th place in the first race at Indy and is targeting a pair of season-best results to close out the year at COTA.

Rhamses Carazo gave TPC Racing a positive return to the Porsche Sprint Challenge Cayman class at Indy in the No. 711 TPC Racing Porsche Cayman. After surviving a rain-soaked first race Saturday at Indy, Carazo was on a quick pace in Sunday’s finale, improving nine positions for a 15th place finish in his first full race weekend in five years. Carazo returns to the TPC No. 711 Cayman for this weekend’s finale in his first appearance at COTA in several years.

A three-day weekend event, the Porsche Sprint Challenge season-finale at COTA begins with practice on Friday, September 16. Qualifying Saturday morning sets the stage for the first of two weekend races for both the GT3 and Cayman divisions later that day at 4:20 p.m. CDT and 2:30 p.m. CDT, respectively. Sunday’s final rounds – all races are 35 minutes plus one additional lap – close out the weekend with the Cayman sprint going green at 10:20 a.m. CDT and GT3 wrapping the weekend at 12:20 p.m. CDT.

Harris Levitas, TPC Racing Director of Race Operations: “For the season finale of the Porsche Sprint Challenge series, the TPC Racing team sits currently second in both the 992 and 991 championships. We have a long season of momentum going in. The whole year has just been about being consistent, and obviously trying to win when possible, but collecting points in every race has been very important. We have been able to execute on that, and the team has done an amazing job the entire year. Without their hard work and dedication, we wouldn’t be in the position that we are in. We are preparing for the season finale with two days of testing this week to get everybody acclimated to the track and familiar with everything about this great facility. We are excited to be at COTA, the drivers really like this track, and we are ready to see what we can do to close out the championship. Both David Williams and Michael Levitas have all had great experiences here and it’s been good. The track has changed quite a bit since they were here – and even since the last time we were here in early 2021 as a team – in a few areas of the surface, but our two days of testing will get us up to speed on the chassis setup. We should be in a good spot.”

Rob Lorndale, Driver – No. 6 TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3: “I’m looking forward to the COTA race weekend. With solid recent results, I’ve moved up to sixth in the standings. I hope to finish the season here with two solid races. We are fortunate to have a couple test days. I’ll be able to get reacquainted with the track and hopefully make some improvements.”

Rhamses Carazo, Driver – No. 711 TPC Racing Porsche Cayman: “I am hoping for the same results as Indy – the middle of the pack – but I think we can do a little bit better. I am more comfortable in the car now. I have driven a BMW here a few years ago but I think our Porsche is going to be faster in everything. COTA is a bit more challenging and a really fun track.”

Shaun McKaigue, Driver – No. 34 TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3: “This is my first time at COTA in a long time. I last raced here around five years ago and really enjoyed the track. It’s a spectacular facility and obviously one of the more impressive venues that we go to for sure. I had fun on the first day of our test getting reacquainted with the track, lots of work yet to do, but with all of the help and coaching I am getting from the TPC Racing crew I am confident we are going to get to the place where we need to go to be competitive for the upcoming weekend. The track is aging well. As a guy who really enjoys Sebring, I don’t have any real criticism of COTA. It all brings a little more character to the track and adds a degree of difficulty. I don’t have any issues with it whatsoever.”

Michael Levitas, Driver – No. 36 Erin Levitas Foundation TPC Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “It has been a hell of a season and a lot of fun. I can’t thank enough my teammates, my team and my son, Harris, who has just done an amazing job putting all of this together. He keeps the logistics running, he gets the manpower in the right locations, he keeps the trucks rolling and really does an amazing job across the board. I can’t thank him enough and I know everybody on the team feels the same way. That type of organization has really allowed us to just have a great season and a great time. I think another key to a great season is that you have to really love what you do, no matter what you do. And we truly love what we do at TPC Racing, and I always carry that right on to the race track. And I will continue to do that, I think that is really what made it all come together, and I think COTA will be a prime example of that. I really feel that right up until the end we are going to have some great cars. Billy Johnson will be helping us out with the amazing job he does with our driver coaching, and with his expertise and our engineering – and I do quite a bit of it – I think we will find the setup of the car and have some great, front-running Porsches at COTA. I have some great teammates, they are going to find some pace, and give me a couple of laps or so and I will find the pace, I can tell you that. We are going to end this season really strong, my goal is to win, and we are going to take it to them there.”

About TPC Racing: TPC Racing is the Mid-Atlantic’s premier maintenance, service, tuning and modification center dedicated solely to Porsche sportscars. TPC Racing specializes in R&D and sales of high-performance modifications for Porsche sports cars and race cars, offering a wide range of vehicle upgrades. Best known for a line of forced induction solutions for the Porsche 911, Cayman and Boxster, a long-time focus on only one make, Porsche, has enabled TPC Racing to become experts in Porsche service, tuning, and racing. In 2000, TPC Racing began entering races under its own banner, scoring an SGS-class Championship in 2004 in the Grand-American Rolex Series and was a class winner in the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona, and captured the 2013 and 2016 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA Gold Cup Championships. More information can be found at www.TPCRacing.com.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

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