First Official Day of On-Track Competition Begins with Two Practice Sessions on the Hutchinson Island Grand Prize Road Course
The first official day of competition of the 2013/14 Stuttgart Cup Winter Series, a five-race championship for Porsche Caymans and Boxsters, went into the record books Friday with opening practice for this weekend’s Historic SportsCar Racing (HSR) Savannah Speed Classic at Hutchinson Island.
Two practice sessions were run incident free Friday on a perfect Savannah autumn day with sunny skies and temperatures barely reaching 70 degrees.
Professional and multiple championship-winning driver Jack Baldwin, driving the No. 225 Cayman S with the livery of the Le Mans-winning Mobil 1 Porsche GT-1, topped not only the Stuttgart Cup class but the entire 28-car run group in Friday’s second and final afternoon practice.
The Stuttgart Cup runs in HSR’s Group 5 class which shares the track this weekend with competitors in Group 7. That mix means Caymans and Boxsters are on track with a variety of classic Porsche 914s and RSR and IROC 911s, as well as other exotics such as a Ferrari 365 GTB, BMW CSL, Jaguar XKE and several different Corvettes.
Bill Riddell was second fastest in the afternoon run and the top non-professional driver in the No. 05 Cayman S carrying the flat-black paint scheme of the all-new Porsche 918 Spyder. Baldwin clocked in at 1:23.377 on the 1.965-mile road course while Riddell turned in a competitive 1:25.097 lap.
Third fastest in the afternoon run was Keith Faver who lapped at 1:25.250 in his blue and orange No. 25 Cayman S that pays tribute to the legendary Gulf Porsche 917s.
“The Cayman is just such a fantastic race car,” Faver said. “When you get cars that are basically all equal, and then you put a group of guys together that want to compete, and compete hard but compete like gentlemen, it is just a lot of fun. It is very satisfying to drive these cars fast.”
Fourth fastest Friday afternoon was Joe Sullivan who turned a top lap time of 1:27.331 in the No. 14 Cayman S in the colors of the famous Lowenbrau/Holbert Racing Porsche 962.
Sullivan was just one spot ahead of Jim Gray in the overall running order. Gray lapped at 1:28.982 in the green and white striped No. 80 Cayman S themed after a David Piper Racing Porsche 917. Darrell Fancher followed Gray in his No. 139 “Psychedelic” Porsche 917-inspired Cayman S.
“There is a lot of camaraderie here,” Gray said. “The racing is great, this is a fabulous track, very technical, very fun, very fast. It’s kind of ‘wally,’ but that is what it is all about, learning to race and tangoing it up, and I am getting better every time I drive.”
The Savannah Speed Classic races launch a 2013/2014 Stuttgart Cup Winter Series schedule that includes stops later this year at Daytona International Speedway and Sebring International Raceway road courses. The championship picks up again in February of 2014 with the Palm Beach Grand Prix at Palm Beach International Raceway, February 14 – 16, and concludes with the 26th Annual Mitty at Road Atlanta next April 25 – 27.
A sprint and endurance series, The Stuttgart Cup™ is open to all Porsche Caymans and Boxsters, with rules centered on power to weight ratio. All competing cars must compete with stock make and model engine and transmissions with approved allowances for exhaust and intake modifications. Stuttgart Cup organizers also welcome all competitors with existing race-prepared Caymans or Boxsters to compete with body and engine modifications balanced within series power to weight ratio parameters.
The Stuttgart Cup Winter Series 2013/14 Inaugural Schedule:
- The Savannah Speed Classic, Hutchinson Island, October 24 – 27, 2013- The Daytona Historic Races, Daytona International Speedway, November 14 – 17, 2013- The Sebring Historics, Sebring International Raceway, December 5 – 8, 2013- The Palm Beach Grand Prix, Palm Beach International Raceway, February, 14 - 16, 2014- The Mitty, Road Atlanta, April 25 - 27, 2014
