in The Mitty at Road Atlanta
Inaugural Winter Series Wraps as 2014 Season Begins for Cayman/Boxster Series; First Event Weekend in New Partnership with Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy USA; Series Race Together Friday Night in Stuttgart Cup/Mission Foods GT3 Challenge
The Stuttgart Cup will wrap up its Inaugural Winter Series championship and launch its 2014 racing season next weekend at The Classic Motorsports Magazine Mitty presented by Hagerty at Road Atlanta, April 24 - 27, where North America's only racing series for Porsche Cayman and Boxster competitors will race for the first time in an official partnership with the Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy USA by Car Amigo.The announcement of the two Porsche-based championships combining operations was made last month after the series first raced together in February's HSR (Historic Sportscar Racing) Palm Beach Grand Prix at Palm Beach International Raceway. The Mitty will be the official debut of the new collaboration in action and strong entries have been received for both the Stuttgart Cup and Mission GT3.Road Atlanta marks the end of the Stuttgart Cup's first Winter Series that began late last year at Savannah, Daytona and Sebring and concludes with February's 2014 race at Palm Beach and next weekend's Mitty. The Road Atlanta weekend also serves as the first event of 2014, the kick- off race in a recently expanded calendar that will see first-time stops at Autobahn Country Club outside of Chicago, June 6 - 7, Pocono Raceway, August 14 - 17, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, September 19 - 21, and one additional event in July that will be announced in the near future. The eight-race 2014 schedule will conclude with return visits to Savannah, Daytona and Sebring in October, November and December, respectively.Prior to the 2014 championship, however, the closely-contested Winter Series will conclude at The Mitty. Joe Sullivan, driving his No. 14 Al Holbert Racing/Lowenbrau liveried Cayman S, has a narrow one point lead over friend and fellow competitor Bill Riddell, 151 - 150. Riddell races a flat-black No. 05 Cayman S featuring the paint scheme of the prototype Porsche 918 Spyder.Third in points, and also heading to The Mitty, is Keith Faver who races a No. 25 Cayman S carrying a theme inspired by the famous Golf/Wyer Porsche 917s. Faver's teammate Jim Gray will also be racing at The Mitty where he will debut a new Martini Racing inspired livery on his renumbered No. 111 Cayman S.Another debut will come from first-time series driver Rodrigo Sales who will race the No. 225 Cayman S that will pay tribute to the well-known Jagermeister-sponsored Porsches.Lori Cassling also returns the The Stuttgart Cup with her popular No. 23 "Pink Pig" Cayman S that is modeled after the same bright pink Porsche 917/20 that raced at Le Mans for the one and only time in 1971.The Boxster contingent will be led by multi-race winner Paul Reisman who will be at the wheel of his dark blue No. 70 Boxster.Both the Stuttgart Cup and Mission Foods GT3 will be on track at The Mitty for Thursday's test session as well as a full weekend schedule of practice, qualifying and sprint and enduro races Friday, Saturday and Sunday. A highlight is Friday evening's Stuttgart Cup/Mission Foods GT3 Challenge at 6:35 p.m. EDT that will see the series race together officially on track for the first time for separate class honors and race wins.While the Stuttgart Cup has grown in popularity in just its second season of competition, the Mission Foods GT3 Trophy Cup has been a fixture on classic and historic race weekends for the last several seasons. The series is home to Porsche’s popular 911-based GT3 and RS/RSR cars, from the 2000 model year on up to more recent editions of the venerable “Cup” car.Like the Stuttgart Cup, Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy racing has a place for a wide variety of competitors, from amateur drivers to professional racing teams, and the series accommodates all GT3 Cup owners. Both The Stuttgart Cup™ and Mission Foods GT3 Cup currently race primarily on HSR weekends but the partnership, and the increased competitor entries that it will bring, will likely see both series expand to new venues and sanctioning bodies in the coming months.Mission Foods GT3 Cup will continue to have its own season-long championship and sprint and enduro races on every race weekend, identical to The Stuttgart Cup™ series. All types of GT3 Cup cars are welcome in the Mission Foods series, including RS and RSRs, GT3Rs, Rolex “GRAND-AM” cars, 996s and 997 GT3 Cup cars with both 3.6 and 3.8 liter engines.
