BRASELTON, Ga. — Porsche Junior driver Laurin Heinrich concluded his North American debut with a victory in the 311RS Motorsports No. 12 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
It was the young German’s first weekend of competition in the Porsche Carrera North America Presented by the Cayman Islands.
He charged from pole position to the top step of the podium in the premier one-make championship’s final round held today at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
The win in the second race of the weekend on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course by the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany champion was also the first win for 311RS Motorsports, one of the founding teams of the all-Porsche 911 GT3 Cup series in 2021Second place overall in the 40-minute race went to Riley Dickinson in the No. 53 Kelly Moss Porsche.
As Heinrich was in an invitational class, the Pro class win went to Dickinson. It was his second career win in the series, the first coming at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during Porsche Sports Car Together Fest in round 14 of the 16-race championship. The performance awarded the second-year driver third place in the championship.
Parker Thompson drove to third-place overall, second place in Pro class, behind the wheel of the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche. In combination with yesterday’s win, Thompson will be crowned the 2022 Pro class champion and the Al Holbert Cup awarded to the series’ overall champion.
Third place, with his highest finish in the series, was Dimitri Dimakos in the No. 11 311RS Motorsport race car. It was the first time the 311RS Motorsports program has placed two cars on the Carrera Cup podium.
Efrin Castro won the Pro-Am class race, as he did in race one yesterday, in the No. 65 Kelly Moss Porsche. However, the sweep of the weekend was not enough for the 2021 Pro-Am champion. Just as it did last year, the championship came down to Castro and Kelly Moss teammate Alan Metni in the No. 99.
While Castro did everything, he needed to win the title, so did Metni, who finished in third place to take the Drivers’ championship by a single point. Marco Cirone placed the No. 84 Mark Motors Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car between the two title contenders to earn the runner-up spot on the weekend.
Mark Kvamme opened the year with a victory, and he closes it the same way. In that time, he has captured a total of 10 wins in the class for drivers 57 years of age and older.
The success led to his first championship in series. Chasing down the No. 43 MDK Motorsports entry was the Bob Mueller in the Goldcrest Motorsports No. 28.
Third place went to John Goetz in the No. 57 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Goetz will finish in second place of the Am championship.