A Californian club founded in 1955 is about to host an official Porsche championship. The announcement came out of Carson on 19 August: Porsche Motorsport North America and the Porsche Owners Club are launching the Porsche Sprint Trophy Porsche Owners Club, four West Coast rounds starting in 2027.
The structure mirrors what went live a year earlier on the East Coast with the Porsche Sprint Trophy Porsche Club of America. Same logic, different club, different map.
Four weekends, three circuits
The 2027 calendar is short. Spring Mountain Motor Resort in Pahrump, Nevada, from 19 to 21 February. Laguna Seca from 9 to 11 April, alongside the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama. Willow Springs in Rosamond, California, on 15 and 16 May. Back to Laguna Seca from 23 to 25 July.
Those races slot into weekends the club already runs. The POC holds between nine and twelve track events a year, with an internal progression that few clubs match: a Performance Driving Series for drivers new to track days, Time Trial sessions split by experience and car preparation, then at least two wheel-to-wheel racing groups. A member can go from a first session on track to full competition without ever leaving the club.
Eligible machinery
Grids will take the new 911 Cup (Type 992.2), the 911 GT3 Cup in Types 992.1 and 991.2, the 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport and its predecessor the 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, each running in its own class. The release also referred to a recently teased but then unannounced Porsche race car, subject to final sporting and technical regulations.
A week later the blank got filled in: the 911 Challenge introduced on 26 August is listed among the cars eligible for this series.
What the factory brings
Porsche Motorsport North America will provide onsite technical and parts support, plus marketing backing. USAC handles pre-race and post-race technical inspections. For a club championship that matters: it sets a standard of scrutineering closer to national series than to a weekend meeting.
Volker Holzmeyer, President and CEO of PMNA, stressed the accessible, cost-effective nature of the new West Coast entry point, complementing the East Coast programme. John Momeyer, President of the POC, framed it as continuity rather than novelty, describing a path his club has offered for years: learn to drive on track, move into Time Trials, go club racing, then climb the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid.
A pipeline with names attached
PMNA cited two of them. Rob Walker, currently racing in Porsche Carrera Cup North America. And Fred Poordad, winner of the 2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Both started in POC racing and Time Trials.
That is the whole argument. The series works as a destination for drivers who want to race among enthusiasts, and as a launchpad for those aiming higher. Both sit on the same grid.
Nothing in Europe maps directly onto this North American arrangement. It does clarify what Porsche has been assembling for two years now: an unbroken ladder running from a club track day to international GT3. For French-speaking readers, our background articles on the 911 on track and on driving technique are available in French.
A ladder filling out quickly
PMNA already runs several one-make championships in North America, from the Porsche Sprint Challenge up to Porsche Carrera Cup North America, with 2027 calendars published earlier this summer. The club-level Sprint Trophy sits at the bottom of that structure, reachable without an international licence or a professional season budget.
A new entry-level car and a new entry-level championship arriving in the same fortnight is not a scheduling accident. The two announcements are seven days apart and lean on each other: the 911 Challenge needs grids, and grids need an affordable new car to run. Whether European clubs adopt anything similar is an open question, and nothing in the release addresses it.
Laisser un commentaire