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Rockenfeller: Race Finish Would Be Like a Win for JDC-Miller

Katie Church on May 12, 2023

May 12, 2023

Rockenfeller on JDC-Miller’s objectives in team’s first race with Porsche 963…

By John Dagys from sportscar365.com

Mike Rockenfeller said completing every on-track session, including finishing Sunday’s Motul Course de Monterey powered by Hyundai N, would be like a victory for JDC-Miller Motorsports in the debut weekend for its Porsche 963.

The Minnesota-based squad has become the second customer team to run the LMDh car, and the first in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the ex-Porsche and Audi factory driver teaming up with Dutch up-and-coming driver Tijmen van der Helm in the No. 5 entry.

JDC-Miller has yet to complete any track-based testing with the car in the U.S., having taken delivery of the GTP class entry earlier this month following a rollout at Porsche’s Weissach test track with Matt Campbell at the wheel.

Friday’s practice session at Laguna Seca will mark its first competitive running, in what marks an “exciting” moment according to Rockenfeller.

“There’s a lot of things we don’t know yet,” he told Sportscar365. “I would say we all don’t have much experience. But that’s why we’re here, to learn and to start going.

“Honestly I think we can feel as winners if we do every session more or less on time, if we have no big issues, if we stay on track. If we finish the race, I’m happy.

“I would go home happy because we would learn a lot.”

He added: “We have zero laps. Those [Porsche Penske Motorsport] guys have races and tons of testing.

“If we are somehow fighting for something there with them, even if we’re last in the group, I would already be super happy.”

Rockenfeller said he’s excited to have landed a full season GTP drive, after previously contesting Michelin Endurance Cup races in recent years with Action Express Racing in the DPi era.

The 39-year-old German is also involved with NASCAR’s Garage 56 project in next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

“It means a lot,” Rockenfeller said of his drive with JDC-Miller. “I was fighting hard to get back into a proper cockpit.

“I spent many years of my career in a lucky situation. Five years at Porsche, 15 years in a row at Audi, so 20 years covered with a factory.

“Then everything changed very quickly at Audi and I was kind of thrown off the bus, like many others, and it was very tricky for me to find my way back.

“That’s why I’m so thankful for John [Church] and his team to give me the trust and opportunity to come back.

“I always tried to have my foot here in America while I was also racing in Europe and I think in the end that helped for sure.

“But you know how racing is, people forget what’s yesterday and that’s OK. I’m very happy to be involved.

“We shouldn’t expect too much this weekend, I would say, but hopefully throughout the year we can show the potential of the car, of our team and I can hopefully bring my part into it.”

Kuratle: JOTA Debut to Help JDC-Miller This Weekend

Porsche’s factory LMDh director Urs Kuratle believes that Hertz Team JOTA’s debut with its Porsche 963 in last month’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps helped better prepare the German manufacturer’s customer support network for JDC-Miller this weekend.

The British squad claimed a sixth place finish with its customer Porsche entry in the FIA World Endurance Championship round.

“I think there’s a lot we learned there,” Kuratle told Sportscar365. “The delivery [with JOTA] was at the same time [as JDC-Miller] and then we always had the shipment time here to the U.S.

“During the Spa race with JOTA we learned a lot of things also, mainly on our side, how to support the customer the best and what they really need.

“It’s such a complicated thing when it comes to software and everything and there’s a lot of points that we could take with us from the Spa event and we brought it straight in here to support the JDC guys as good as possible.

“I really hope for all of us, JDC and for Porsche, that we have a smooth weekend like we had in Spa, which was good.”

Kuratle said Porsche has a similar support base here this weekend for the customer GTP entry.

“It’s the same we had with JOTA in Spa,” he said. “Also back home in Weissach, we have the ops room where people are answering the questions all of us have.

“Like usual for Porsche, if you have a customer program, even the works team, there are questions asked and we’re not sending them away.”

Rockenfeller, meanwhile, is hopeful of being able to contribute to the Porsche 963’s development once JDC-Miller gets up to speed with the car.

“I hope we can give something back to Porsche in terms of learning and collecting data,” he said. “I think it’s a very complex car from what I understand. I think they’re all complex [cars in GTP].

“We just need to find a way to run it in a good window.

“My goal with the team is to get a wide operating window. If it’s too narrow, it’s hard to hit it. I think that, for us, would make our life easier.”

JDC-Miller Motorsports 963 Roll-Out Day at Weissach Photos and Video.

Roger Johnson on May 4, 2023

Thanks to our friends at Porsche who took photos and video of the April 20th roll-out of our Porsche 963 at Weissach.  The team put the finishing touches on the car and then went out to the Weissach test track for some shake-down laps.  Porsche factory driver Matt Campbell was at the wheel. These are quite special because you very seldom see photos from inside Weissach. Thank you Porsche for giving us this opportunity.

Check the video here:

The photos are here:

Porsche 963 Roll Out

 

JDC-Miller MotorSports announces 2023 Porsche 963 GTP program driver lineup

Katie Church on April 26, 2023

Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm join JDC-Miller MotorSports 2023 Porsche 963 GTP campaign in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Savage, Minnesota (April 26, 2023). JDC-Miller MotorSports confirmed today that Mike Rockenfeller and Tijmen van der Helm will lead the driver lineup of the team’s new IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Porsche 963 entry in the GTP class. The Minnesota-based race team will debut the first customer effort in the prototype category at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 12-14.

Mike Rockenfeller’s sports car racing history is truly remarkable. A veteran of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid, the German prodigy began his association with the brand in 2003 racing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. His career spans multi-year stints as a factory driver for Porsche, Audi, and Corvette. He has wins at Le Mans (2), Daytona, Sebring, the Nürburgring 24 and a championship in the fiercely competitive German Touring Cars (DTM). With his infectious smile, the 39-year-old is a favorite in the paddock. His personality is a perfect fit for the JDC-Miller team bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience at the highest levels of sports car racing.

While anticipating the delivery of its Porsche 963, van der Helm competed with JDC-Miller MotorSports in its LMP3 class entry at both the Rolex 24 At Daytona as well as the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring earlier this season.  The championship-winning team owned by John Miller and John Church helped the Dutch driver celebrate his 19th birthday at Daytona with a top-five finish. In 2022, he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 class including his first start at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. A third driver for the Michelin Endurance Championship events will be announced at a future date.

Quotes:

Mike Rockenfeller, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“I am excited to be part of this team and the Porsche 963 project! Starting our GTP season at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the fourth round of the season is going to be a challenge. I am confident the JDC-Miller MotorSports team is on a very steep learning curve and will compete with the GTP teams very quickly. So very happy to see my name back on a Porsche.”

Tijmen van der Helm, No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“I am really happy to be a part of JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 LMDh project. To me it does not really matter that we start a bit later in the season. I think we as a team can maximize every opportunity we will get. Going to the Laguna race with a brand-new car will be tough, but I have no doubt that we will be competitive as a team. I look forward to the challenge and opportunity!”

John Church, Managing Partner, JDC-Miller MotorSports

“We are very proud to announce the new driver lineup for our 2023 GTP campaign with the Porsche 963. It represents a balance of youth and experience and features a tremendous amount of on-track success. This pairing combined with the Porsche 963 will allow us to compete for wins in IMSA.” 

About JDC-Miller MotorSports

Minnesota-based JDC-Miller MotorSports began making its mark on the IMSA record books with a PC class win at the 2016 Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona. The John Miller and John Church led operation quickly transitioned to the top ranks of sports car racing in 2017, scoring two second place finishes and fourth in the final class championship in only its rookie season. 

The team’s success and growth continued in 2018, when they introduced a two-car effort and scored a victory at Watkins Glen and a pole position at Road America. Once again, JDC-Miller MotorSports finished fourth in the series championship despite racing an even larger and more competitive IMSA WeatherTech Championship field.

For the 2019 season, JDC-Miller entered into a partnership with Cadillac to field a two car Cadillac DPi-V.R effort. The program had a number of podium finishes and added the prestigious 12 Hours of Sebring crown to its growing list of accolades.

For the 2023 season, JDC-Miller MotorSports entered into an agreement with Porsche making it the first customer team selected to campaign the German sports car manufacturer’s Porsche 963 customer program. The Porsche 963 will compete in the new GTP category, which competes as the top class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The GTP Class introduces technically sophisticated hybrid power to IMSA matching it for the first time to efficient and bespoke internal combustion engines.

JDC-Miller, JOTA Receive Customer Porsche 963s

Katie Church on April 25, 2023

April 25, 2023

JDC-Miller, Hertz Team JOTA receive Porsche 963 customer LMDh cars at Weissach…

By Daniel Lloyd of sportscar365.com

JDC-Miller Motorsports and Hertz Team JOTA received their customer Porsche 963s in a shakedown and handover at the manufacturer’s Weissach facility last week.

Staff from both independent teams were on-hand to work alongside Porsche Motorsport personnel to give the hybrid-powered prototypes their first laps around Porsche’s in-house test track with factory driver Matt Campbell at the wheel.

The shakedowns took place on Thursday, while the cars were officially handed over to the teams on Friday.

JOTA will be the first customer outfit to race the Porsche 963 when it lines up in the Hypercar class at this weekend’s 6 Hours of Spa, after transporting the car directly from Weissach in Germany to Belgium.

JDC-Miller plans to debut its Porsche two weeks later in the fourth round of the WeatherTech Championship season at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Porsche’s third LMDh customer, Proton Competition, is set to receive its cars slightly later considering it has a less time-sensitive target of making the Road America IMSA event in early August.

Porsche is the first LMDh manufacturer to deliver customer cars, which will go up against factory teams including Porsche Penske Motorsport.

12 Hours of Sebring Podium Finish

Roger Johnson on March 23, 2023

As always, the 12 Hours of Sebring was a rough and tumble affair with an exciting finish for the overall leaders. With 20 minutes remaining, the leading Porsche 963 was taken out by the 2nd place Acura which, in turn, collected the 3rd place Porsche 963. This was unfortunate for Porsche as they were poised to take two podium spots. The GTP class was incredibly competitive across all marques at Sebring in only its second outing, which speaks well for the class and its new cars going forward. We look forward to contesting in the GTP class with our own Porsche 963 in the coming months.

The JDC-Miller MotorSports #85 Duqueine D08 had a strong run in the LMP3 class.  Drivers Till Bechtolsheimer, Dan Goldburg, and Tijmen van der Helm put down 308 quick, steady laps on the 3.74 mile circuit, keeping the team in contention all day.

A late caution set up van der Helm to race the 2nd place #13 Duqueine D08 to the finish. Unfortunately, the GTP incident with 20 minutes remaining led to a long caution. This left only two laps of green flag racing remaining and time ran out to mount a charge.

Overall, a 3rd place finish was a good run for the JDC-Miller MotorSports team.

John Walko, Till Bechtolsheimer, Dan Goldburg, John Church, and Tijmen van der Helm celebrating at the podium.
Champagne residue on your trophy is always a good thing.

The next race for the team will be the MOTUL Course de Monterey Powered By Hyundai at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca May 12-14. This will be the first outing for the team’s new Porsche 963 entry in the GTP class.

JDC-Miller Set for Laguna Seca Debut With Porsche 963

Sophie Church on March 16, 2023

March 16, 2023

Minnesota-based team slated to begin customer Porsche 963 campaign in mid-May…

By John Dagys of sportscar365.com

JDC-Miller Motorsports is set to give its Porsche 963 a debut in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May according to team co-owner John Church.

The Minnesota-based team, which was announced as the first IMSA customer with the German manufacturer’s LMDh car, is scheduled to take delivery of the car in late April, alongside Hertz Team JOTA and Proton Competition.

Drivers for the car, which will carry the No. 5, have yet to be announced, although Tristan Vautier is again on-site at this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring helping support JDC-Miller’s LMP3 operation.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Church said it’s currently unclear if they’ll get any test days with the Multimatic-chassied prototype prior to the May 14 race.

“We’ll run at Laguna,” he told Sportscar365. “We’re trying to come up with a test plan before that but I’m not banking on it. I’m assuming we won’t.”

JDC-Miller is taking a similar approach to JOTA, in attempting to make its race debut as soon as possible. The British squad is targeting to take part in the 6 Hours of Spa FIA World Endurance Championship race, just days after the delivery date.

Proton, which is slated to debut its Porsches in the WEC race at Monza and Road America WeatherTech Championship rounds, has elected to initially focus on a private testing program first.

“You’ve got to start learning,” Church said on their race-focused approach. “Doing a test day is too easy to stop, wait and all of that. We’ve got to go and figure it out. I’m looking forward it.”

Key staff from the team were recently in Weissach as part of Porsche’s education process with the hybrid-powered car, with an additional session scheduled next month.

“They spent two weeks there just before Sebring,” Church said. “They were doing a little bit of assembly and they’ll do more of that in April as well.

“It’s good to get everything going and see everybody running [with the new-era GTP class]. Everybody’s working through little problems and teething issues but you see it getting better every race.

“It certainly all won’t be solved by the time we get involved but it gets better every day. That’s the encouraging part. It’s fun to watch that and see the progress.”

12 Hours of Sebring Preview

Roger Johnson on March 15, 2023

It’s going to be another very busy weekend for the JDC-Miller MotorSports team at this weekend’s Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring. The team won the race in 2021. 

In the WeatherTech race, the team’s LMP3 class Duqueine D08 will be driven by Till Bechtolsheimer, Tijmen van der Helm, and Dan Goldburg. Bechtolsheimer and van der Helm return after driving the car at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. Goldburg currently holds the points lead in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge series after two wins at Daytona and two podiums last weekend here at Sebring. 

The team’s Audi RS3 LMS effort in the Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class will again be driven by Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor with a Liqui Moly livery. 

This year marks the 71st running of the endurance classic. The 12 hour race was first run in 1952. Sebring’s 3.74 mile 17 turn circuit is the oldest and one of the busiest racetracks in North America, hosting activities more than 300 days per year. 

Two Podiums for Dan Goldburg at Sebring

Roger Johnson on March 13, 2023

Two podium finishes for Dan Goldburg in his #73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08 keep him in the championship points lead.

In Race 1, Goldburg started on the outside pole and retained that position through to the finish.  Race 2 was more exciting for the Florida driver. Again starting P2, Goldburg took the lead on the first lap and held it under pressure from Bijoy Garg and Antonio Serravalle for the first 30 minutes of the race. Garg got by in Turn 7 and Goldburg pressured him until a quick spin allowed Serratore by. Goldburg fought back to retain the 3rd position and his second podium of the weekend.  Goldburg was the top Bronze driver in both races.  

After 4 of 14 races of the series, Dan Goldburg leads a very tight championship by 60 points over Bijoy Garg and 160 over Brian Thienes.  He has been the top Bronze driver in all four races this season and thus leads that championship, as well.

The next race for the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge is July 7-9 at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

Race Recap – ROAR and the Rolex 24 at Daytona

Roger Johnson on February 22, 2023

It was a very busy 2 week stretch for the JDC-Miller MotorSports team. JDC entered three teams, each with their own transporter, running in three different series at Daytona. They were scattered around the paddock as each team is required to paddock with their respective series.  In addition to the Duqueine D08 LMP3 entry in the WeatherTech series, the team campaigned another Duqueine D08 LMP3 in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge for veteran prototype driver Dan Goldburg. The team also returned to the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series in the TCR class with a new Audi RS3 LMS touring car for Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor.  

JDC has extensive experience with the Duqueine D08 so much of the Roar weekend was focused on getting the four new drivers acclimated to the car and the racing in this series. Luca Mars qualified the car 6th in class less than .7 seconds behind the fastest car in the class and 25th in the 61 car field. 

The highlight of the ROAR weekend was Dan Goldburg’s victory in the inaugural VP Racing SportsCar Challenge race. Dan qualified on the outside pole, took the lead on the first lap, and carried it home for the victory in the 45-minute sprint race.  He followed that up by winning Sunday’s race as well. 

The TCR team chased new car teething issues for much of the event but showed very good speed. Chris Miller qualified 3rd just .1 off the TCR pole.  In the 4-hour race, the car started strong and ran close to the front. Late in the race, the car developed a high-speed misfire. Mikey Taylor and the team masterfully managed to nurse it to the finish and secured a 5th place finishing position in class.  A good points start to the 2023 campaign. 

In the Rolex 24, the team was running in the top 25 overall for the first 160 laps until a touch with the wall broke the right-rear suspension. The car went to the garage for repairs which were performed in less than 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the car went down 20 laps and into 56th position overall. The rest of the race was spent fighting back to 37th overall and 5th in class. They completed 715 laps of the 3.6 mile circuit. 

On to Sebring for the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 18th, a race the team won in 2021.  

Be sure to check out the photos from Daytona here.

VP Racing SportsCar Challenge Race 2 Has Familiar Ending

Katie Church on January 22, 2023

JANUARY 22, 2023

Goldburg and Griffin Complete Weekend Sweeps in the New Sprint Series for LMP3 and GT4 Cars

By Mark Robinson for IMSA.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – They took different paths, but Dan Goldburg and Billy Griffin completed weekend victory sweeps Sunday in the debut of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge. Goldburg cruised to a dominant win in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class while Griffin battled from behind to triumph in the GSX class for GT4-spec cars.

Both drivers started from their respective pole positions in the 45-minute race. Goldburg, in the No. 73 JDC MotorSports Duqueine D08, was hounded by Bijoy Garg in the No. 3 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 until Garg spun in the Le Mans Chicane while working through lapped traffic with 15 minutes remaining. Relieved of that pressure, Goldburg went on to win by 9.739 seconds over Brian Thienes in the No. 77 US RaceTronics Ligier.

As he did in Saturday’s first race, Griffin took a patient approach and relinquished the GSX lead on the opening lap to avoid potential confrontations. Dropping to third place in the No. 14 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4, Griffin bided his time before overtaking Sebastian Carazo (No. 27 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport) for the lead on the tri-oval section of Daytona International Speedway with seven minutes to go. Griffin pulled away to win by 3.735 seconds over Carazo.

Goldburg credited his LMP3 experience – three previous years overall, including 10 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races in the past two seasons – with his success negotiating slower traffic that led to the two VP Racing Challenge wins.

“I think the key was running WeatherTech last year and learning how to manage GT traffic,” said the 44-year-old from Delray Beach, Florida. “That came in really handy today.

“I like having the traffic to work with. I had good success last year in WeatherTech with it, so I like it. There’s definitely a big enough gap between the speeds of the (LMP3 and GSX) cars that’s manageable and can be used well. It’s good.”

It was that traffic and over-aggressive driving in his class that Griffin was on the lookout for in his bid to repeat as the GSX winner, and it wound up costing a pair of contenders. He and Carazo were locked in an intense four-car battle with Moisey Uretsky (No. 44 Accelerating Performance Aston Martin Vantage GT4) and Patrick Wilmot (No. 88 Split Decision Motorsports BMW M4 GT4) when Uretsky and Wilmot tangled in Turn 3 of the infield section with 14 minutes remaining.

Wilmot’s BMW sustained significant damage and retired. Uretsky was assessed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility and taken out of contention, leaving Griffin and Carazo to battle it out for the win.

“I lost the lead (on Lap 1) again because of aggressiveness and the way they were crowding in there but was able to regroup,” Griffin said. “I knew that the patience thing was going to pay off for me in the long run. I really just took my time and let the battle happen.”

Griffin got a run on Carazo through Turns 3 and 4 of the Daytona oval and made the decisive pass as they crossed the start-finish line.

“I made the move, it worked … and I was able to check away,” the Venice, Florida, resident and IMSA newcomer added. “It’s an amazing feeling; thrilled to death. Definitely a lifelong dream come true.”

Telecasts of the VP Racing Challenge races at Daytona air on CNBC at 11:30 a.m. (Race 1) and 12:30 p.m. ET (Race 2) Saturday, Jan. 28. The series returns to action March 11-12 at Sebring International Raceway.