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SAVAGE, Minn. (June 23, 2025) — JDC-Miller MotorSports has a long history of success at Watkins Glen International Raceway, including an overall win in 2018. While the team always strives for a top finish, the Glen presents a race that holds special significance for the drivers and crew. This made it particularly discouraging when the car simply lacked the pace to be competitive. In 2024, the team was permitted to run their Porsche 963 with a power output of 512 kW (696 hp); this year, they are limited to 480 kW (653 hp). Additionally, the car carries significantly more weight than last year.
The JDC-Miller Motorsports No. 85 Porsche 963 qualified in the 13th position in hot and humid weather, but the team was upbeat as they were less than 0.9 seconds behind the fastest Porsche. They were, however, 2.75 seconds off the pole, which was a harbinger of things to come on the 6-hour race day.
The race began under heavy overcast conditions, leading to light rain that intensified at the half-hour mark. This triggered a series of cautions, keeping the field relatively close for the first hour and a half. However, the sun eventually emerged, bringing back hot and humid conditions with temperatures nearing 90ºF. The 85 car persevered, working its way up to 8th place in a largely uneventful race, but ultimately couldn’t maintain the pace. While running in 10th close to the end, the team took a gamble on a fuel stop and ran the car out of virtual energy in T10. They were serving a stop-and-go penalty when the checkered flag waved, securing a 10th place finish.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“A truly frustrating weekend. The drivers, the crew, and everyone on the team executed well. The bright spot is that we worked extremely hard to maximize everything we could from the car. When you don’t have the pace, you have to go off strategy, and that doesn’t always work out. Tijman drove exceptionally well for almost four hours in very tough conditions. We are eagerly looking forward to Road America.”
Gianmaria Bruni, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“It was a difficult race. We knew before the start that it was going to be very, very challenging. In the initial part of the race, we kept the car on the track despite some tough conditions. We will keep working, we keep chasing, we’ll see what’s coming next at Road America.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Difficult weekend for all the Porsches at the moment. We just don’t have the power on the straight and coming out of the corners like the others. Really frustrating. We hung in there, but this was really all we had.”
SAVAGE, Minn. (June 2, 2025) — JDC-Miller MotorSports persevered with their Porsche 963 after receiving a pit speed penalty, ultimately finishing in 11th place at the 5th round of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship on the streets of Detroit.
The privateer team felt confident heading into Saturday’s race after making progress on Friday with the car setup for the always-challenging Detroit street circuit. Some of this progress, however, was diminished on race day when the weather dropped significantly from the upper-70s to a blustery 61ºF. The cooler ambient temperatures made it more difficult to reach optimal tire temperatures during the race, which impacted the Porsche’s overall pace.
Gimmi Bruni had a strong opening lap in the No. 85 Porsche, passing two cars and advancing from his 10th starting position to 8th. The race was proceeding smoothly and according to plan when, on lap 21, Bruni pitted for the mandatory driver change to Tijman Van der Helm. Unfortunately, the No. 85 Porsche exceeded the pit speed limit while exiting the pits. A drive-through penalty was imposed, causing the car to go a lap down. Van der Helm uneventfully brought the car home in 11th position.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Except for the pit speed penalty, it was a relatively uneventful weekend. The team did a great job prepping the car for this race and provided the drivers with a car that performed as well as could be expected over the bumps and tight turns of this street circuit. While we didn’t achieve the pace we desired, we had a car we thought we could gain some positions with in the race. In a race as short as this one, once you go down a lap, there wasn’t much left to salvage. It’s tough.
The crew and drivers did an excellent job throughout the weekend. We are excited about Watkins Glen and the rest of the season. We have experienced success at The Glen in the past and are putting in the effort for a strong performance.”
Gianmaria Bruni, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“We knew this race was going to be tough for us for a variety of reasons. I had a really great start, jumping up from P10 to P8. We were in a pretty good position to push for the rest of the race from there, but the pit overspeed violation ended that.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Over the weekend, we couldn’t quite match the pace of Porsche Penske Motorsport’s factory Porsche 963 cars. But in the race, the gap was a bit smaller. Sadly, a penalty for exceeding the speed limit in the pit lane cost us dearly – you simply can’t make up those 25 lost seconds. And even if you did, overtaking is difficult on this track.”
SAVAGE, Minn. (May 11, 2025) — JDC-Miller MotorSports brought their Porsche 963 home in an unsatisfying 9th position at the checker of the Monterey Sportscar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Gianmaria Bruno had qualified the car in the 10th position.
Under beautiful, but cool California skies, 36 cars took the green flag for the two-hour and 40-minute race around the 2.238 mile circuit. The LMP2 class was not part of this event.
Bruni had a good start and maintained his position. The team planned to deploy an aggressive pit strategy to gain positions using an “undercut”, which was pitting early on lap 21 to get on new tires and in clean air. This strategy played out quite well, as competitors pitted and Bruni worked the No. 85 Porsche up to as high as 4th. To make this strategy work, however, you then need a full-course caution. Unfortunately, this race was unusually green from flag to flag, and a late stop for fuel left the No. 85 in 9th.
Looking ahead, the team is already focused on their next challenge at the Detroit Grand Prix, scheduled for May 31st. With the unique demands of the Detroit street circuit, JDC-Miller MotorSports is determined to find the speed and precision required to return to the front of the pack.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“We didn’t have quite the pace we would have liked all weekend. That resulted in a disappointing 10th qualifying position, so we knew we needed to come up with a strategy for the race that would move us up the order. We got aggressive and pitted on lap 21, which worked out very well. The downside was, however, that this strategy required a full-course caution, which we never got. That meant we had to stop for fuel late in the race, and we were back where we started. I can’t recall a race here that went the whole way without a full-course caution, but this year’s race did.
The crew and the drivers did a great job all weekend. IMSA racing is so competitive that if you are off by a couple of tenths here and there, you are going to finish 9th or 10th. I’m confident that when we study the data, we will learn where those tenths are, and make the adjustments we need to be up front at Detroit.”
Gianmaria Bruni, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“This was an interesting race. We tried to get the best out of it from the strategy, unfortunately, we needed a yellow that didn’t come. We gambled on a strategy, which sometimes works and sometimes not, and that is racing.
I think we did the right things for the position we were in. There wasn’t much else we could do to improve track position. It was good. We tried our best this weekend and now we move forward.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“We were struggling a bit with pace this weekend, and we just wanted to take a gamble on the strategy to maybe have a better result. It didn’t work out so well because we never got the safety car we were expecting. When you look at this race, normally there are several safety cars. So luck just wasn’t on our side. We will put our heads together to find some more speed in the car for Detroit and beyond.”
