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.”