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JDC-Miller MotorSports looking forward to the home track advantage at Road America

Katie Church on July 29, 2024

July 29, 2024

Savage, Minnesota

Returning to a race team’s home track is a bit like putting on a pair of old shoes. Familiar and comfortable, and we are surrounded by fans, family, and our partners. The entire JDC-Miller MotorSports team very much looks forward to the Road America round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Challenge each year. 

The team is optimistic in their effort to improve on last season’s strong 5th-place finish with their Porsche 963 GTP. Tijmen van der Helm returns to Road America looking to improve on this finish in his only previous start at the track. Richard Westbrook’s experience at Road America is long and storied. It was the site of his first victory in the US, winning the GT2 class in a Porsche 997 RSR in 2008. Westbrook also won twice in the Ford GT LM as recently as 2019. He delivered an impressive performance in the JDC-Miller MotorSports Cadillac DPi in 2022, leading 25 laps in wet conditions on the 4-mile circuit, nearly lapping the entire field.

JDC-Miller MotorSports will be running three teams this weekend. In addition to the No. 85 GTP Porsche and the championship-leading No. 17 Audi RS3 LMP in the Michelin Pilot Challenge Series TCR Class, they will be adding the No. 79 LMP2 entry for Gerry Kraut and Scott Andrews.

The team is also excited to be hosting a very special guest and his family. 10-year-old St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital patient Colton will be at Road America for the race.  Colton is very excited to attend his first professional race. His visit will kick off a two-month-long effort where you can join the JDC-Miller MotorSports team in helping fund St. Jude in its mission: Finding cures. Saving children.® You can help here. 

The Sunday, August 4th race will be carried on Peacock starting at 3 PM Eastern and rebroadcast at 6 PM Eastern on CNBC. JDC-Miller MotorSports wishes all the athletes in Paris the best of luck at the 2026 Summer Olympics.

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“As a team, it is gratifying to see the support we get when we come to Road America. It is always a fun weekend for us. A very busy weekend.

We continue to jell as a team and understand what makes our Porsche 963 and our drivers more competitive. We plan to build on the pace we showed at Watkins Glen and have a good result.”

Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“I am feeling very positive going into Road America. We had very good pace in the last race at Watkins Glen and this track is similar in many ways.  We ran well here last year with the Porsche 963. It is very promising that we are getting stronger each weekend and a podium is not far around the corner.”   

Richard Westbrook, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“Like most drivers, I love coming to Road America. It is a beautiful track that has a bit of everything. I’ve had some success there in the past and hope to continue it this weekend. This will be my first visit since it was resurfaced prior to last year, so I am really looking forward to giving it a proper go.”

JDC-Miller MotorSports Leads the Early Laps of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, Finishes 9th in GTP After a Penalty

Katie Church on June 28, 2024

June 25, 2024

Savage, Minnesota

After an outstanding qualifying session, JDC-Miller MotorSports driver Phil Hanson started the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on the second row in P4. It was very hot and humid at the fabled central New York race track with a very high certainty of rain coming during the event.

Hanson took advantage of a dry track and made some amazing passes sweeping into the the lead on lap 7. He led until lap 20 when the team, anticipating weather and the need for options regarding drive time, took advantage of a yellow to bring him in and change to driver Tijmen van der Helm. Van der Helm kept the car in contention in very mixed weather conditions for the next two hours and handed it off to Richard Westbrook.

Things then unraveled for the JDC-Miller MotorSports team. Westbrook left his pit on fresh rain tires and was making the needed adjustments for the rain tires on his steering wheel, as well as jockeying for position with the 10 and 40 Acuras. With all that going on, he clipped one of the Michelin RFID stanchions at the single-lane pit exit. For this, the 85 was accessed a very harsh stop + 5 minute penalty. Three laps were lost, and any podium aspirations vanished. The team soldiered on to finish the race 9th in GTP and 17th overall.

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“We unloaded with the most competitive car since Sebring of this year. The team took everything we learned at a test a few weeks ago and gave the drivers a very strong car. Phil was awesome in qualifying and then made some great passes to lead the race. It was great to see the car at the front of the field. 

It is unfortunate that there was an issue with the RFID gate. Things get crazy going into that gate as there isn’t much distance from the last pit boxes to the gate for everyone to get sorted single-file.  The penalty was quite harsh.”

Richard Westbrook, Driver, No.85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“I’m incredibly disappointed. After we switched to wet tires, I had to adjust the steering wheel on the way out. That’s when I made the mistake and nudged Michelin’s tire RFID system. I had expected to get a drive-through penalty, but the five-minute penalty was a killer for us. There was nothing we could do. I feel so sorry for the team, especially since our car was so strong this weekend. It’s a super bitter pill to swallow.”

Urs Kuratle, Director Factory Motorsport LMDh, Porsche Ag

“Our customer team JDC-Miller MotorSports put in an extremely strong drive today. Unfortunately, they received a major penalty. Still, congratulations to the team on its first-class work.”

JDC-Miller MotorSports finishes 8th with their Porsche 963 GTP at the Detroit Grand Prix

Katie Church on June 3, 2024

June 3, 2024

Savage, Minnesota

The JDC-Miller MotorSports team arrived at the Detroit Grand Prix feeling confident after a very productive test at Watkins Glen. While the two circuits could not be more different, the team was confident that what was learned at the test would make the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 competitive. Unfortunately, what was learned at the test didn’t work on the narrow, bumpy, Detroit 1.654-mile street circuit. With only two practice sessions before qualifying, it proved difficult to make up time on the very competitive GTP field. 

The late Friday afternoon qualifying session put the 85 Porsche 9th on the grid for Saturday’s 100 minute race.

Tijmen van der Helm drove the first stint moving the car into 8th. He worked his way up as high as 5th before coming in for fuel and the required driver change.  The crew had an outstanding pit stop and driver change to Richard Westbrook who settled in running in 8th. A competitor’s unfortunate move in turn 1 spun the 85, blocking the track. Westbrook was able to continue but had considerable damage to the rear of the car and pitted for repairs. This resulted in the 85 falling a lap down and ultimately having to settle for an 8th place finish.

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“The Detroit street circuit proved to be another challenging race for us. We left a bit banged and bruised, but with our heads held high as we headed to Watkins Glen for the 6-hour race.”

Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“I am pleased with my driving this weekend. This was a very difficult track to get up to speed on and only my second street race. Richard and the team have been excellent in helping me get up to speed. I was able to take my experience from Long Beach and build on it here. I can’t say at this point I am a fan of this kind of racing, but it has been rewarding to learn what it takes. Not sure this track lends itself well to GTP cars. Probably every car had some damage.”

Richard Westbrook, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“It’s hard for me to come up with anything positive. To be honest, the track is not suitable for racing with prototypes in the top GTP class. It was like being in a bumper car. The damage to the vehicles worsened lap by lap. It was unacceptable – simply unacceptable. I found it frustrating. I have such fond memories of the times we competed on the beautiful Belle Isle in Detroit. I’m looking forward to Watkins Glen – now that’s a great circuit.”

JDC-Miller MotorSports brings their Porsche 963 GTP home in the 8th position at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

Katie Church on May 14, 2024

May 13, 2024

Savage, Minnesota

JDC-Miller MotorSports qualified in the 9th position and finished the race in 8th this weekend at the 2024 Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

JDC-Miller MotorSports driver Tijmen van der Helm had a good qualifying run, turning a 1:13.184, which placed him 9th fastest in the highly competitive GTP field – .869 seconds covered the entire 10-car GTP field. This was the first time IMSA has run at Laguna Seca since the track was repaved last year, and the whole GTP field broke the previous lap record of 1:13.924 set in 2022.

It was a strategy race for the JDC-Miller MotorSports team, which allowed the car to move up to 6th position after the first round of pitstops. Using a different tire strategy than their competitors, they dropped back to 10th at one point but then worked their way up to 6th. Late in the race, the team’s Porsche was pushed off the track entering the corkscrew which dropped them back to 8th for the finish.

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“Unfortunately, we unloaded on the back foot pace-wise, and it took us until qualifying to catch up. The guys did a great job on track and in the pits allowing us to grab a few spots on each pit stop. We were up and down the charts a bit and were pushed around a bit losing some of the ground we gained. We struggled with our tire strategy more than anticipated and then were ultimately pushed off in the Corkscrew which put us back a couple spots when we were running 6th. All in all a solid effort by the team and we will look forward to Detroit.”

Richard Westbrook, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“We couldn’t quite make the double-stint on the tires work. It was a tough ask. The longest run we had done in practice was 20 laps or so. We had not tested a long run on our Michelin tires. The team needed to try something and it nearly came off. We were looking at a top five when the right front dramatically went away.

I felt confident about being able to defend our 6th position but then got dive-bombed going into the corkscrew and lost two positions from that move which was really disappointing. Then, it was just a case of bringing it home.

Really proud of the team. They are willing to try things to be more competitive and that is the way we like to work.”

JDC-Miller MotorSports returns to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the first anniversary of their customer Porsche 963 GTP program

Katie Church on May 8, 2024

Savage, Minnesota (May 6, 2024). JDC-Miller MotorSports is returning to
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where they debuted their Porsche 963 GTP
campaign one year ago. Last year, the JDC-Miller MotorSports team brought their two
week-old 963 to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca to shake down the car in a most
public way. Prior to Practice 1, the team had only made a lap around their parking lot
with the new car. Typically, in motorsports, this would be considered very risky, akin to
learning to swim by diving into the deep end of the pool; the team, however, had
confidence in their abilities and the abilities of their partners in this project.

With the help of their technical partners, Porsche Motorsport NA, Multimatic, Bosch, and
WAE Technologies, the team powered through the concise timeframe and soldiered on
to finish 7th of the 8 GTP cars and only 23 seconds behind the race winner. Gaining that
race experience set the stage for upcoming solid performances for the remainder of the
season.

For the 2024 Motul Course de Monterey Powered by Hyundai N, the team returns
knowing the car and how it responds to changes. They now have experience with the
GTP-class Michelin tires and are well-rehearsed on pit stops and driver changes.
Richard Westbrook returns to one of his favorite tracks with three wins at WeatherTech
Raceway Laguna Seca under his belt. For Tijmen van der Helm, the tracks, with the
exception of Detroit, will no longer be new to him as he returns to each of them behind
his Porsche 963 GTP wheel.

The team is confidently looking forward to this year’s race.

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“Last year, we decided to take an aggressive approach to rolling out the new car. Early
in the year, we knew we would not have the Porsche for Sebring, so our attention
shifted to Laguna Seca. The Porsche team in Weissach worked through many
challenges to get the car together and shipped, but it was clear that the timing would be
very tight. We could have waited to debut the car at Watkins Glen a month later, but I
felt strongly that we needed to start gaining experience and knowledge of this complex
machine as soon as possible. The entire JDC-Miller MotorSports crew was fully
onboard with this approach, as we were all excited to get our Porsche 963 program
underway. Through herculean efforts and many long nights by many people, we
performed very well at Laguna Seca. What we learned that weekend set us up for 4th
place finishes at the next two races, Watkins Glen and CTMP. While incredibly stressful,
we learned much about the Porsche 963 and the GTP program. Knowledge and race
experience that benefits us today. I am really looking forward to this weekend.”

Ryan Perera, Systems Engineer, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“Looking back at this weekend one year ago, we went to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna
Seca, knowing our partners would help us get the car ready for the race.

There was a massive outpouring of support from our technical partners, Porsche,
Multimatic, Bosch, and WAE, who were all as excited to see this car on the track as we
were. At times, there were a dozen knowledgeable and skilled people in our garage
looking to make valuable changes and updates to the car. People were queuing up to
plug their laptops into the vehicle. It quickly became overwhelming as we had not
completely thought through how we needed to manage this process. The stress level
rose until John (Managing Partner John Church) put a stop to making changes and
directed everyone to get focused on readying the car for the race. That allowed us to
focus on fixing the issues you inevitably have with all new cars and establish a
performance baseline we are building on to this day.

After that experience, we established a process to work with our technical partners and
maximize their valuable expertise in an organized manner.

As stressful as it was, I feel a great deal of pride when looking back on that weekend.
We went to Laguna Seca to shakedown a brand-new car unlike anything we had raced
before and finished on the lead lap. Quite an accomplishment!

Josh Kerrigan, Car Chief, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“We spent a couple of weeks at Porsche in Weissach learning about the car and its
systems as well as how everything went together. Our challenge for Laguna Seca was
simply time. We didn’t have any. With a new car, a ton of electrical and other
components must be installed. The punch list is always very long, but even longer with
all the added systems of a GTP car. Unfortunately, we had the car in our shop for less
than a week before the truck headed west. The drivers came and were fitted to the car.
We went through the start-up process just one time before the car had to leave. When
the trailer was opened at Laguna Seca, there was a tremendous amount of work yet to
do to make the car ready for the race. Pit stops under GTP rules had to be worked out
and practiced, as well as driver changes. Every night was a very long night.

The payoff for all the hard work came on race day. When Tijmen took the checker on
the lead lap, all I could think of was, “Wow, we did it!”

JDC-Miller MotorSports finished in the 7th position at the Grand Prix of Long Beach

Katie Church on April 26, 2024

April 22, 2024

Savage, MN

JDC-Miller MotorSports returned to the streets of Long Beach, this time with their Porsche 963 GTP. The team’s last visit in 2022 resulted in a podium for driver Richard Westbrook.

The JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 GTP showed good pace all weekend. Tijmen
van der Helm was very strong in qualifying, only .6 off the pole, but 7th on the grid in the
very tight IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP field.

In the race, the car dropped two places at the start. Then van der Helm ran fast,
consistent laps as the team worked on a strategy to move the car up. At the first yellow,
Westbrook got in for the run to the finish. He worked his way up to 7th before getting
spun by another competitor. Later, he was involved in a typical Long Beach turn 11
traffic jam but fortunately didn’t lose position. Westbrook fought on to bring the car home
in 7th.

Quotes:

John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“We were very happy with our qualifying time, but it did put us back in the field due to
how incredibly tight the competition is in the GTP class. We got behind early in the
race, and with a short race like this, you just can’t make up the time. From a strategy
standpoint, there is only one pit stop and almost one-third of the race was run under
caution, so there just isn’t a lot to work with.

The team gave the drivers a very competitive car. The drivers drove a great race. The
pit crew did an incredibly fast pit stop. There was a stretch in the race where, for a
number of laps, Richard was the quickest car on the track. Some days things don’t work
the way you would like.”

Richard Westbrook, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“A little bit battered and bruised from a typical Long Beach Street fight. It’s very difficult
to plan for these races. They seem to just always turn into chaos. We worked really
hard on the weekend, and JDC gave us a really good car, very fast.

We didn’t quite get the run to the green flag at the start we would have liked. Then we
were a bit on the back foot, track position-wise, and it’s always challenging to make that
up in a hundred-minute race with several cautions. Another competitor tagged me from
behind, putting us back. Then we closed back up to the pack and showed that we had a
nice race car.

It’s just a shame that we couldn’t show it with the kind of result that we all deserved.
We worked really hard this weekend, and I have to thank the team for giving us another
great car to work with.

We need to turn that into results now, which will come. Hopefully, starting at Laguna
Seca.”

Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963

“Difficult race; we ended up in P7, where we also started. The good news is I think there
was more pace in the car. The way the race unfolded we didn’t get to use it.

There are some points to work on for the next race. I am looking forward to Laguna
Seca. We are getting all the pieces in place and should see results soon.”

In Preparation for Laguna Seca…

On Sunday after the race the team was invited to participate in the Porsche Experience
Center’s Morning Shift cars & coffee event displaying the 963. Following the Cars &
Coffee event, we were able to prep the car in the Porsche Motorsports shop for Laguna
Seca. Hundreds of Porsche fans got to see the JDC-Miller MotorSports team in action.