Join JDC-Miller MotorSports in Supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® DONATE NOW
Update: Due to a post-race technical infraction penalty to the No. 6, the No 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 was promoted to a 3rd place finish.
September 23, 2024
It was a rollercoaster race, culminating in their best season finish for the No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 GTP at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Battle On The Bricks.
The JDC-Miller MotorSports team battled through a number of issues, which made the strong finish especially sweet. Early in the hot and humid weekend, the team struggled to find the pace needed to compete in the extremely competitive IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship GTP field. They worked late into Saturday night and gave their drivers a much-improved car for the Sunday race. Tijmen van der Helm started the race in 11th and moved up to 5th on lap 18 in very difficult mixed weather conditions. Our rain expert, Richard Westbrook, took over as the rain increased and continued the strong push. His comment was, “I’m British. I was born in the rain.” Some great strategy calls were made in the dry second half of the race, and Phil Hanson did an outstanding job of fuel-saving for an extended last stint to bring the car home 4th.
September is Child Cancer Awareness Month. The team’s Porsche 963 carried close to 50 LOVE RACING. STOP CANCER. stickers around the 2.439 mile speedway. Supporters made donations and then wrote a message on the decal which was affixed to the car for a 6 hour 200 mph ride. This effort has raised close to $35,000 with donations still coming in. Donate here.
JDC-Miller MotorSports hosted St. Jude patient Grayson, his brother Hudson, and mom Anne, on Saturday and they had a especially great time when the team’s Audi RS3 LMS had a TCR class podium finish in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race. They took the opportunity to give the bricks a kiss and went home with a Michelin hat from the podium celebration.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“Hats off the driver’s and the crew. This was a tough race. We were chasing things all weekend and everyone really stepped it up and were rewarded with our best finish of the year. We tested here last year and had a pretty good idea of what the car liked on this track. The hot and humid weather early in the weekend changed things but it came back to us on Sunday with the cooler weather. There was a tremendous amount of hard work put in this weekend so its gratifying to see a good result. Very much looking forward to a strong run at Motul Petit Le Mans.”
Richard Westbrook, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“A fantastic result, which I think everyone on the team can be proud of and thoroughly deserved. We came back from lots of issues in the race. It was really, really tough. I was out when it was really wet and, you know, it was enjoyable. Visibility was terrible. We were in the mix and then out of the mix and back in the mix, but had some really good strategy at the end get Phil back on the lead lap, which we did, and then we were in a really strong position on fuel. Really clever strategy by the team. The team really deserved a good result this weekend. It was a tough car in practice and qualifying, but everyone worked really hard so in the race we had a good car in the wet and the dry.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“We had a quite difficult race weekend but very pleased with the result. We came from the back so we had some work to do. It worked out quite well. We had some small problems later on in the race, but we quickly got them sorted and could maximize the results. It is our best result of the year so there is a lot to be proud of. Really looking forward to Petit Le Mans and hopefully getting on the podium.
Phil Hanson, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“A good weekend for us. We started a bit on the back foot. Struggled early on in the weekend to get a grip on the car. The crew made a lot of changes to the set up trying to find the balance and made good steps forward for the race, which is good to see. A little bit of damage and other small issues meant that throughout the race we lost some set up. This made braking very difficult late in the race. I think that aside, we had a quite competitive car today which put us in position to capitalize on other teams’s issues and mistakes throughout the race. It was a good result for the package that we had this weekend.”
September 18, 2024
The JDC-Miller MotorSports will be racing the No. 85 Porsche 963 GTP to stop cancer at this weekend’s Battle On The Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. September is Child Cancer Awareness Month, which has an official color of yellow.
The IMSA community provided a tremendous outpouring of support for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® patient Colton at Road America, so the JDC-Miller MotorSports team decided to invite St. Jude patient Grayson and his family to join their effort for the six hours of the Battle On The Bricks.
St.Jude patient Colton enjoying the fan walk at Road America.
Not only will Grayson be joining the team, but so will a couple of hundred other JDC-Miller MotorSports and St. Jude supporters who joined the LOVE RACING. STOP CANCER. campaign. The team kicked this effort off with a “team meeting” at the JDC-Miller MotorSports shop, with over 200 joining in. The meeting consisted of a Porsche 963 technical presentation, a display of the team’s freshly restored 2016 Rolex winning Prototype Challenge Oreca, and various other activities. The highlight was a couple of live pit-stop demonstrations with fan Q&A. Photos are here: St. Jude Benefit – Dropbox.
For the race, we will be placing special LOVE RACING. STOP CANCER. stickers on the Porsche 963 with a message written by the supporter. A $250 donation puts your yellow sticker on the car and a $500 donation receives a larger black and yellow sticker. Supporters are encouraged to write whatever they like for the six-hour trip around IMS. Supporters have already donated over $25,000 to St. Jude.
Want to put your name on the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963? There is still time, and we would love to have your help by inviting your friends and family to join in this important race…the race to end childhood cancer! All donations are tax-deductible and donors who make a gift of $250, $500, or more receive a customized LOVE RACING. STOP CANCER. sticker with an opportunity to add their message and be showcased at the Battle On The Bricks. (Email here if you wish to do this.) Click here to read more about the JDC-Miller MotorSports partnership and to donate today, or just go to www.stjude.org/jdc.
The race will be carried on Peacock from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT, with the final three hours on NBC.
August 5, 2024
Savage, Minnesota
The JDC-Miller MotorSports team had a very rewarding weekend at Road America. Surrounded by friends, family, and fans, we achieved strong on-track results and also had a great deal of off-track activity with our wide range of supporters.
The weekend got off to a good start on Saturday when Chris Miller and Mikey Taylor’s No. 17 Audi RS3 LMS clawed their way through the Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class field to a fourth-place finish. Importantly, this increased their championship points lead by 70 points to a 220-point advantage.
In the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series, the No. 85 Porsche GTP team improved steadily over the course of the hot and humid weekend. Starting from the 8th position, drivers Richard Westbrook and Tijmen van der Helm had good pace and stayed in contention throughout the 2 hour and 40 minute race. The crew provided fast and error-free pit-stops. The race featured five full course yellows which challenged the drivers with cold-tire restarts. Van der Helm was quick in the final stint to take the checker for a 6th place finish.
For the Road America round, the team entered the No. 79 Oreca 07 LMP2 for Gerry Kraut and Scott Andrews for what will be their only appearance in 2024. Kraut ran a quick and error-free first stint before turning the car over to Andrews to take it home. Andrews worked his way through the field, culminating in a finish on the second step of the podium.
The highlight of the weekend, however, was the visit by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® patient Colton, his sister Malea, and mom Colleen. They came to the track to help JDC-Miller MotorSports kick off a two-month-long fundraising effort for our partner, St. Jude. Colton’s big day kicked off with a visit from IMSA President John Doonan, welcoming him to Road America and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series. Then, driver, Richard Westbrook, took Colton for a tour of the No. 85 Porsche. Thanks to IMSA and Porsche, Colleen, took a “Hot Lap” in a Porsche 911 GTS around the 4 miles of Road America. Colton was introduced to the massive crowd during the Fan Walk pit-stop demonstration and then stood with the team on the pit lane for the National Anthem and fly-over. Additionally, we took our guests around to the best vantage points to watch the race. To culminate this incredible experience, Colton and his family were able to visit Victory Circle when the No. 79 came home in 2nd place. Watch for more information shortly on this effort or you can donate here.
Quotes:
John Church, Managing Partner, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“It’s gratifying that we are competitive and very close to the kind of finishes we strive for. The competitive bar in GTP goes up every weekend. We have worked hard on our overall pace and are right there with our GTP competitors. From the front to the back of the GTP field, it is very tight, so now we need to focus on the many little things that gain you positions in the race results. We finished in P6 today but are only a couple of tenths here and there from the podium.
Overall, it was a great weekend for all three of JDC-Miller MotorSports teams. Good results but also it is so gratifying to see the level of fan support we have. A very fun weekend.”
Tijmen van der Helm, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“I am happy with the P6 finish. Made a couple of minor mistakes, but we were competitive. There are some things to work on for the next couple of races. We know what we need to improve to fight for the podium every time.”
Richard Westbrook, Driver, No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963
“6th is a decent result. We have struggled to get results this year. Not for lack of pace, we just haven’t been able to capture the result we are looking for. We had a good car. It was a bit tricky on restarts to get the tires up to temperature, which is something we can work on.
We had so much support this weekend from all the guests, supporters, and sponsors. You do feel that in the car. It’s our home race, and it’s great to see this kind of support. I’m looking forward to the next two races. We have a good car and are confident in how we engineer it. I’m really proud of everyone at JDC-Miller MotorSports.”
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.
