Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama Teams Back on Track for Season Preparations - Speedway Digest

The 2016 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama season starts in March, but the road to the championship starts Feb. 23-24 at Sebring International Raceway.

Teams and drivers from one of Porsche’s 20 single-make series around the world will test Tuesday, Feb. 23 and Wednesday, Feb. 24 at Sebring in preparation for the start of the 2016 season.

The 3.74-mile, 17-turn historic road course in Sebring, Florida, will host the first two rounds of the eight-event, 16-race schedule March 16-18 during the prestigious Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida. The Sebring season opener is like coming home for many of the teams and competitors, as the series has opened the season at Sebring International Raceway since 2006.

Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars in the Platinum Cup (2014-16 model years) and Gold Cup (2010-13 model years) classes will make themselves familiar with the circuit in hopes of a successful first two races.

Testing is scheduled for 9:25-10:40 a.m. (ET) and 2:20-3:35 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23, and 10:35 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24.

Among the teams expected to prepare for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned championship is reigning Platinum Cup Team Champions Wright Motorsports. Testing for Wright will be Andrew Longe, a newcomer to the team. Longe, from Naples, Florida, enters his second Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama season as a Platinum Cup title contender after finishing fourth in the standings last season.

Other teams joining Wright at the test include series standouts and past champions Kelly-Moss Road and Race, NGT Motorsport and TOPP Racing.

The NGT Motorsport lineup at the test will include series rookie and IMSA Scholarship winner Victor Gomez IV. Gomez is making his series debut in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama in 2016 after competing last season in the World Challenge GT Cup championship, finishing seventh in the standings as a rookie. Gomez will run a full season with the support of IMSA, Porsche and Yokohama.

Tullman Walker Racing also will be at the test preparing to make its full-season debut in 2016 with father-son duo Steve and Max Tullman. The duo joined the series in 2015 at VIRginia International Raceway. Each driver had a podium finish in their debut weekend, Max in Gold Cup and Steve in Gold Masters.

Stay tuned to @IMSA on Twitter for live updates from both days of testing at Sebring.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.