Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama competitors took a detour east this weekend with the third round of the championship taking place at the home of the US Grand Prix – Austin’s Circuit of the Americas.
The series joined a massive celebration of Porsche one-make racing in Texas with Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama and Porsche Endurance Challenge North America also racing at COTA on the same weekend, bringing over 90 entries to the Lone Star state between the three Porsche championships.
Blind unstoppable for double overall victory
While competing in the 992 GT3 Cup Masters category, Scott Blind dominated the USA West field in both instances at COTA. The Ruckus Racing driver started from the pole position and hit his marks en route to his second and third wins of the championship.
Fellow Masters driver Jim Walsh posed an initial threat to Blind’s lead at the start of the races, but settled back to fight with the top Pro-Am competitors and to finish second in Race 2. A last-lap spin in Race 1 demoted Walsh to fourth-in-class behind Francisco De Jesus. Joel Johnson finished second on Saturday and third on Sunday to complete the class podiums.
While Blind set sail, attention turned to the entertaining multi-car battle of 992 GT3 Cup Pro-Am competitors. Three contenders – Daniel Hanley, Mark Wilgus and Brannan Hankins – were constantly rotating the top three positions in both races, with Hanley coming out on top in Race 1 and Wilgus first in Race 2.
Hanley took victory after Hankins slid off course trying to pass Walsh in the closing minutes. Meanwhile, Wilgus’ efforts were rewarded after setting up a perfect pass on Hanley with six minutes remaining through Turns 12 to 15.
While Hanley and Wilgus finished in the top three of both races, Mark Crigler joined them on the podium in Race 1 and Hankins did the same in Race 2.
Rogers reigns supreme in Cayman category
In the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport class, the weekend fully belonged to Tom Rogers for the first time in 2025. The Masters driver faced the most competitors versus other classes, but held off each of them for a sweep at COTA.
Rogers previously split weekend victories with Tim Smith at Sonoma Raceway last month, and Smith secured a third-place finish in Texas on Sunday. Otherwise, Greg Herback crossed the finish line second behind Rogers in both races, while the final podium spot on Sunday went to Gary Bufkin in his racing debut.
In the Cayman Pro-Am category, Emanuel Tartaglione gained valuable track time and ran cleanly to celebrate two class wins.
Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West only has days to rest before competing again, this time at Burt Brothers Motorpark. The Round 4 doubleheader is scheduled for May 30 – June 1. Race replays throughout the season are available on the Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channel.
992 GT3 Cup Race 1 Podium
Pro-Am
- #243 Daniel Hanley
- #204 Mark Crigler
- #250 Mark Wilgus
Masters
- #245 Scott Blind
- #217 Joel Johnson
- #221 Francisco De Jesus
992 GT3 Cup Race 2 Podium
Pro-Am
- #250 Mark Wilgus
- #295 Brannan Hankins
- #243 Daniel Hanley
Masters
- #245 Scott Blind
- #269 Jim Walsh
- #217 Joel Johnson
718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Race 1 Podium
Pro-Am
- #59 Emanuel Tartaglione
Masters
- #44 Tom Rogers
- #49 Greg Herback
- #51 Gary Bufkin
718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Race 2 Podium
Pro-Am
- #59 Emanuel Tartaglione
Masters
- #44 Tom Rogers
- #49 Greg Herback
- #70 Tim Smith
Full results from all sessions can be found here.
All photos can be found here.
