The goal of one-make championships, such as Porsche Carrera Cup North America, is both for a driver to prove his or her skills against others in equal cars, and also to hone those skills before moving to the next step in their racing career.
The on-track proficiency โ pace, car control, racecraft โ are key, but increasingly, drivers are finding professional success hinges on the off-track skills as well. Enter Porsche’s Driver Development Workshop.
Held recently at the headquarters of Team Penske, the 2024 edition provided the invited drivers from Porsche EBOOST North American Junior program and Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver Program North America not only an inside look at the operations of Porsche Penske Motorsports but focused on off-track skills as well. Drivers received career experience both hands-on and in sessions with experts from the disciplines of physical training, nutrition, technology, media and career planning.
โIt was super valuable,โ said Sabre Cook, driver of the No. 37 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, now running out of the Era Motorsports stable. The 30-year-old racer and engineer from Colorado was attending her first Driver Development Workshop. โBeing able to do the pitstop practice with the crew might be my favorite part. Then getting to interact and hear from current sponsors of the series, what they’re looking for and hear from other people inside of motorsports on different roles and how they look at things is always valuable, because it gives us a broader perspective outside of ourselves โ what’s important and how to stay relevant, keep your brand growing. So overall I think it was an awesome two days and really enjoyed it.โ
The Porsche Driver Development Workshop has evolved since the launch of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, and the curriculum changes each year. But the focus doesn’t waver: offer Porsche one-make drivers the knowledge to maximize their careers. Drivers received a behind-the-scenes look into the operations at Team Penske and the Yokohama Development Center, both in Mooresville, N.C. Elements of the workshop included nutritional advice, media and social media instruction, physical advice with PitFit Training, as well as the opportunity to train with the Porsche Penske Motorsport race team that competes in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTP category as well as as the World Endurance Championship. American Porsche factory driver Dane Cameron and former international Porsche one-make champion and current Porsche Penske driver Matt Campbell (Australia) were also on hand to offer key insights on how to navigate a career in sports car racing.
โOne thing that was really valuable for me was hearing Dane Cameron speak and get his perspective on what was important for his career, how he manages difficult situations, whether that’s with the team or career progression,” said Cook
“Understanding his perspective on the physicality of going from GT cars into prototype cars, and the differences in physical demands with that, was really valuable. The nutrition was pretty valuable because I feel like that’s an element I haven’t really tapped into as much as I could.”
Zach Vanier is currently fourth in the Carrera Cup North America standings driving the No. 9 JDX Racing GT3 Cup. A winner in a Carrera Cup race in Miami, Vanier won the 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America title. As a Porsche Motorsport North America Junior Development Program driver, Vanier has now been through the workshop twice.
โComparing the two experiences for me, it was very eye opening, because I feel like they were different, and they were different in very wide range of perspectives,โ Vanier said. โI think this year was a lot more tailored to a racing program in terms of our workouts, and even just the program itself, you could really see that they had learned a lot from last year and really implemented that into this year.
“I could only imagine what next year’s program is going to look, like as well. To see the two years and to really experience those workshops was very eye opening. And there are things I learned last year that I didn’t learn this year. So in general, it was a very positive takeaway, and I think it made me mature a lot as a driver in in a very short time span.โ
For Vanier, the workshop had an immediate effect on his journey as a racing driver as he looks to build his name in the sport.
โI just launched my own brand in February. It’s something that I had wanted to do for a few years now,” he said. “Being a Canadian, there’s a few Canadian icons such as Daniel Morad, who established Moradness, and has, in my opinion, built a lot of his career around that brand. I grew up looking up to guys like that, and you always want to see how you can do it, but in your own way.
โOnce I heard at the workshop, it was very rewarding to know that the efforts that I had put into building it kind of met what was expected out of it. But then it also kind of gives you a formula to understand how I can maybe take that to the next level, and really emphasize the areas of consumers and partnerships, as well as fans seeing my logo and understanding that it’s not only me, but my core values as well.โ
In addition to Cook and Vanier, other attendees at the 2024 workshop included Sprint Challenge racers Paul Bocuse, Loni Unser, Therese Lahlouh, Caroline Candas and Paige Morales; and Carrera Cup North America drivers Elias De La Torre IV, Jimmy Libre and Madeline Stewart.
