Stops, Starts and Sprints at Road America
Sep 6, 2024
Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Road America
Porsche Spring Challenge North America and Porsche Endurance Challenge
August 14th, 2024
Some race weekends are defined by pomp and circumstance. With tens of thousands of fans in the grandstands, rows of booths touting every imaginable racing related product, endless food options and media coverage that doesn’t miss a gear shift, the largest events can feel only partly about the action on the track.
But then, along comes an event like the running of the Porsche Sprint and Endurance Challenges at Road America. The weekend, during which Racing to End Alzheimer’s/MDK participated in a whopping 130 minutes of competition, was simple in its focus. Teams came to race, without distraction. Rubber, asphalt and a stacked field of miraculous machines. Just how we like it.
Seeing Double
The first portion of the weekend saw Racing to End Alzheimer’s return to the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with two 35-minute races. Behind the wheel of a purple and white clad No. 243 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car (type 992), Mark Kvamme knew that he would have to capitalize on the car’s considerable advantage over the type 991 in the track’s corridors to be successful.
After laying down solid practice laps, the No. 243 lost some time while trying to avoid a spinning car during qualifying, dropping Kvamme’s start position back to ninth in the Masters class and 17th overall.
Mark set off early to make up the lost time, but was stymied again by on-track incident. Just as he made a move for 16th and looked ahead for more, the dreaded yellow flag came out to delay his momentum.
At the restart, Kvamme dug deep to get back in the groove, picking up three spots to move him into 13th overall. While plotting the No. 243’s ascent into the top ten, Kvamme again had to cool his wheels for a caution period caused by an incident in turn 11. When the green flag came back out, he did what he could with the remaining 10 minutes, moving one more spot up into 12th overall and 5th in class before the checkered flag brought an end to the disjointed race.
Sunday morning’s rematch started out looking like a rerun. Setting out from 14th overall and sixth in the Masters class, Kvamme took a position in the opening lap before a full course caution slowed the field. At the restart, the No. 243 began a steady march through the field, speeding through corridors and picking up two spots overall. But with that much work to do, time is the enemy. The checkered flag came out with Kvamme sitting one spot out of the top ten overall and fifth in Masters.
Two Sprints and a Marathon
After racing the clock in the first two races of the weekend, Racing to End Alzheimer’s/MDK hoped to stretch out during the team’s debut appearance in the hour-long Porsche Endurance Challenge. As luck would have it, those hopes were almost immediately dashed when a multi-car incident in the first few minutes of the race effectively cut it down to another sprint.
Not to be deterred, Kvamme, along with co-driver Gustav Burton, did what they could with the truncated time. Emerging from the pit lane after a red-flag period caused by debris and track damage, the No. 243 worked its way through the field, guided by the steady hands of Kvamme, then Burton.
With 26 minutes to go, Burton set his sights on the top ten and began a remarkable run. Starting way back in 15th place, he patiently picked off the Porsches in front of him. With 18 minutes to go, he was in 13th. Unsatisfied, he made no mistakes, laying down good lap after good lap. By the time the checkered flag waved, Burton sat in 9th, a hard-earned top ten finish.
Racing and Purpose
When Phil Frengs joined Ryan Myrehn and Joe Peak in the announcer’s booth during the race broadcast on Porsche Motorsports North America’s YouTube, he had the opportunity to answer a few questions about Racing to End Alzheimer’s during a lengthy caution period.
As he so eloquently does, Phil took the time to remind us all why we are here. Our shared love, for racing and for those who have been impacted by this disease, brings us together in pursuit of a cure. The mission and the method are inseparable.
As if to illustrate this point, the green flag came out on the course just as Phil was signing off. With a roar of their engines, the field of Porsches took off at 200 miles per hour, and, somewhere in their midst, a flash of purple and white got to work.