SEBRING, Florida (March 14, 2022) – TPC Racing and its trio of drivers in the 2022 USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama secured two podium finishes and a string of other top results this weekend in the season-opening doubleheader at Sebring International Raceway.
Michael Levitas hit the podium in both races, David Williams scored a top-10 finish in his return to professional racing and the “Apex’n Award” was claimed by second-year team driver Rob Lorndale for improving the most positions in Sunday’s final 40-minute race of the Sebring weekend.
The first race weekend event in the second season of the USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge, TPC and its drivers were competitive throughout the tight two-day schedule at Sebring and left the legendary circuit with some solid results and three Porsche GT3 Cup cars free from any major damage.
The weekend’s best result was earned by TPC’s own Levitas who finished second in the Porsche 991 GT3 Cup class in Sunday morning’s first race and backed it up with a third-place finish in that afternoon’s final 40-minute sprint.
Levitas led the opening race and then recovered from a minor on-track mistake for the runner-up showing. His biggest recovery, however, came in Sunday afternoon’s finale when he dodged more than one opening lap crash to work his way back to third to secure the podium sweep in his No. 36 Erin Levitas Foundation/TPC Racing Porsche 991 GT3 Cup.
The weekend marked the return to competition of David Williams, who made his first pro race start since 2015 in the No. 37 TPC Racing Porsche 992 GT3 Cup. Williams previously raced with TPC in IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup competition, the predecessor to USAC Porsche Sprint Challenge.
Competing in the top-tier Porsche 992 GT3 Cup division, Williams just missed a top-10 finish in Sunday’s first race but wasn’t going to be denied in round two. Williams stayed in the lead train of cars throughout the race and took the checkered flag in ninth place, just one overall position behind Levitas.
A major contributor to TPC’s 2021 Porsche Sprint Challenge team championship, Lorndale is back for a second season in the No. 6 TPC Racing Porsche 991 GT3 Cup. He battled for a top-10 finish in both Sunday races but literally made his biggest move of the weekend in the second and final sprint in the afternoon.
Starting 32nd in the full field of Porsche GT3 Cup cars, Lorndale started to pass competitors from the drop of the green flag. His steady climb saw him improve 12 positions by the checkered flag to earn the series’ popular Apex’n Award for passing more cars than any other competitor.
Veteran and race winning IMSA GTD and GS competitor Billy Johnson, a factory driver for the Ford GT World Endurance Championship (WEC) program in its prime a few years ago, was a key part of the weekend’s success as the team’s full-season driver coach.
Harris Levitas, TPC Racing Director of Race Operations: “It’s a really great start to the season. I am really thankful for all of the hard work our TPC Racing team has put into this program, both at the track and in the shop. The prep work has been fantastic. We had fast cars right off the trailer and it was a super-condensed schedule with just two days on track. So, for Rob, David and Michael to be able to get up to speed so quick is really great. Two podiums puts us in a great spot out of the gate for the team championship. It’s a long season ahead but it helps to have a pair of strong finishes at the beginning. David Williams made fantastic progress. He hasn’t been in the car since 2015 but we did a lot of testing and he got the most out of the track time. I am extremely proud of David and for Rob as well to come out so strong and deliver. Really, stronger than he has ever been before. He really attacked at the start and stayed with the pack ahead of him. He learned so much this weekend. It’s good momentum going into the rest of the season.”
Rob Lorndale, Driver, No. 6 TPC Racing Porsche 991 GT3 Cup: “We came to Sebring at the end of January and the start of February for several days of testing. We were out here testing when the temperatures were just below freezing but all of that really helps. Just being in the car helps, and I had tremendous coaching from Billy Johnson both at the test and here this weekend. This weekend, Billy was just invaluable. He really pointed me in the right direction in a number of places where I was struggling a bit. That’s what gave me the confidence to pass a bunch of cars today. I feel really good about this race, and the team did really well. Mike had an incredible weekend, David had a good weekend, TPC is off to a good start and I couldn’t be happier to be part of the group.”
David Williams, Driver, No. 37 TPC Racing Porsche 992 GT3 Cup: “It was awesome. I love Sebring and I love the Porsches. The 992 car is fabulous and being back with TPC is awesome. It’s taken me a while to get back up to speed and I don’t think I am even there yet. I haven’t been in a race car in almost six years, so being in a race environment was super helpful to me. The 992 is just so stable. The mechanical grip and aero grip combined in that car is just fantastic. It is awesome to be racing again with TPC. I have been friends with Mike a long time, and have known Harris since he was a young man, and to see the role he now plays with the team is super exciting. I am so proud of him.”
Mike Levitas, Driver, No. 36 TPC Racing Porsche 991 GT3 Cup: “I really have to thank my family first and foremost. My son Harris, my wife Wendy, and to drive the Erin Levitas Foundation car this week has been a real privilege. My first job was to be competitive, get out there and shake the cobwebs off and put in some podium finishes. The competition is tough but USAC puts on a great event and Porsche is always quite a product. I can’t thank everybody enough. I started off P3 in the second race and it was pretty ugly at the start. I kind of got boxed in but was pretty determined to come out alive and not get caught up in it. I got through that and then made a couple passes getting back up into a podium position. We are really working hard. It’s a good beginning to the season but it’s only going to get better.”
About TPC Racing: TPC Racing is the Mid-Atlantic’s premier maintenance, service, tuning and modification center dedicated solely to Porsche sportscars. TPC Racing specializes in R&D and sales of high-performance modifications for Porsche sports cars and race cars, offering a wide range of vehicle upgrades. Best known for a line of forced induction solutions for the Porsche 911, Cayman and Boxster, a long-time focus on only one make, Porsche, has enabled TPC Racing to become experts in Porsche service, tuning, and racing. In 2000, TPC Racing began entering races under its own banner, scoring an SGS-class Championship in 2004 in the Grand-American Rolex Series and was a class winner in the 2006 Rolex 24 At Daytona, and captured the 2013 and 2016 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA Gold Cup Championships. More information can be found at http://www.TPCRacing.com.