Sedgwick scores his first Porsche Carrera Cup North America win from pole at Watkins Glen
WATKINS GLEN, NY (June 25, 2024) – PT Autosport with JDX Racing and Alex Sedgwick finally checked Porsche Carrera Cup North America “victory” off their to-do list, scoring the win from pole in Saturday’s second of two 40-minute races at Watkins Glen International – part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.
Series sophomore Sedgwick captured his first series win from pole after a race-long battle with series points leader Loek Hartog. The 25-year-old Warwickshire, UK native kept his No. 98 PT Autosport/JDX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car out in front despite hot and slippery conditions to capture that long-awaited win.
Sedgwick began the weekend in Thursday’s first practice, under blazing sun and humid conditions. He promptly set the quickest lap time by two-tenths of a second but was pipped for the top spot with only 10 minutes remaining in the session. The afternoon practice was delayed an hour due to heavy thunderstorms, as Sedgwick paced first in rain tires, then on slicks as the track dried. At the checkered flag, he was again P2, just two tenths of a second off points leader Hartog.
In Friday morning qualifying, Sedgwick went straight to the top of the speed charts in his opening laps. Pitting for tires mid-session, he laid down a stellar lap at 1:48.592 to start third in race one – and on pole for race two.
Sedgwick took the green in race one Friday afternoon and stuck behind pole sitter, looking to take second position through the Turn 1 right hander, then taking another look in Turn 3. But Sedgwick had Michael Cooper in his mirrors, and Cooper took advantage of Sedgwick’s move to make a pass, putting Sedgwick back in fourth.
His woes continued as a competitor ahead brake checked Sedgwick, causing him to lock up his tires and sliding him back into sixth position. Sedgwick settled in, looking for the drivers ahead to make a mistake. A full course yellow with 15 minutes remaining stalled the action, with the race going back to green with just over seven minutes left. Taking a look in Turn 1, Sedgwick had to slip back into the draft. With a car off in Turn 5, the yellow flew again, ending the race under caution, with Sedgwick a disappointed sixth.
“I got a decent start and then everyone just stacked up, said Sedgwick. “My car seemed to really struggle in the aero wash of the cars ahead, much more than I’d ever experienced before. Cooper was able to get around the outside of me, but he was slower. I tried to get by, driving into my normal brake marker in the corner, and he slowed much earlier than he had before. I had to brake hard to avoid him and locked up the rear, so I really had nothing after that. Definitely a disappointing day, after the speed we’d had for the first two days.”
Under hot sun and track temperatures over 110F, Sedgwick took the green from pole position Saturday morning. With a solid jump at the start, Sedgwick held off the cars behind through the first two corners – but cars behind were not so fortunate, as an eight-car incident mid-field brought out the yellow flag.
With 20 minutes remaining, Sedgwick timed the restart perfectly, gaining ground in Turn 1. But as the race progressed, he began to deal with an increasingly slick racetrack and a surging Hartog, balancing hitting his marks and making consistent lap times with anticipating Hartog’s next move. He did that to perfection, staying in front to the checkered flag.
When asked about his emotions as he took the hard-fought first win, Sedgwick didn’t hesitate with his answer.
“The biggest emotion right now is relief,” said Sedgwick. “I’m so happy to finally get this done – huge thanks to PT Autosport for getting me here, and to JDX Racing for giving me a great car and all tools I needed. It was a wild day. It got crazy there for a while, with a restart ahead of Hartog to deal with. We obviously didn’t get any racing for half the race, but I got that good jump and kept the gap over Hartog. He pushed me super hard, it was a difficult race – it was hard to maintain the pace and keep the tires under me in the heat since this is such a high-load track. We pushed hard to the end, so I’m super happy to come away with my second first win (Sedgwick lost a win in Miami due to a penalty that the team unsuccessfully contested).”
For team principal Jason Myer, the win validated the belief that both PT Autosport and JDX Racing had in Sedgwick’s potential.
“This win has been a long time coming for Alex,” said Myers. “He had a couple close ones last season, and this season he’s come really close – so close that he led every lap after qualifying on pole and finished first in Miami, only to have it relegated by what we feel was not the right call. Finally, having this first win felt like a real victory that couldn’t be taken away and is likely only the beginning of what will be a very strong second half of the season for Alex. I’ve been very impressed with Alex’s climb through the points this season against some very talented drivers brought in from Europe. I’ve believed in him since we took him to the Porsche Together-Fest at Indy in 2022, when we brought an older 991.2 GT3 Cup and he set pole by half a second against a very experienced field of 991s and 992s. We are really looking forward to the rest of the season and seeing Alex thrive. Thanks so much to our partners for continuing to support our efforts.”
PT Autosport would like to thank partners STEAM Sports Foundation, Classic Car Club Manhattan and New Jersey Motorsports Park, as well as JDX Racing partners Byers/Porsche Columbus, and Renier Construction.
Next up for PT Autosport and the Porsche Carrera Cup North America will be the doubleheader in support of the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America August 2-4. The races will be broadcast live in the U.S., on IMSA.tv, the NBC Peacock streaming app and PorscheCarreraCup.us.
About PT Autosport — Discover Unique Talent. Develop Champions.
PT Autosport, based at New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ, campaigns rising star Alex Sedgwick (UK) in the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America series with JDX Racing, 2022 Aspiring Driver Shootout winner Henry Drury (UK) in the Toyota GR Cup North America series with Precision Racing LA, and 2023 Aspiring Driver Shootout winner Brenna Schubert (USA) in select SPEC-MX5 races for the 2024 season.
PT Autosport is dedicated to providing merit-based motorsport industry opportunities for diverse individuals with high integrity, grit, and coach-ability, achieved through a development program for young aspiring drivers, engineers, mechanics, and other professionals. The first step of this process is applying for the annual Aspiring Driver Shootout, in which aspiring drivers aged 18-23 can compete for a team racing partnership with the team.
A rigorous evaluation process of applicants determines the final competitors for the driver shootout. The winner earns financial support of up to $250,000 ($50,000 guaranteed) to pursue their racing career. The review process also provides the team the chance to identify unique talent for other roles in motorsport, including race engineers, mechanics, and professionals.
PT Autosport is building a community that fosters the development of young talent to find a place where they can make an impact in the motorsport community as a career.
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