In the second year of Porsche Endurance Challenge North America by Yokohama competition, Scott Blind opened the season with a victory at Sebring International Raceway – and did so individually in the Am class.
Blind’s victory was his first in Endurance Challenge after finishing as high as fourth in 2024, and it came on the heels of a Porsche Sprint Challenge North America Masters class victory on Saturday at the central Florida racetrack.
Finishing first overall and running the Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car, the Ruckus Racing driver sealed his win with 10 minutes remaining in the two-hour enduro. Blind made his winning pass on fellow Sprint Challenge Masters driver Daryn Dean, driving inside of Turn 17 and setting sail to win by more than four seconds.
Dean, meanwhile, co-drove to his own Pro-Am class victory alongside Alec Udell and the Kellymoss team while still finishing second overall.
The duo of Charlie Hayes and Reinhold Krahn finished second in the Am class behind Blind, while Frank Vitiello and Daniel Bloom paired up to finish third. Both teams were elevated to their finishing positions after Alan Metni, running second-in-class, pulled off with an issue on the Ulmann Straight with three minutes remaining.
Rounding out the Pro-Am class was Mike Mim and Zachary Vanier in second, with Dan Ammann and Owen Trinkler in third.
In the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport categories, Charles Espenlaub and Brandon Chappell with HM Road Racing finished first amongst the Pro-Am pairings after starting the race first-in-class.
Tom Kopczynski – who had his own podium in Sprint Challenge Cayman Masters on Friday – and Eric Filgueiras followed suit in second place, with the father-daughter duo of Greg and Anna Cecchi in third. The younger Cecchi, who introduced her father to the sport, finished third in both Sprint Challenge Cayman Pro-Am rounds earlier in the weekend.
Bill Fenech and Chris Hall landed atop the Cayman Am class, while the Tartaglione pairing of Reginald and Emanuel finished second. Griff Asplundh in a solo outing led for multiple laps of the race, but finished in third.
The second of four Porsche Endurance Challenge North America by Yokohama rounds takes place in one month’s time at Sonoma Raceway on April 4 – 6.
992 GT3 Cup Pro-Am Podium
Pro-Am:
- Daryn Dean / Alec Udell
- Mike Mim / Zachary Vanier
- Daniel Ammann / Owen Trinkler
Am:
- Scott Blind (Overall win)
- Charlie Hayes / Reinhold Krahn
- Frank Vitiello / Dan Bloom
Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport Pro-Am Podium
Pro-Am:
- Charles Espenlaub / Brandon Chappell
- Thomas Kopczynski / Eric Filgueiras
- Greg Cecchi / Anna Cecchi
Am:
- Bill Fenech / Chris Hall
- Reginald Tartaglione / Emanuel Tartaglione
- Griff Asplundh
Full race results can be found here, and all photos can be found here.
