derVorgänger - Porsche Club of America

Carlisle wins in Patron GT3 Challenge
Photos by
Bob Chapman, Autosport Image
Top: On the podium at
Road Atlanta with his son,
Dane, left, wife Patti, and
daughter Caitlin.
Above: Celebrating his
win atop the podium,
Carlisle was currently 10
points out of third place
in the championship
standings.
14• der Vorgänger • October 2009
By Tony Kelly
for der Vorgänger
All racers drive to win, but there are few who stand on
the podium twice in one weekend. PCA Potomac member
Darrell Carlisle is one of those few. The Patron GT3
Challenge series visited Road America Aug. 15-16 for two
series races. Carlisle took second place on Saturday and
a hard fought first place on Sunday.
After being bitten by the racing bug just seven years
ago, Carlisle has risen quickly to prominence. He got his
first real taste for racing as a spectator at the 2002 ALMS
race in Washington, D.C. He then met with Potomac
member Karl Salnoske who introduced him to PCA Potomac’s
track program.
Carlisle did his first Driver Education events in 2003,
and soon traded his 2002 996 cabriolet for a track-prepared
964 RS America. After more than a dozen DE
events in 2003, Carlisle went club racing in 2004, and
traded the RSA for a 996 Cup. Clearly, the bug had bitten
him hard.
Carlisle joined the GT3 Challenge series in 2006, running
his 996 Cup car to second place in the series championship.
He stepped up to the new 997 Cup for the
2007 series that included the memorable experience of
racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as a supporting
race to the 2007 Formula 1 Grand Prix. “Sharing the pits
and garage area with the Formula 1 guys is a once-in-alifetime
experience,” Carlisle says.
On the second lap of the Sunday, Aug. 16 race,
Carlisle, driving the No. 40 Farnbacher Loles Racing
Porsche GT3 Cup, passed Bill Sweedler of Westport,
Conn., for second place and set his sights on the leader
Mitch Pagerey in the No. 23 Porsche. After Pagerey and
Amadeo Quiros, in the No. 58, made contact on the
track, Carlisle took the lead and went on to capture his
first overall and Platinum Class victory in the series. “I
have to say I really had the best car out there,” he says. I
was able to brake later and get on the gas sooner. Now I
know what it takes to get on the top of the podium.”
The Patron GT3 Challenge is the brainchild of Uwe
Brettel, the past president of Porsche Motorsport North
America, and previously was head of the international
Porsche Michelin Supercup with the added responsibility
of the Porsche Carrera Cup series in Germany. In late
2004, Uwe met with a number of PCA Club Racers including
Tom Pank, Greg Loles, Ray Williams, Darrell, and
others to talk about their ambitions beyond PCA Club
Racing. Those discussions led to the creation of the Patron
GT3 Challenge series, which runs under IMSA sanctioning
as a support series to the American Le Mans
Series (ALMS).