Connor De Phillippi

Last updated
Connor De Phillippi
DSC2057 (52679345579).jpg
NationalityFlag of the United States.svg  American
Born (1992-12-25) December 25, 1992 (age 31)
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career
Debut season2014
Current team BMW Team RLL
Racing licence FIA Gold Driver.png FIA Gold
Car number25
Previous series
2016-2017
2013-2015
2013
2010-2012
2010
2009
2008
ADAC GT Masters
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany
VLN Series
Star Mazda Championship
Legends Silver State Championship
Skip Barber National Championship
Skip Barber West Coast Series
Championship titles
2008
2009
2009
2016
Skip Barber West Coast Series
Skip Barber National Championship
Legends Silver State Championship
ADAC GT Masters
Awards
2008
2009
2009
2010
2013
2013
Skip Barber Shoot-Out Winner
Team USA Scholarship Winner
Walter Hayes Trophy Award
Star Mazda Rookie of the Year
Porsche Junioren Recipient
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Rookie of the Year

Connor De Phillippi (born December 25, 1992) is an American professional racing driver and gold rated [1] BMW Motorsport works driver.

Contents

Racing career

Early career

De Phillippi began karting at the age of 5 years old and by the time he was 14 years old, he had won 21 national titles, including the only person to ever win 4 SKUSA SuperNational titles. In 2007, at the age of 14, De Phillippi was selected as a member of Team USA to participate in the prestigious Brazilian Granja Viana 500 mile kart race. With a field of 70 karts and star racers like Rubens Barrichello, Felipe Massa, Tony Kanaan, Nelson Piquet Jr. and a host of other Formula 1, Champ Car and Indy Racing League (now the IndyCar Series) drivers, De Phillippi worked Team USA up into 2nd place. After handing the kart off to a teammate, a late night incident with lapped traffic ended Team USA’s chance at the podium.

2008-2009 Skip Barber

In 2008, he made the move from karting to open wheel racing, winning the Skip Barber West Coast Series championship and Rookie of the Year honors. De Phillippi also participated in the Skip Barber National Series Racing Shoot-out, beating out 50 other competitors and earning him a full ride in the Skip Barber National Championship for 2008, as part of the MAZDASPEED driver development ladder. Connor finished sixth in his first national open wheel series and was awarded the Rising Star Award by eFormulaCarNews.com and their readers.

Skip Barber National Championship & Team USA Scholarship Winner

In 2009, he won the Skip Barber National Championship, winning a record 7 of the 14 races. By winning the Skip Barber National Championship, De Phillippi won a full-ride for the 2010 Star Mazda Championship as part of the Mazda Road to Indy Program. He also participated in the Formula Ford Festival at Silverstone Circuit after winning the Team USA Scholarship, where he became the youngest and only second American to ever win the Walter Hayes Trophy. De Phillippi also won the 2009 Silver State Championship in the U.S. Legends Series.

Star Mazda Championship Series

De Phillippi in the 2012 Star Mazda race at Road Atlanta PLM12 Star Mazda 2 Connor De Phillippi.jpg
De Phillippi in the 2012 Star Mazda race at Road Atlanta

In 2010, De Phillippi moved up to the Star Mazda Championship for JDC MotorSports, finishing third in points, capturing his first victory in the final race of the season at Road America, and Rookie of the Year honors. [2]

In 2011, De Phillippi returned to the Star Mazda Championship, driving this time for former IndyCar Series owner Dale Pelfrey and his revitalized Team Pelfrey. [3] He started off the 2011 season opener just as he finished the 2010 season, with a win at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. [4] He also won the Night Before the 500 at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, setting the track record (19.999 seconds), starting from pole, and leading all 85 laps. [5] De Phillippi went on to win 2 more races at Circuit Trois-Rivières and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He was the runner up in the championship to Tristan Vautier, capturing a season-leading 4 wins, while helping Team Pelfrey win the series team championship.

While De Phillippi had plans of moving up to the Indy Lights series, a last-second deal fell through.[ citation needed ] He was able to secure a seat for the 2012 Star Mazda season, this time driving for Ricardo Juncos and Juncos Racing, who won the 2010 Star Mazda Championship with Conor Daly. Just as the 2011 season began, De Phillippi took victory during at St. Petersburg. [6] During round 5, De Phillippi again dominated the Night Before the 500, taking pole position, leading every lap, and recording the fastest lap of the race. [7] He finished the season fourth in points, losing a tie-breaker for third with Sage Karam by winning two races compared to Karam's three.

Porsche Junior Factory Driver

On November 27, 2012, it was announced that De Phillippi had won a spot as a Porsche Junioren factory driver and will compete as a fully funded factory driver in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in 2013. [8]

De Phillippi is only the second American to receive Porsche AG funding. The first was Patrick Long, who is currently one of 15 Porsche Works drivers.

2013

As a new member of the Porsche Motorsport family for the 2013 season, De Phillippi joined the experienced FÖRCH Racing by Lukas Motorsport team, based in Poland and completed a full season in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany.

Despite this being De Phillippi's first year racing a closed cockpit car and racing circuits he had never raced on, he managed to adapt very quickly. In a field of drivers with vast experience on these circuits and in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, De Phillippi showed immediate pace and excellent consistency. Up until the final round of the season at the legendary Hockenheimring, De Phillippi was the only driver in the field to finish every single race. Despite a last round DNF, the consistency paid off and De Phillippi was crowned the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Rookie of the Year.

In addition to competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Championship, De Phillippi also teamed up with Manthey Racing for two rounds of the Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring, which is more widely known as the VLN Endurance Racing Championship Nürburgring. All VLN races are 4 or 6 hour endurance races and are held at the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife, widely considered the most technically challenging race track on the planet.

2014

2014 began with a month of firsts for De Phillippi. He joined up with Swiss squad FACH Auto Tech in one of their Porsche 997 GT3R's, along with a trio of experienced racers in Sebastian Asch, Martin Ragginger and Otto Klohs for the 9th running of the Dubai 24 Hour endurance race. It took place at the Dubai Autodrome in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. After the half way point of the race, De Phillippi had the team in what looked to be podium contention, however they were struck by bad luck after a mechanical failure. After a lengthy repair, they were back on track and ended up finishing 10th in class.

De Phillippi in Porsche Carrera Cup - Hockenheimring 2014 2014 Porsche Carrera Cup HockenheimringII Connor De Phillippi by 2eight 8SC2840.jpg
De Phillippi in Porsche Carrera Cup - Hockenheimring 2014

Just a couple weeks after the Dubai 24 Hour race, De Phillippi took part in the 52nd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, his first 24 at Daytona race. This was the first event of the inaugural Tudor United SportsCar Championship, the result of a merger between the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series. He teamed up with co-drivers Patrick Lindsey, Kevin Estre (the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany Champion), Jason Hart and Mike Vess in the #73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche GT3 America. The team ended up finishing the race 13th in class, while completing 645 laps.

2021

During the 2021 Mobil 1 Sebring 12 Hours, De Phillippi wrecked the class-leading Corvette Racing C8.R with less than 10 minutes to go. IMSA decided that he had initiated avoidable contact that warranted a drive-through penalty. [9] [10]

Land Motorsport Audi R8 shared by Connor De Phillippi and Christopher Mies. Land Motorsport 2017 Circuit Zandvoort.jpg
Land Motorsport Audi R8 shared by Connor De Phillippi and Christopher Mies.

Racing Record

Star Mazda Championship

YearTeam1234567891011121314151617RankPointsRef
2010 JDC MotorSports SEB
7
STP
5
LAG
4
ORP
7
IOW
4
NJ1
4
NJ2
8
ACC
13
ACC
5
TRO
17
ROA
3
MOS
3
ATL
1
3rd417 [11]
2011 Team Pelfrey STP
1
BAR
10
IND
1
MIL
6
IOW
11
MOS
2
TRO
5
TRO
1
SON
2
BAL
10
LAG
1
2nd401 [12]
2012 Juncos Racing STP
1
STP
5
BAR
5
BAR
3
IND
1
IOW
3
TOR
7
TOR
16
EDM
6
EDM
13
TRO
3
TRO
13
BAL
2
BAL
3
LAG
3
LAG
3
ATL
3
4th325 [13]

Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Germany results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeam123456789101112131415161718RankPoints
2013 FÖRCH Racing by Lukas Motorsport HOC
1

10
HOC
2

11
NNS
9
RBR
1

13
RBR
2

7
LAU
1

7
LAU
2

8
NOR
1

8
NOR
2

7
NÜR
1

7
NÜR
2

12
OSC
1

11
OSC
2

12
ZAN
1

4
ZAN
2

8
HOC
1

11
HOC
2

Ret
9th116
2014 FÖRCH Racing by Lukas Motorsport HOC
1

5
HOC
2

2
OSC
1

7
OSC
2

4
HUN
1

3
HUN
2

1
NOR
1

Ret
NOR
2

16
RBR
1

12
RBR
2

9
NÜR
1

10
NÜR
2

18
LAU
1

9
LAU
2

10
SAC
1

18
SAC
2

31
HOC
1

22
HOC
2

11
8th121
2015 Land Motorsport HOC
1

9
HOC
2

5
NNS
11
LAU
1

9
LAU
2

11
NOR
1

3
NOR
2

9
ZAN
1

4
ZAN
2

11
RBR
1

11
RBR
2

5
OSC
1

9
OSC
2

17
NÜR
1

10
NÜR
2

14
HOC
1

17
HOC
2

6
10th124

Complete ADAC GT Masters Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar1234567891011121314RankPoints
2016 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS OSC
1

2
OSC
2

2
SAC
1

2
SAC
2

7
LAU
1

6
LAU
2

3
RBR
1

Ret
RBR
2

6
NÜR
1

18
NÜR
2

1
ZAN
1

2
ZAN
2

4
HOC
1

2
HOC
2

8
1st168
2017 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS OSC
1

3
OSC
2

10
LAU
1

18
LAU
2

2
RBR
1

8
RBR
2

Ret
ZAN
1

12
ZAN
2

1
NÜR
1

17
NÜR
2

6
SAC
1

1
SAC
2

9
HOC
1

2
HOC
2

8
3rd120

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamClassMakeEngine123456789101112Pos.PointsRef
2014 Park Place MotorsportsGTD Porsche 911 GT America Porsche 4.0L Flat-6 DAY
13
SEB
LGA
DET
WGL
MOS
IND
ELK
VIR
COA
COA
131st1 [14]
2015 Mühlner Motorsports America GTD Porsche 911 GT America Porsche 4.0L Flat-6 DAY
15†
SEB
WD1
LGA
BEL
WGL
LIM
ELK
VIR
AUS
ATL
60th1 [15]
2016 Stevenson MotorsportsGTD Audi R8 LMS Audi 5.2 L V10 DAY
SEB
8†
LGA
BEL
WGL
MOS
LIM
ELK
VIR
AUS
PET
65th1 [16]
2017 Montaplast by Land-MotorsportGTD Audi R8 LMS Audi 5.2 L V10 DAY
2
SEB
4
LBH
AUS
BEL
WGL
MOS
LIM
ELK
VIR
LGA
PET
1
28th96 [17]
2018 BMW Team RLL GTLM BMW M8 GTE BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8 DAY
9
SEB
2
LBH
8
MDO
2
WGL
7
MOS
7
LIM
7
ELK
6
VIR
1
LGA
1
PET
4
6th304 [18]
2019 BMW Team RLL GTLM BMW M8 GTE BMW S63 4.0 L Twin-turbo V8 DAY
1
SEB
7
LBH
7
MDO
4
WGL
7
MOS
4
LIM
7
ELK
5
VIR
7
LGA
5
PET
3
6th293 [19]
2020 BMW Team RLL GTLM BMW M8 GTE BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8 DAY
5
DAY
4
SEB
4
ELK
6
VIR
2
ATL
1
MDO
3
CLT
3
PET
6
LGA
5
SEB
4
4th313 [20]
2021 BMW Team RLL GTLM BMW M8 GTE BMW S63 4.0 L Turbo V8 DAY
5
SEB
2
DET WGL
3
WGL LIM ELK LGA LBH VIR PET
5
7th1251 [21]
2022 BMW M Team RLL GTD Pro BMW M4 GT3 BMW S58B30T0 3.0 L Twin Turbo I6 DAY
7
SEB
10
LBH
4
LGA
3
WGL
7
MOS
5
LIM
5
ELK
5
VIR
5
PET
4
6th2872 [22]
2023 BMW M Team RLL GTP BMW M Hybrid V8 BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8 DAY
9
SEB
2
LBH
2
MON
8
WGL
1
MOS
3
ELK
10
IMS
3
PET
7
6th2687 [23]
2024 BMW M Team RLL GTP BMW M Hybrid V8 BMW P66/3 4.0 L Turbo V8 DAY
7
SEB
4
LBH
9
LGA
7
DET
10
WGL
6
ELK
IMS
ATL
7th*1321* [24]

1 The No. 18 of Mühlner Motorsports America withdrew from the 12 Hours of Sebring before Practice.
De Phillippi did not complete sufficient laps in order to score full points.

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References

  1. "FIA - Driver categorisation". driverscategorisation.fia.com. Retrieved 2021-07-09.
  2. Connor De Phillippi - career detail, Driver Database, Retrieved 2011-03-28
  3. Connor De Phillippi joins Pelfrey's Star Mazda team, Racer, February 9, 2011, Retrieved 2011-03-28
  4. De Phillippi wins St. Pete Star Mazda, Racer, March 26, 2011, Retrieved 2011-03-28
  5. De Phillippi Wins 'Night Before the 500' Archived 2011-06-03 at the Wayback Machine , IndyCar, May 28, 2011, Retrieved 2011-5-28
  6. De Phillippi wins St. Pete race one for Star Mazda, "Racer", March 24, 2012, Retrieved 2012-06-29
  7. De Phillippi repeats as winner of the Night Before the 500 Archived 2012-07-01 at the Wayback Machine , "IndyCar", May 27, 2012, Retrieved 2012-06-29
  8. Pruett, Marshall. Porsche Adds American Connor de Phillippi To Factory Team Roster Archived 2013-02-20 at the Wayback Machine , Road & Track, November 27, 2012, Retrieved 2013-03-07
  9. Dagys, John (21 March 2021). "WEATHERTECH CHAMPIONSHIP"Pretty Frustrating" Incident for Dixon Dashed Hopes of Win". Sportscar 365. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  10. Loyd, Daniel (21 March 2021). "Jaminet Got "Really Lucky" in Race-Defining GTLM Incident". Sportscar 365. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  11. "2010 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  12. "2011 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  13. "2012 Star Mazda Championship Presented by Goodyear". ChampCarStats.com. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
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  15. "Connor De Phillippi – 2015 Tudor United SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  16. "Connor De Phillippi – 2016 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  17. "Connor De Phillippi – 2017 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
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  20. "Connor De Phillippi – 2020 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  21. "Connor De Phillippi – 2021 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  22. "Connor De Phillippi – 2022 Weathertech SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
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Sporting positions
Preceded by
Sebastian Asch
Luca Ludwig
ADAC GT Masters Champion
2016 with:
Christopher Mies
Succeeded by