8 Star Motorsports LLC is a sports car racing team founded by racing driver

Enzo Potolicchio Vicente "Enzo" Potolicchio (born 7 August 1968 in Caracas) is a Venezuelan racing driver and businessman, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship and Rolex Sports Car Series for Starworks Motorsport. He won the 2012 24 Hours of Le ...

in 2012. The team currently races in the

United SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

PC class and the

Cooper Tires Prototype Lites IMSA Prototype Challenge (formerly IMSA Prototype Lites) is a racing series featuring two classes of single-seat prototype cars racing simultaneously. The series is sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). Most races are ...

L1.

History

2013

After a business and racing career in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Enzo Potolicchio emigrated to the US in 2011. He founded 8 Star Motorsports in November 2012. 8 Star Motorsports raced full-time in the

2013 IMSA Prototype Lites season Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

. The team fielded several Venezuelan drivers. Seventeen-year-old Christian Potolicchio scored the best results. The son of the team principal scored one podium finish and ended sixth in the final standings. The team made their debut in the PC class of the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

at the

2013 Petit Le Mans The 16th Annual Petit Le Mans presented by Mazda was the 2013 edition of the Petit Le Mans automotive endurance race, held on October 16–19, 2013, at the Road Atlanta circuit in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race was the final Rou ...

Sean Rayhall Sean Rayhall (born March 10, 1995 in Winston, Georgia) is a racing driver. He competed in the LMP3 class of the European Le Mans Series, winning the championship in 2017. He has also previously raced in the GT Daytona class of the WeatherTech Spor ...

and

Oswaldo Negri Oswaldo "Ozz" Negri Jr. (born May 29, 1964) is a Brazilian racing driver from São Paulo. Racing career Formula Three and Indy Lights He raced part-time in the British Formula Three Championship from 1987 to 1989 with few good results. He return ...

finished the

Oreca FLM09 The Le Mans Prototype Challenge (shortened to LMP Challenge or LMPC) was a spec racing, spec sports prototype formula created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organisers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and sports car racing, sports car constr ...

second in class. The team also raced in the LMGTE Am class of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship. Team principal Enzo Potolicchio and Rui Aguas raced all rounds of the championship supported by various drivers. The

Ferrari 458 Italia The Ferrari 458 Italia (Type F142) is a mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The F458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB (Gran Turismo Berl ...

won its class at the

2013 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps The 2013 WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps was an endurance race held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on 3—4 May 2013, and the annual running of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. It was the second round of the 2013 FIA World Enduran ...

and 2013 6 Hours of Shanghai. At the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans the team finished second in class. The team led several laps and finished tenth.

2014

For 2014 the team joined the newly formed

in the PC class.

, graduating from the IMSA Lites, joined the team full-time. The team fielded two cars at the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona. The car driven by Enzo Potolicchio,

Tom Kimber-Smith Tom Kimber-Smith (born 1 November 1984 in Ascot, Berkshire) is a British race car driver. He is currently driving the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship PC class with Robert Alon. He has enj ...

and Michael Marsal finished tenth overall, second in class. Rayhall and Luis Diaz scored the team's first win in

at Virginia International Raceway and repeated one race later at Circuit of The Americas. 8Star finished 2nd in the PC Teams Championship.

2015

For 2015 8 Star Motorsports joined the

Indy Lights Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...

ranks.

Scott Hargrove Scott Hargrove (born February 1, 1995) is a Canadian racing driver from Vancouver, British Columbia. Hargrove in the winningest driver in IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada history. Having competed in both Sports car racing and Open-wheel car ...

joined the team during pre-season testing and in the first two rounds during the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The Canadian scored a fourth and a sixth place in both races.

took over the racing seat from Hargrove. Rayhall raced a partial season. The American won two races, at the

Grand Prix of Indianapolis The IndyCar Series hosts two races a year on the combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The first, the GMR Grand Prix is held in early May with an inaugural running in 2014. The second race, the Gallagher ...

and

Mid-Ohio Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regio ...

. At the end of the season 8 Star Motorsports sold all its Indy Lights assets to

Team Pelfrey Team Pelfrey is an American racing team in the F1600 Championship Series and F2000 Championship Series. The team is owned by Dale Pelfrey. Indy Racing League (1998–2000) John Paul Jr. replaced Danny Ongais as driver for the 1998 Indianapolis 5 ...

. In the IMSA Lites championship 8 Start Motorsports solely competed at

Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S., its first race being run i ...

. Christian Potolocchio retired both races.

Motorsports results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete Indy Lights results

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
American Le Mans Series teams American auto racing teams FIA World Endurance Championship teams Companies based in Broward County, Florida WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams Indy Lights teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams