Connor De Phillippi (born December 25, 1992) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
professional racing driver and gold rated
BMW Motorsport
BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing and Formula E.
The current orga ...
works driver.
Racing career
Early career
De Phillippi began
karting
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...
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
Rubens "Rubinho" Gonçalves Barrichello (, ; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competed in Formula One between and . He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 111 Toy ...
,
Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa (, born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver. He competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 2002 and 2017, where he scored 11 Grand Prix victories, 41 podiums and finished as championship runner-up in 2008 by one poin ...
,
Tony Kanaan
Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani a ...
,
Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...
and a host of other
Formula 1
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
,
Champ Car
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...
and
Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
(now the
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
) 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
The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...
as part of the Mazda
Road to Indy
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
Program. He also participated in the
Formula Ford Festival
The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are hel ...
at
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...
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
![PLM12 Star Mazda 2 Connor De Phillippi](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/PLM12_Star_Mazda_2_Connor_De_Phillippi.jpg)
In
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, De Phillippi moved up to the
Star Mazda Championship
The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...
for
JDC MotorSports
JDC–Miller MotorSports is a sports car racing team that currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team currently fields the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R full-time for Tristan Vautier and Richard Westbro ...
, finishing third in points, capturing his first victory in the final race of the season at
Road America
Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...
, and Rookie of the Year honors.
In
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, De Phillippi returned to the Star Mazda Championship, driving this time for former
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
owner Dale Pelfrey and his revitalized Team Pelfrey. 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
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually ...
. He also won the
Night Before the 500
The Dave Steele Carb Night Classic is a United States Auto Club dirt track car race held near Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, which takes place in late May before the Indianapolis 500 at the nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Over its his ...
at
Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis
Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (formerly Indianapolis Raceway Park, O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis, and Lucas Oil Raceway) is an auto racing facility in Brownsburg, Indiana, United States, about northwest of downtown Indianapolis. It ...
, setting the track record (19.999 seconds), starting from pole, and leading all 85 laps. De Phillippi went on to win 2 more races at
Circuit Trois-Rivières
The Circuit Trois-Rivières is a street circuit in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The circuit has been the home of the annual Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the longest-running street race in North America, since 1967. The circuit is located o ...
and
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and M ...
. He was the runner up in the championship to
Tristan Vautier
Tristan Vautier (born 22 August 1989) is a French professional racing driver.
Racing career
Formula Renault
Born in Saint-Martin-d'Hères, Isère, Vautier began his career in the French Formula Renault Campus series in 2006, where he finishe ...
, 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
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 ...
series, a last-second deal fell through. 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
Conor J. Daly (born December 15, 1991) is an American professional racing driver who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 50 Chevrolet Ca ...
. Just as the 2011 season began, De Phillippi took victory during at St. Petersburg. 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. He finished the season fourth in points, losing a tie-breaker for third with
Sage Karam
Sage Rennie Karam (born March 5, 1995) is an American professional racing driver who competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the Nos. 43 and 45 Chevrolet Camaros for Alpha Prime Racing and part-time in the IndyCar Series, drivi ...
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
The Porsche Junioren (german: Porsche Junioren) are a team of young racing drivers, employed by Porsche and driving for various private teams, as Porsche officially retired from factory racing after winning the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans overall wit ...
factory driver and will compete as a fully funded factory driver in the
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany
The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, ...
in 2013.
De Phillippi is only the second American to receive
Porsche AG
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
funding. The first was
Patrick Long
__NOTOC__
Patrick Long (born July 28, 1981) is a professional racing driver, one of 18 Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction.
Racing career Sports car racing
Following a successful career in karts and th ...
, who is currently one of 15 Porsche Works drivers.
2013
As a new member of the
Porsche Motorsport
Porsche has been successful in many branches of motorsport of which most have been in long-distance races.
Despite their early involvement in motorsports being limited to supplying relatively small engines to racing underdogs up until the ...
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
The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of 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
The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS.
The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...
car, De Phillippi showed immediate pace and excellent consistency. Up until the final round of the season at the legendary
Hockenheimring
The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has hos ...
, 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
The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, ...
Rookie of the Year.
In addition to competing in the
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany
The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, ...
Championship, De Phillippi also teamed up with
Manthey Racing Olaf Manthey (born 21 April 1955 in Bonn) is a German former race car driver, and current owner of Porsche team Manthey Racing.
Manthey's career as a driver began in 1974. In the 1980s, he won two races of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. Re ...
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
The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
, 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
Sebastian Asch (born 4 June 1986 in Tübingen, lives in Ammerbuch, Baden-Württemberg) is a race car driver and the son of Roland Asch
Roland Asch (born 12 October 1950 in Altingen, West Germany) is a race car driver from Ammerbuch, near S ...
, Martin Ragginger and Otto Klohs for the 9th running of the
Dubai 24 Hour
The Dubai 24 Hour Race is both a Sports car racing, sports car and Touring car racing, touring car automobile endurance race held annually at the Dubai Autodrome. It was inaugurated in 2006.
Entrants and participants
As with all races in the 24 ...
endurance race. It took place at the
Dubai Autodrome
The Dubai Autodrome is an FIA sanctioned motorsports circuit located in Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The architects of the project were Populous and the circuit was designed by Clive Bowen of Apex Circuit Design.
Opened in October ...
in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
. 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.
![2014 Porsche Carrera Cup HockenheimringII Connor De Phillippi by 2eight 8SC2840](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/2014_Porsche_Carrera_Cup_HockenheimringII_Connor_De_Phillippi_by_2eight_8SC2840.jpg)
Just a couple weeks after the
Dubai 24 Hour
The Dubai 24 Hour Race is both a Sports car racing, sports car and Touring car racing, touring car automobile endurance race held annually at the Dubai Autodrome. It was inaugurated in 2006.
Entrants and participants
As with all races in the 24 ...
race, De Phillippi took part in the 52nd running of the
Rolex 24 at Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout ...
, his first 24 at Daytona race. This was the first event of the inaugural Tudor
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 ...
, the result of a merger between 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 ...
and
Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
. He teamed up with co-drivers Patrick Lindsey, Kevin Estre (the 2013
Porsche Carrera Cup Germany
The Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, also known as Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, between 1986-1989 as Porsche 944 Turbo Cup; is a one-make racing series by Porsche based in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of 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.
Star Mazda Championship
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Phillippi, Connor
1992 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Orange County, California
Racing drivers from California
Formula Ford drivers
Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
Porsche Supercup drivers
ADAC GT Masters drivers
24H Series drivers
BMW M drivers
Nürburgring 24 Hours drivers
JDC Motorsports drivers
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers
Team Pelfrey drivers
Juncos Hollinger Racing drivers
Rowe Racing drivers
Porsche Motorsports drivers
Audi Sport drivers
W Racing Team drivers
Walter Lechner Racing drivers
Phoenix Racing drivers