Connor De Phillippi
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Connor De Phillippi (born December 25, 1992) is an American 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. The current organisation is a ...
works driver.


Racing career


Early career

De Phillippi began
karting Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using 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 full-size motor ...
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 SuperNationals 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 Gonçalves Barrichello (; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for Full Time Sports. Nicknamed "Rubinho" (), Barrichello competed in Formula One fro ...
,
Felipe Massa Felipe Massa (; born 25 April 1981) is a Brazilian racing driver, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for TMG Racing, TMG and in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Riley Technologies, Riley. Massa competed in Formula One from to , and w ...
,
Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed "TK", is a Brazilian racing driver who is the team principal of Arrow McLaren. He is best known for racing in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) from 1998 to 2002, an ...
, Nelson Piquet Jr. and a host of other
Formula 1 Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
,
Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...
and
Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...
(now the
IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...
) 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 Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 British Grand ...
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

In
2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, 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 Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...
, and Rookie of the Year honors. In
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, De Phillippi returned to the Star Mazda Championship, driving this time for former
IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...
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. 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. 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 for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...
. 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 Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...
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. 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 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 () 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 with the Porsche 911 GT1. Th ...
factory driver and will compete as a fully funded factory driver in the Porsche Carrera Cup 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 luxury, high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg ...
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 The Hockenheimring, officially 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 mot ...
, 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 The Dubai Autodrome (دبي أوتودروم) 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 Circui ...
in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
. 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. Just a couple weeks after the Dubai 24 Hour 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 ( ...
, 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 racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...
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 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.


Racing Record


Racing career summary

* Season still in progress.


Star Mazda Championship


Complete Porsche Carrera Cup Germany results

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


Complete ADAC GT Masters Results

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


Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

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


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 21st-century American sportsmen 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 Le Mans Cup drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Germany drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers GT World Challenge America drivers GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup drivers