Alex Riberas Bou and Connor de Phillippi have been selected as the two new Porsche junior drivers for the 2013 season and will receive support from the factory program during campaigns in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland.
“My biggest dream has come true. I’ve always been a huge Porsche fan,” said 18-year-old Riberas Bou, who comes to Porsche after two years in Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup. “Although I’ve only raced karts and Formula cars until now, I immediately felt at home at the wheel of the Porsche 911. I can’t wait for the 2013 season and the things I will learn over the winter months from Porsche and my future team.”
“It’s unbelievable to now be a part of this programme,” said de Phillippi, 19. “It’s a huge step for me to now race in Europe. But as everyone knows, there is no better school in GT racing than to pit yourself against the top specialists in the Carrera Cup Deutschland. Porsche works driver Patrick Long also took this route. He is one of my biggest role model. I hope to be his teammate one day.”
Both men select the team they wish to run the 2013 season with, receiving the same level of support given to Porsche’s stable of factory drivers, which currently includes drivers like Long, Marc Lieb and Richard Lietz.
“The decision was a very exciting one,” says Porsche head of racing, Hartmut Kristen. “The finalists were all on an impressive level. In order to select the two candidates with the greatest potential, our engineers carefully examined every single lap. Both Alex Riberas Bou and Connor de Phillippi have the talent necessary to be successful in the sports car scene and to follow in the footsteps of Klaus Bachler and Michael Christensen. Our current Porsche works drivers have shown that the Carrera Cup is an excellent platform for a professional international career.”
Spaniard Riberas Bou and American de Phillippi came out on top a selection process ahead of other young drivers from around the world. The pair won through from the final stages of the process in testing at Vallelunga, working alongside Porsche race engineers in a variety of simulated race distance runs and single lap qualifying runs.
Bachler and Christensen – having spent 2012 as junior drivers in the German domestic series – will move into the F1 supporting Porsche Supercup for the 2013 season.
