Racing to End Alzheimer’s repeats with winning sweep of Miami doubleheader

Mark Kvamme regains title-winning form, Alzheimer’s colors back to Victory Lane

MIAMI (8 May 2024) – Mark Kvamme and the Racing to End Alzheimer’s/MDK Motorsports team rebounded from a challenging start to the 2024 Porsche Carrera Cup North America season this weekend, scoring a second-consecutive sweep at the Formula One Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix.

2022 and 2023 IMSA champion Kvamme demonstrated his title-winning form in the No. 43 Racing to End Alzheimer’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car with a pair of impressive victories in incident-plagued races.

Kvamme went ahead to stay on Lap 11 of Saturday’s 40-minute race, and then cruised to victory as the race ended under a long caution period. In Sunday morning’s finale, Kvamme gained the lead – and eight positions overall – on the opening lap, with a pair of incidents putting the field behind the safety car for nearly 31 of the 40 minutes.

The Miami sweep moved Kvamme up to second place in the Masters class point standings.

But for the Racing to End Alzheimer’s team, one of the weekend highlights occurred even before the cars headed out on track.

The team’s mission is to increase awareness of Alzheimer’s, to give family and friends a way to honor their loved ones in a real way – and to raise funds for research and treatment. For a $250 donation, a loved one’s name is placed on the car as it races across the United States (https://www.r2endalz.org), with 100% of the donations matched, and shared between the team’s two beneficiaries. The No. 43 Porsche currently carries 122 names – with plenty of room for more.

Kvamme has long been friends with Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen (Kvamme co-drove with Kevin and his father Jan in 2022, at the Gulf 12 Hours in Dubai), and the two share an Alzheimer’s bond – Kvamme’s grandfather Magnus’s name is on the car, as is Kevin’s grandfather Hans Erik’s. Magnussen made time to come by the Porsche paddock on Friday morning before F1 practice, to sign Racing to End Alzheimer’s posters for fans and help get the word out. The visit buoyed the entire team and started the race weekend on the right foot.

And for Kvamme, that foot was to the floor, as the Ohio resident came out of the box strong, leading both practice sessions on Friday on the temporary circuit circling the Miami Dolphins’ football stadium. But in Saturday morning qualifying, Kvamme had only one competitive lap in an incident-slowed qualifying session that put him second on the grid.

Kvamme fell to third at the start of Saturday’s race one but regained second on the following lap, and then moved into the lead on the fifth circuit. He was tapped in Turn 17, spun and fell back to second after contact on Lap 10, but in a sportsmanlike move, pole sitter Chris Bellomo yielded the position after causing the incident. Moments later, a competitor had contact with a barrier and the safety team had trouble extricating the Porsche, causing the event to finish under yellow, with Kvamme taking the Masters class win.

“That was a crazy day!” Kvamme said. “It seems as though drivers push just a little bit more at the F1 race weekends, with all the fans here. We had a great battle with Chris Bellomo, who was on pole, and I was able to get past him mid-race. But in Turn 17, he hit me and spun me. I was able to get going again with minimal damage, and when I caught up to Chris, he let me back by. That was a very gentlemanly move! He’s a stand-up guy.”

Sunday’s race might have been even crazier. Kvamme was second in the Masters class but seven positions behind Bellomo on the overall grid. As his rival was caught up in a multi-car incident in Turn 1 of the opening lap, Kvamme made a nice move to avoid the melee, which led to a 21-minute caution. Lightning struck again at the restart, with another multi-car incident that resulted in barrier damage and fluid spillage. The event went to green with five minutes remaining on the clock, with Kvamme avoiding difficulties in the run to the checkered flag to win the Masters Class and place 19th overall.

“I got lucky – I had six cars to pass!” Kvamme said following Sunday’s race. “I feel very fortunate that I got through the first turn incident, I was only six cars back when it happened. I made up quite a few positions and was able to hold it. Racing is a very funny sport sometimes. Sometimes you just get lucky, and you have to take advantage of that!

“But for the Racing to End Alzheimer’s team, just very grateful to Kevin Magnussen for coming by on Friday – he knows what we’re trying to do, in raising awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s and he is happy to do anything he can to help us. It was a great boost.”

Racing to End Alzheimer’s and the Porsche Carrera Cup North America series continues at another Formula 1 weekend on June 7-9, joining the Canadian Grand Prix at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The races will be broadcast live in the U.S., on IMSA.tv, the NBC Peacock streaming app and PorscheCarreraCup.us.