Connor De Phillippi

Connor De Phillippi is an American racing driver who achieved the most in the sports car racing. He was the ADAC GT Masters champion in 2016 and he won the Nürburgring 24 Hours race in 2017, acheaving both with Land Motorsport's Audi R8 LMS.

In 2018, he moved to BMW and scored his first great success in January 2019, winning the GTLM class at Daytona 24 Hours with BMW Team RLL.

Connor de Phillippi

Excellent career in karting

Connor de Phillippi was born in December 1992 in San Clemente, California. Like almost every boy, Connor as a kid liked to play with the cars, not with the toys, but with the ones with a real engine.

When he was five years old, De Phillippi began to drive go-kart and since then he is present in the world of racing. His interest in racing isn’t surprising. His father raced motorcycles, one of the grandfathers raced airplanes, the other one raced boats, while his uncle was very successful in both boat and motorcycle racing.

That's a lot of silverware for the boy

By the age of 14, Connor had 21 national titles in karting and was selected to represent Team USA in the prestigious Granja Viana 500 miles race in Brazil. He did an excellent job against more experienced rivals running 2nd in during the entire race. Unfortunately, one of his teammates crashed later in the race so the Team USA retired.

Competing in the various series

After he graduated in karting racing, De Phillippi entered Skip Barber Racing School and won the title in the West Coast Series and was named Rookie of the Year. He also earned a drive for the 2008 Skip Barber National Championship. De Phillippi finished 6th in the championship and was considered as one of the most talented drivers of his generation.

Driving in Mazda Star Series

De Phillippi proved his talent in 2009 when he became a champion of Skip Barber National Championship, winning 7 out of 14 races that year. He also successfully competed in other racing series, like Star Mazda Championship and Silver State Championship. He was waiting for his chance in the IndyLights Series until 2012 but was unable to secure a deal and had to look elsewhere.

Connor became Porsche junior driver

Later in 2012, Connor was the second US driver who became a part of Porsche Junior program. In 2013, he has competed in Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, driving for Forch Racing by Lukas Motorsport. He had several strong finishes and took the 9th place in the final standings before he was named Rookie of the Year. The same year he also competed in VLN series, driving for well-known Mathey Racing team.

Connor De Phillippi, Porsche Junior driver

He stayed in the Porsche Carrera series with the same team in 2014 and scored his first win, at Hungaroring, adding another podium finish at the same track. After a solid first half of the season, De Phillippi’s form dropped in the second half, so he finished 8th in the Drivers’ Championship.

Debut at Daytona

The same year Connor also raced in 24 Hours of Dubai as a member of the Swiss FACH Auto tech team but what was more important was a debut in 24 Hours of Daytona. After finishing 10th in the class in Dubai, De Phillippi finished 13th at Daytona, driving for the American team Park Place Motorsports.

Debut at Daytona 24h in 2014

In 2015, he moved to Land Motorsport team in Porsche Carrera Cup and finished 10th overall which wasn’t a spectacular achievement considering he failed to score points only once. He also debuted in Porsche Supercup, driving for VERVA Lechner Racing Team, and he finished 12th overall. The result at Daytona also wasn’t brilliant as he took the 38th place overall and the 15th place in GTD class.

First major title - 2016 ADAC GT Masters champion

Finally, in 2016 Connor De Phillippi scored his first major title. Driving a Land Motorsport’s Audi R8 LMS alongside Christopher Mies, they grabbed ADAC GT Masters championship even though they won only 1 out of 14 races but they had other six podiums. It was a really thrilling season and the last race at Hockenheim is the living proof.

Christopher Mies and Connor De Phillippi - 2016 ADAC GT Masters champions

De Phillippi debuted in 24 Hours of Nurburgring but failed to finish the race. He also won a couple of races in VLN, also with Land Motorsport, and finished 8th in WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race 12 Hours of Sebring, driving for Stevenson Motorsports.

Nürburgring 24h winner in 2017

In 2017, De Phillippi continued to drive Land Motorsport's Audi in the ADAC GT Masters, sharing the #1 car with Christopher Mies and winning to races to finish third in the points.

The highlight of the season in 2017 was a victory at Nürburgring 24 Hours. Connor's partners in that race were Christopher Mies, Markus Winkelhock and Kelvin van der Linde.

Switching to BMW in 2018, Daytona 24h victory in 2019

In 2018, Connor's main job was to drive the #25 BMW M8 GTE for BMW Team RLL in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, alongside Alexander Sims as his full-time co-driver. They were on a podium at Sebring 12 Hours, finishing second in GTLM class. Later in the season, they won two races (Virginia, Laguna Seca) to finish sixth in the championship standings.

In 2019, he stayed with BMW Team RLL and started a season with the GTLM class victory at Daytona 24 Hours, sharing the #25 BMW M8 GTE with Augusto Farfus, Philipp Eng and Colton Herta. It remained his only victory and he finished sixth in the points in the GTLM class.

Connor (first left) at Daytona's Victory Lane

Connor De Phillippi is a big sports fan and charity worker

Connor is also a huge baseball fan and at one point, he had to choose between racing and one of the most popular American sports in which he played as a pitcher, catcher, and shortstop.

He also likes winter sports and is involved in many philanthropic and charity organizations like Miracle for Kids which provides support to children who are fighting a life-threatening illness and their families.

Connor De Phillippi

Photo: connordephillippi.com socalspeedscene.com adac-gt-masters.de dailysportscar.com