Winning Championship Opens World of Porsche Possibilities for Jensen

By:
On:
In: Racing News

2016 was a year of many firsts for PCA Club Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Trophy East driver Keith Jensen.

First time racing in a single-make Porsche series. First year of his public charity program, www.annualscholarshipessay.com, which gives scholarship money to deserving students. And his first Championship class win and first participation in the Porsche Night of Champions motorsport gala in Germany.

Although Jensen is a newcomer to racing, that didn’t stop him from winning 12 of the 18 PCA Club Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Trophy East races in the inaugural 2016 season. He swept the sprint races at four of the six events and also won three of the six endurance races, with victories at NOLA Motorsports Park, VIRginia International Raceway and Road America. Jensen also set five PCA Club Racing Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport track records, beating his opponents at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), NOLA Motorsports Park, Watkins Glen International, Utah Motorsports Campus (UMC) and Sonoma Raceway. Jensen first saw the last three of these tracks in 2016.

“I was able to test the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport for less than 90 minutes before my first green flag at Road Atlanta,” Jensen said. “Before the flag fell, I was already in love with the platform Porsche designed, and I was provided greater confidence in its performance characteristics when we all had the opportunity to meet and interact with the German-based Porsche performance engineers who tested the GT4 extensively at the Nurburgring. Each car was track-tested in Germany prior to being shipped to us, which is just amazing.”

Jensen, who drives the No. 51 NOLAsport Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport, was crowned the Championship class champion in October

at the season finale at Daytona International Speedway. He led the standings for most of the year, finishing with 310 points.
Jensen accepting his Championship class champion trophy. (Photo: Nathan Adams) 
“The Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport is a fabulous race car,” Jensen said. “Like any car, it penalizes overdriving but, perhaps more than others, pays dividends when it is shockingly close to the limit. Before meeting with the Porsche performance engineers, I would have never considered using traction or stability control. It is astonishing how fast the car can be with them on.”
 
In December, Jensen and his girlfriend, Tracy Tallon, attended the prestigious annual Porsche Night of Champions in Weissach, Germany, along with Vicki Earnshaw, PCA Club Racing chair, Allen Shirley, PCA Club Racing Porsche GT4 Clubsport Trophy East Series coordinator, and Bryan Henderson, club racing co-chair/chief national steward.
 
“The Porsche Night of Champions was an unforgettable gala,” Jensen said. “It was an amazing showcase of Porsche’s long-standing history of racing and their present commitment to making the best race cars on the planet available for the future, and specifically, for the 2017 season.
 
“Tracy and I were delighted by the opportunity to celebrate this evening with and for the people who make the whole series possible through their enormous and selfless donations of their time, talent and expertise; Vicki Earnshaw, Bryan Henderson and Allen Shirley.”
 Jensen’s family and driving coach Jason Hart 
 at the 2016 championship celebration. (Photo: Nathan Adams)

 

Maverick PCA Region member Jensen works as hard off the track as he does on. He owns Jensen & Associates Law Firm in Fort Worth, Texas. He funded a 501(c)(3) public charity with the intention of giving $5,000 to $10,000 annually to deserving graduate or undergraduate students, in perpetuity.
 
“This year is the inaugural year for my charity,” Jensen said. “It’s exciting, as excellent submissions have already been flowing in.”
 
Jensen also expressed how racing has impacted his family.

He and Tracy, also an attorney in Texas, have one son – 17-month-old Sage.
Jensen, Tracy and Sage at Watkins Glen International in 2016.
“Sage has already traveled to nearly all of my races, including Road Atlanta, Road America, NOLA Motorsports Park, VIRginia International Raceway, Watkins Glen International, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Sonoma Raceway, Sebring International Raceway and Daytona International Speedway,” Jensen said. “It’s important to me that my family is able to enjoy my time on track as much as I do.”
 
Jensen also has a 21-year-old daughter, Olivia, who is a junior at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
 
Jensen has big plans on the horizon for 2017. 
 
“I am excited about my future in racing, and literally, the world of opportunities,” Jensen said. “Meeting Porsche racers from around the world at Porsche’s headquarters in Stuttgart when I had the opportunity to attend the Night of Champions in December has made racing the world amazingly accessible. I’m considering racing Porsches not only in the United States, but possibly at places like Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, Nurburgring in Germany and Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom this year and beyond. 
 
“I am very grateful to Porsche and PCA for all of these opportunities.” 

 

Adam Sinclair
Latest posts by Adam Sinclair (see all)
Post Views: 49