CASCAIS, Portugal (8 October 2024) — After a five-race season, Kyle Tilley and Oliver Bryant have emerged as Peter Auto 2L Cup champions after piloting the No. 60 Era Motorsport Porsche 911 SWB, “The Queen of Diamonds” to a podium finish at every round of the 2025 season.
The 2L Cup is a one-make race series celebrating one of the greatest drivers’ cars of all time, the original Porsche 911 SWB with the eponymous 2.0L flat-six engine.
After competing at a few rounds towards the end of the 2023 season, and a stop at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, we entered the Queen of Diamonds in the 2024 2L Cup in the Elite category with two-time champion Bryant and Rolex 24 winner Tilley sharing the car at each of the 90-minute races across some of Europe’s most famous tracks.
We picked up two third-place finishes at the Mugello Classic and Spa Classic before extending their points lead with two wins at the third and fourth rounds of the 2L Cup, the Grand Prix de l'Age d'Or at Dijon-Preois, and the Dix Mille Tours at Paul Ricard Circuit.
The podium-perfect first four rounds meant a solid finish at Estoril Classics would secure the title.
After qualifying second on the grid, Tilley would start the final race of the championship on the front row.
Tilley held the lead for the first 10 laps of the race, before getting into a fierce podium battle for the rest of his stint with Marino Franchitti and Phil Quaife. Halfway through the race, the leading trio pulled into the pits to hand the cars over.
While the pair’s Elite-Class Pitstop time minimum set them back in the field, Bryant pushed hard to regain the podium position, and on the last lap, he found himself in third place to finish the season with another podium and secure the 2L Cup points victory.
“I’m delighted to have a championship win this year with Era Motorsport sharing the lovely 2-litre 911,” Bryant said. “For me, it’s my third outright title in the 2L Cup, and Kyle’s first with the team in his first attempt at the championship.”
“We had a strong year placing podium at every race-three third places and two wins. It was an amazing competition this year as well.”
“Kyle drove really well and developed as the year went on, and he finished the season with his best opening stint battling for the race lead, and keeping the car in contention throughout. I’m very pleased, and happy for everybody at Era Motorsport, and thank you for the opportunity, let’s do it again next year!”
Tilley was thrilled to win his first 2L Cup Championship as well.
“I still can’t believe it!” he said after the final race on Saturday. “Coming into the 2L Cup this year with only a few races under our belts in The Queen of Diamonds, we thought we’d be spending more time developing the car before we found the pace we needed, but the guys at the UK workshop set up an incredible car right from the start.”
“Olly is undoubtedly the master behind the wheel of an old 911, it’s been such an honor to share a car with him.”
“Specifically I have to thank our mechanic Lee Woodhams who has spent the whole year dialing this car in and giving us a perfect record of reliability this year. We couldn’t have made five straight podiums, two wins, and a championship without his hard work.”
While the 2L Cup was certainly the highlight for Era Motorsport, the team also brought the famous ex-G-Force Racing “Blue Coral” Porsche 993 GT2R out of retirement for the first time since 2008 to compete in the Peter Auto Endurance Racing Legends.
Tilley and Marino Franchitti shared the car for the two 40-minute races, and despite not having been on track for 16 years, the Porsche picked up a win, and a second-place finish in the GT2A class, beginning a new legacy for the already famous machine.
“I was so excited when Kyle asked me to share the 993 GT2 with him here in Estoril as it was a dream car of mine when they were racing in period, and I’d never had the chance to try one,” Franchitti said.
“It did not disappoint! While it was like an extended shakedown for the car, and despite an electrical issue that meant we didn’t have ABS, we had an absolute blast and managed to get a couple of really good results.”
“We were like a couple of kids at Christmas and it was so special to get to share this experience with Kyle. A massive thank you to him and the whole Era team and a massive congrats to them all, and Olly Bryant, for winning the 2L Cup championship too.”
Tilley, a long-time fan of the car shared Franchitti’s love for the machine.
“I’ve had a model of this exact car in my office for years,” he said, “so to take it out of retirement and return it to the track where it belongs is already special. But to pick up a win and a second-place finish with Marino, it’s a very surreal moment that I’m glad we were able to share this weekend.”
While Estoril Classics ends Era’s 2024 season with Peter Auto, there are still a few events left for the team across the globe as they compete in the final round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship, Petit Le Mans this weekend, and join the Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Masters’ Historic Racing support races at the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas the following weekend.
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