As one of the region’s best sports car series, Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia is set for a bumper 2019 season.

In 2018, new Pro and TAG Heuer Pro-Am drivers to the championship came in conjunction with the successful introduction of the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Born on the 911 production line in Stuttgart, the second-generation 991 series 911 race car was faster, safety and more affordable than its predecessor, and proved in 2018 to improve the overall racing experience for Carrera Cup Australia’s teams, drivers and fans trackside.

Carrera Cup will also continue to race at Australia’s largest motor racing events, beginning the season at the popular Adelaide 500 and Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix events and concluding with the iconic Bathurst 1000 and Gold Coast 600. Adding to this mix a return to the Townsville 400 means that the 2019 season will feature at five high-profile events. The remaining three events will be held at the picturesque Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, the ever-popular Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin and The Bend Motorsport Park, which was a hit to drivers and fans alike after Carrera Cup’s debut at the new Tailem Bend circuit in 2018.

And in 2019, Carrera Cup will be more visible than ever. Exclusively on Formula 1 and Supercars events, every race of the season will be broadcast live in Australia, while the addition of the Townsville 400 to the calendar means that races from five of the 2019 season’s eight rounds will be televised on free-to-air television.

Formula Ford was established in Great Britain in 1967, as a cost effective starting point for young hopefuls beginning a career in motor racing. Since then, the sport has rapidly grown to become the world’s premier junior development category.
Formula Ford is the accepted proving ground for future champions, on a local and international level.

Its links with this country go back to the original series in the UK, the 1968 Guards Championship, which was won in an outstanding fashion by young Australian driver, Tim Schenken. Schenken was the first of many driving superstars to cut his teeth in the competitive category en route to Formula One.

The first Australian Formula Ford race was held at Sandown Raceway in 1969, won by Richard Knight in an Elfin 600, a precursor to his victory the following year in the inaugural Australian Formula Ford series.

Since those early days many of the world’s top drivers have come through the ranks of Formula Ford to score major international successes.
No less than eight World Formula One champions have come from the stables of Formula Ford: Nigel Mansell, Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve and Mikka Hakkinen have all competed in the junior racing category.

The international pedigree of the Australian Championship is also alive with Mark Webber another graduate of the category. More than ever, the formative skills learnt at Formula Ford level prepare emerging young drivers for successful careers, both locally and internationally.
Info from www.formulaford.com.au

In 2019, Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia celebrates its 11th anniversary season in Australia. A concept became a reality in 2008 when a group of enthusiasts took their Porsche race cars to Mallala in South Australia to kick start a four-round mini-series. Now managed by Porsche Cars Australia, the series has developed into one of Australia’s best and most professionally run racing series.

For young drivers, the series is a launch pad for up-and-coming drivers in their pursuit of a professional motor racing career. Several drivers have used GT3 Cup Challenge to gain experience in a high-performance sports car before their journey up the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid. The ultimate example of the success of this pathway of Matt Campbell. After winning Sprint Challenge’s Class B in 2014, Campbell raced two Carrera Cup seasons, winning the title in 2016 and claiming success at the Porsche Motorsport Junior Programme Shootout, which promoted the Queenslander to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup as a Porsche Junior. Third in the Supercup saw Campbell promoted to a Porsche Young Professional role and an extensive Porsche factory race programme in 2018. Since then, Jaxon Evans has also been victorious in the Junior Programme Shootout before launching into an international racing career with Porsche.