Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia heads to Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend to embark on its third-ever joint round with neighbouring Porsche one-make series, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.
The Western Sydney venue hosted the inaugural Carrera Cup Asia & Australia joint round in 2016 ahead of last year’s second encounter at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit.
Race Formats
The two Porsche championships now return to Eastern Creek in an event that will follow the standard joint round format: Each Carrera Cup will hold separate practice, qualifying and two races, which award full championship points.
The two series then merge for two Joint Races; both series’ Pro-Am drivers will battle for 16 laps on Saturday evening as the sun sets on Sydney Motorsport Park before all Pro-ranked drivers compete for outright honours for a 16-lap night race. Drivers competing in a Joint Race will receive 10 championship points, while Carrera Cup Australia’s TAG Heuer Pro-Am participants will disable ABS for the Pro-Am battle to technically align with their Asian series counterparts.
Currently, the Joint Race win tally is even on two wins a piece; Carrera Cup Australia’s Matt Campbell and Stephen Grove won the Pro and Pro-Am Sydney races in 2016 while Carrera Cup Asia drivers Chris Van Der Drift and Yuey Tan claimed Joint Race honours at Sepang last year.
Milestones
Two Carrera Cup Australia drivers will reach significant milestones this weekend for the fifth round of the 2018 season. The championship’s most capped racer, Marc Cini, will start his 100th Carrera Cup Australia round. Following his debut at Winton in 2003, the Melbourne based driver has competed in 99 of a possible 108 Carrera Cup rounds.
Meanwhile, should Nick McBride get through race one unscathed, the young Melbourne lawyer will start his 100th Carrera Cup Australia race in race two in Sydney, becoming the 19th driver to achieve the milestone.
Title chase
Jaxon Evans enters the Sydney round with a significant points advantage, leading Darwin round winner Dylan O’Keeffe in the overall standings by 60 points, with Dale Wood dropping to third after a difficult Darwin outing.
Two strong rounds for Stephen Grove have elevated the reigning TAG Heuer Pro-Am class champion back into Pro-Am contention. Grove has raced in the past two Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup rounds across the last two weekends, notably taking to the Pro-Am podium last weekend in Hungary. This weekend Grove will complete his Porsche one-make triple-header in Sydney, entering the event just seven points adrift of class leader Roger Lago.
Porsche Wilson Security Carrera Cup Australia will hold two practice sessions and qualifying on Friday, with all racing – two Carrera Cup Australia races and two Joint Races – to feature on Saturday. Qualifying and all races will be broadcast live nationwide on Fox Sports 506.
Race Schedule
Friday August 03
11:00am Practice 1 (30 minutes)
1:00pm Practice 2 (30 minutes)
3:05pm Qualifying (30 minutes)
Saturday August 04
11:45am Race 1 (16 laps)
2:45pm Race 2 (16 laps)
5:15pm Joint Pro Race (16 laps)
5:55pm Joint Pro-Am Race (16 laps)
Broadcast Schedule
Channel: Fox Sports 506
Qualifying – 3:05pm, Friday August 03
Race 1 – 11:45am, Saturday August 04
Race 2 – 2:45pm, Saturday August 04
Joint Pro Race – 5:15pm, Saturday August 04
Joint Pro-Am Race – 5:55pm, Saturday August 04
Entry List
1. #1 David Wall (Pro) PAYCE/Wilson Security
2. #4 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) Grove Group
3. #5 Greg Taylor (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) Arris/Strongbuild
4. #6 Tim Miles (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) Miles Advisory Partners/Garage 1
5. #7 Jaxon Evans (Pro) Morris Finance
6. #8 Nick McBride (Pro) Porsche Centre Melbourne
7. #9 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) Hallmarc
8. #12 Adam Garwood (Pro) Garwood Motorsport
9. #14 Peter Major (Pro) Sonic/Totally 4×4
10. #15 Josh Hunt (Pro) LORY Construction
11. #18 James Moffat (Pro) Payce/Wilson Security/JBL
12. #19 Anthony Gilbertson (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) Hallmark Homes
13. #20 Adrian Flack (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) Agas National
14. #22 Dean Cook (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) BMF/Pitman Racing
15. #23 Roger Lago (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) JBS Australia
16. #35 Indiran Padayachee (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) Hyundai Forklifts Australia
17. #77 Michael Almond (Pro) Bob Jane T Marts/PSA
18. #80 TBC (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) WM Waste Management
19. #88 Dylan O’Keeffe (Pro) APB Group
20. #100 Dale Wood (Pro) Sonic/Polyflor
21. #111 Cameron Hill (Pro) BAXX Australia
22. #131 Graham Williams (TAG Heuer Pro-Am) Harcourts Williams
23. #777 Jordan Love (Pro) Bob Jane T Marts
24. #888 Glen Wood (Pro) Porsche Centre Brighton/Porsche Centre Doncaster
