- Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship set for another thrilling season
- GT3 Cup Challenge revs up – new Team prize of £5,000 unveiled
- Four-wheel drive 911 Carrera 4S makes UK Show debut
Porsche will preview its British motorsport programmes for the coming season at Autosport International, which is being held at the Birmingham NEC (stand 2540, Hall 20), January 10 -13.
Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship First run in 2003, the Porsche Carrera Cup GB is the fastest single marque racing Championship in Britain. With over 25 identical examples of the 450 hp 911 GT3 Cup race car battling for honours, it provides thrilling support to the British Touring Car Championship at circuits up and down the country.
The 911 GT3 Cup car displayed on the Porsche stand is the best-selling racing car of all time, having been built in a production series of more than 2,000 since 1998. The ‘Type 997’ 911 GT3 Cup racer is based on the 911 GT3 RS road car, and is powered by a rear-mounted, 450hp 3.8-litre flat-six.
Meet Daniel Lloyd, Porsche Carrera Cup GB Scholar Visitors to the Porsche stand at Autosport International will be able to meet Daniel Lloyd, the reigning Carrera Cup GB Scholar. After a strong debut in 2012 — in which the Huddersfield driver became the first Scholar to win a Carrera Cup race in their first year — 20-year old Daniel will benefit from a second season of support from Porsche Cars GB. Daniel was selected in 2011 from four young racing driver finalists to receive the support of Porsche Cars GB, following an assessment programme at the Porsche Experience Centre Silverstone.
As the winner of the coveted prize, Daniel receives £80,000 from Porsche Cars GB to use as a significant element of his budget for the 2013 Carrera Cup GB season, together with driver training and personal mentoring.
“Last year was very, very tough but I’m glad I had the problems I did because I learnt from them and it has made me a stronger driver,” said Daniel, who will race once again with Team Parker Racing this season. “I know I’m quick and it’s all about consistency this year. We’re in a very strong position and I definitely want to go for the overall title. It would be mega to win it in my second year in the Carrera Cup.”
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge For 2013, the GT3 Cup Challenge has a six-weekend, 12-race calendar. This will once again culminate in a finale alongside the Porsche Carrera Cup GB Championship, in support of the British Touring Car Championship, at Silverstone on September 28/29.
Open to any 911 GT3 Cup race car from the 2009 model year or earlier, the GT3 Cup Challenge is designed to be a perfect stepping stone for drivers aiming to move up to the Carrera Cup GB in subsequent seasons. It is also ideally suited to younger racers with some sponsorship backing, as well as competitors graduating from track days. The series is open to drivers with a National B race licence.
In a new initiative, the most successful team in the 2013 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge GB will win £5,000 at the end of the season. The new GT3 Cup Challenge Team Championship, launched today (Thursday 10 January) at Autosport International, will be open to two cars from each team with points scored on the same basis as the Drivers’ Championship. However, to make the Team Championship as flexible as possible, teams will be able to change their nominated scoring cars for each event.
Seven days prior to a race weekend, each team must nominate which cars will score points for the team for that weekend. The nominated cars can then be changed again for the following race weekend if required.
Meanwhile, the scoring system for the Drivers’ Championship has been amended to better suit drivers’ family and business commitments. In calculating end of season totals, drivers will count the scores from their best five weekends out of the scheduled six double-headers. This will be a boost for drivers who need to miss a race weekend due to clashing commitments, and also means drivers can have a poor result one weekend without necessarily damaging their title bid.
New Porsche 911 Carrera 4 on show The Porsche 911 has been continually evolving since its launch in 1963, and motorsport has played a key role in the development of the iconic sports coupe. True to the 911 tradition, the new generation combines a powerful rear-mounted flat-six engine with the iconic 911 silhouette and adds more power and efficiency, less weight and a host of new technologies to further enhance the sports car driving experience.
The new Porsche 911 Carrera 4 and 4S models unite the excellent performance and efficiency of the new generation 911 with the dynamic benefits of the active all-wheel drive Porsche Traction Management (PTM) system. While retaining the traditional rear-wheel drive emphasis of the 911, the all-wheel drive chassis of the Carrera 4 and 4S delivers increased traction, road-holding and dynamic performance over a wide variety of road surfaces and in all weather conditions.
A distinctive identifying feature of the 911 Carrera 4 models is the wider rear wheel arches: compared with the two-wheel drive 911 Carrera models, the rear wheel arches each extend further outwards by 44 mm, and house rear tyres that are ten millimetres wider. The signature red stripe that connects the two tail lights has also taken on a striking new illuminated form.
