Porsche Carrera Cup Australia has arrived in Malaysia ahead of its highly anticipated maiden international appearance at the world-class Sepang International Circuit this weekend.
The series’ fleet of 911 GT3 Cup cars has completed its 6,500km journey from Brisbane to Malaysia in preparation for the event, with teams to unpack their cars and equipment on Wednesday and Thursday ahead of Friday’s opening practice.
This weekend’s round will be the first occasion the majority of the Carrera Cup Australia field will race at Sepang, though several drivers, including series leader David Wall and veteran Marc Cini, have previously competed at the popular race track.
“It’s an F1 circuit with all the bells and whistles,” said Cini. “Fortunately it’s a circuit that I’ve raced on a number of times before so it won’t be as daunting for me as for some others who haven’t been there before. I’m really looking forward to it.”
The Sepang round is the first time a new circuit has appeared on the Carrera Cup calendar since 2011, when the Porsche series raced at two new circuits – Townsville and Sydney Olympic Park – thus becoming the 16th different circuit at which the series has raced.
The Malaysian circuit, at a length of 5.543km, will also be the second longest circuit on the Carrera Cup calendar behind Bathurst.
The 17-car Carrera Cup grid will see the return of former TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge champion Shane Smollen for Sepang. While the Sydneysider races – and won – the recent Phillip Island Pro-Am event, this weekend’s round will be Smollen’s first single driver event since the 2016 finale in Gold Coast.
Graham Williams returns having raced at the Albert Park and Phillip Island rounds earlier in the year, while Albert Park entrant Dean Cook also returns to the series in Malaysia.
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia will hold two practice sessions on Friday, followed by qualifying on Saturday morning, where Stephen Grove will aim to take his sixth straight TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge pole position, leaving him one pole position shy of Rodney Jane’s class qualifying record.
Race one will be held on Saturday afternoon. Sunday will then feature the second Carrera Cup Australia race ahead of the two invitational Outright and TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge/Pro-Am races featuring both Carrera Cup Australia and Carrera Cup Asia races.
HOW TO WATCH: Broadcast/Live Stream Schedule
All qualifying and race sessions, including the two joint races, will be available to view via Facebook Live on the championship’s page and also streamed live via the porschecarrera.wpengine.com and www.speedcafe.com websites.
Stream sessions (AEST)
Qualifying – 12:35pm (AEST), Saturday July 22, 2017
Race 1 – 7:00pm (AEST), Saturday July 22, 2017
Race 2 – 12:55pm (AEST), Sunday July 23, 2017
Invitational Race, Overall – 4:25pm (AEST), Sunday July 23, 2017
Invitational Race, Challenge/Pro-Am – 5:20pm (AEST), Sunday July 23, 2017
Race Schedule
Friday July 21, 2017
11:30am Practice 1 (45 minutes)
4:15pm Practice 2 (30 minutes)
Saturday July 22, 2017
10:35am Qualifying (30 minutes)
5:00pm Race 1 (13 laps)
Sunday July 23, 2017
10:55am Race 2 (13 laps)
2:25pm Invitational Race, Overall (13 laps)
3:20pm Invitational Race, Challenge/Pro-Am (13 laps)
Entry List – Round 5, Sepang
#104 Stephen Grove (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Grove Group
#105 Cameron McConville (Outright) Repair Management Australia
#106 Michael Almond (Outright) Repair Management Australia
#107 Jaxon Evans (Outright) Hungry Jacks
#108 Lars Kern (Outright) Porsche Centre Melbourne
#109 Marc Cini (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Hallmarc
#122 Dean Cook (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Zonzo Racing
#133 Simon Ellingham (Outright) Peak Marketing
#131 Graham Williams (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) WRA
#136 James Abela (Outright) Horsley Park Gun Shop/Strathbrook Industrial Services
#138 David Wall (Outright) PAYCE/Wilson Security
#156 Shane Smollen (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Central Element Property Development
#170 Tim Miles (TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge) Miles Advisory Partners
#177 Nick McBride (Outright) Sonic / Bob Jane T-Marts
#188 Dylan O’Keeffe (Outright) APB Group/President Limo Australia
#777 Andre Heimgartner (Outright) Bob Jane T-Marts / Money Now
#888 Alex Davison (Outright) President Limo Australia
Note: Drivers will all run three digit race numbers to avoid clashes on the two joint races.