Porsche Carrera Cup Australia will enter its penultimate round of the 2013 season at the 6.213 km Bathurst circuit this weekend, where Michael Patrizi and Damien Flack will be eager to continue their strong run of form.
The iconic event will see four Carrera Cup drivers – Craig Baird, Warren Luff, Nick Percat and Steven Richards – compete in both the Porsche championship along with the V8 Supercars endurance race – the Bathurst 1000.
One driver who will be solely focussed on Porsche racing however will be Michael Patrizi – winner of the Bathurst round during the 2011 Carrera Cup season.
The West Australian, who was victorious at the championship’s last round at Winton, is hopeful he can continue his recent impressive pace at Mount Panorama.
“I’m currently on a strong run of form. We should have won quite easily at Rennsport; we had a six second lead but had a mechanical failure. We finished on the podium at the following Townsville round and then won at Winton,” said Patrizi.
“Although we haven’t had amazing car speed, we’ve made a few changes for Bathurst so hopefully we can continue to run at the front and potentially win like I did a couple of years ago.”
Patrizi is looking forward to returning to Mount Panorama in the Porsche 911 race car to focus solely on his Carrera Cup campaign.
“This year I don’t have to worry about racing V8 Supercars so my attention will be solely on the Porsche. However I don’t see it as an advantage; I’m sure the other guys are going to be just as fast driving in V8 Supercars and the Porsche.
“Mount Panorama is a special place. There’s not much to do going up or down the hill, but the section across the top of the mountain is fast and flowing and great to drive in a Porsche.”
Elite Class contender and Winton round victor Flack sits a mere three points behind class leader Max Twigg in the Elite Class standings and is looking forward to continuing this battle at Bathurst.
“I would like to see myself toward the front of the Elite Class at Bathurst. I’ve done well there in the past and I was competitive there in Carrera Cup in 2011,” said Flack, who anticipates the Elite Class title will be decided at the Gold Coast season finale.
“I think I can challenge Max Twigg for the Elite Class championship; that’s what it’s all about. We really need a reasonable round at Bathurst and I truly believe it will come down to the final round in the Gold Coast.
“It certainly helped my season when Max had a bad round at Winton, but I started on the back foot at the Clipsal 500, which was my bad round. I’ve been quietly closing in since. I’m not surprised that I’m only three points off Max, but I’m extremely happy.”
Porsche Carrera Cup Australia will begin its Bathurst assault on Friday October 11, holding its opening two races on Saturday and its third race on Sunday morning as the final on-track event before the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 race.
Both Race 2 and Race 3 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia round will be televised live on Channel Seven, which will be two of the highest rating Carrera Cup races of the 2013 season.
Race Schedule
Friday October 11, 2013
10:35am Practice 1 20 minutes
3:55pm Practice 2 20 minutes
Saturday October 12, 2013
8:20am Qualifying 20 minutes
11:10am Race 1 12 laps
3:45pm Race 2 10 laps
Sunday October 13, 2013
8:35am Race 3 9 laps
Broadcast Schedule
Race 2 (live)
Date: Saturday October 12, 2013
Time: 3:45pm
Channel: Seven
Race 3 (live)
Date: Sunday October 13, 2013
Time: 8:35am
Channel: Seven