Driver Bio
Melbourne-based Stephen Grove is the epitome of a Porsche racer – a strong passion for motorsport and a vast appreciation of the 911 GT3 Cup race car.
A successful businessman away from the racetrack with his Grove Group company, which features on his Porsche 911 race car, Grove’s increasing experience behind the wheel has pushed him quickly towards the front of the Pro-Am competition.
Grove debuted in the Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia championship mid-way through the 2012 season, when you could also you could find him competing in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Cup (GT3 Cup Challenge) Australia series at the time.
Grove would go on to win the 2014 Carrera Challenge (Pro-Am) title, finish second in the 2015 season and third in the 2016 title race. And then, in 2017, Grove impressed by claiming his second-class crown before going back-to-back with a third crown in 2018 and now stands as one of the series most successful and experienced drivers.
In 2019, the Melbournian embarked on his first full-season campaign in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Series, finishing fourth in the Pro-Am competition in a strong debut year.
Grove has also won his class at the Bathurst 12 Hour on five occasions; four times in a Class B time racing a Porsche 911 GT3 and in 2020 aboard a Porsche GT3R in the Pro-Am category.
He continues to run his own Grove Racing program, which has now expanded into Supercars with a two-car team of Ford Mustangs which include former Carrera Cup drivers, David Reynolds and Lee Holdsworth.
Driver Bio
Ryan Suhle, 19, gradates into Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia from the Michelin Sprint Challenge, following the Porsche Pyramid like many young drivers before him.
Suhle entered Porsche competition following several successful campaigns in Formula 4 – where he placed in the top three – graduating to Sprint Challenge with McElrea Racing and immediately proving competitive.
He finished fourth in his rookie season in 2019, however lost two seasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic – though in the occasional races he did start, he was at the pointy-end.
Suhle links with the expanding Earl Bamber Motorsport team in 2022 to further his career, one that flourishes on and off the track.
Outside of racing exploits, Suhle is a successful realtor at Ray White North Lakes in Queensland, regularly ranking as one of the state’s best.
Driver Bio
Victorian Mouzouris joins the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia championship battle-hardened following two seasons in the competitive Supercars Super2 Series.
The 2019 Australian Formula Ford Champion, Mouzouris moved into Supercars the following season with Triple Eight Race Engineering, finishing on the podium in his second season.
His move to Carrera Cup reunites him with the team in which he claimed his Formula Ford title, multiple series champions Sonic Motor Racing.
Driver Bio
Tim Miles has made a successful ascent of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid over the past few seasons, moving from the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge series through to the ultra-competitive Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia championship.
Miles’ racing trajectory with Porsche has seen him rise through the Sprint Challenge ranks to ultimately claim the 2016 Elite Class (Pro-Am) crown. His racing resume was also sprinkled with Porsche Pro-Am appearances as a co-driver for the likes of Renee Gracie, Matt Campbell and, in 2017, Jaxon Evans.
The Sydney-based businessman then made his Carrera Cup debut as a single driver entry at Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway in 2017, placing second in the Pro-Am class for the round, before a successful run to the end of the season, which included a class clean sweep at Mount Panorama.
In his first full season in 2018 he won two races en-route to third in the Pro-Am championship, finishing fifth in class the following season in 2019. His career has seen him win three rounds, 8 races and feature on the podium on 10 occasions.
Miles is a former co-owner of Triple Eight Race Engineering and returns to McElrea for his sixth Carrera Cup season in 2022.
Driver Bio
Nick McBride joined Carrera Cup Australia in the hunt for a career in Supercars and has since forged a reputation as one of the series’ most competitive drivers.
The Victorian returned to Australia after a two-and-a-half-year campaign in the United Kingdom, competing in British Formula Ford and Formula 3. He finished 10th in the prestigious F3 title this year, but shifted his desire for an open wheel ambitions to one which would focus on a tin-top career in Australia.
McBride won his first Carrera Cup Australia race on home turf at Albert Park in 2015, and backed that up with his first ever round win at the Clipsal 500 in March 2016 and an eventual Sandown round victory in 2017.
Forging a reputation for being consistently fast and racing at the pointy-end, McBride has won four rounds entering the 2022 season, accumulating 10 podium finish and winning 11 races along the way. His career includes fourth in the 2016, 17 and 19 championship battles as well as 4 pole positions.
Having started his career with Sonic Motor Racing, the Victorian has since found his home at Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport where he remains a key contender to this day working with legendary engineer, Carl Batson, and the Collingwood-based team.
In 2021 he notched up his 50th Carrera Cup round start, one of only a handful of drivers to reach that milestone.
Away from racing, McBride is now a fully qualified lawyer, practicing family law at Marshall, Dent + Wilmoth lawyers and in early 2022 welcomed his first child with partner, Rachael.
Driver Bio
Seasoned Porsche racer Marc Cini has more experience in the Carrera Cup Australia championship than any other, sitting at 113 round starts at the start of the 2022 season – the only driver with more than 100 round starts to his credit in championship history.
A successful businessman away from the track with his company Hallmarc Developments, this Porsche enthusiast scored one of his highlight achievements in 2017, claiming the inaugural 2017 Pro-Am Endurance Cup title.
Along with old rival Grove, Cini took the bulk of the 2019 season off to compete in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Europe, following a dream to race internationally at the highest level of Porsche one-make competition.
He is one of only three drivers on the grid to have sampled all six generations of Porsche GT3 Cup Car in Australia; commencing with the 996, through two generations each of 997 and 991 and in 2022 the all-new 992.
Driver Bio
Second-generation Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia racer Jackson Walls stepped up to the big time in 2021, making his one-make Porsche debut aboard an Objective Racing Porsche, run by the McElrea Racing squad.
The son of Morris Finance Pro-Am class regular Tony, 19-year-old Jackson has plied his trade in junior open-wheel racing, completing two years in Australian Formula 4 before tackling the Formula Renault Eurocup and the Toyota Racing Series.
He’s since shifted his focus to Porsche racing and made his debut in the non-championship Porsche PAYCE and Michelin event at Sandown in late 2020, impressing by being on the pace immediately.
His first ‘full’ season in 2021 saw him finish 10th in the championship, with a best finish of sixth at Mount Panorama in the final round of the season.
Driver Bio
Following in the footsteps of fellow Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia champions Matt Campbell and Jaxon Evans, Harri Jones is the next discovery to rise through the Porsche Pyramid with the help of McElrea Racing.
Skipping the traditional starting-point in Karting, Jones began racing Formula Fords in 2015 before moving into ‘wings and slicks’ competition in 2018, winning the Australian Formula 3 title on debut. The following year he moved to the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge series, winning the title on debut and also sealing the Jim Richards Endurance Trophy along the way.
Harri made his debut in Carrera Cup in the final round of the 2019 championship on the Gold Coast, and was set to contest the full 2020 championship with McElrea Racing. Though the series was ultimately stopped, he did impressively win the season-ending Porsche PAYCE and Michelin Cup event at Sandown – his first in the ‘big’ class of Aussie one-make Porsche racing.
He landed strongly in 2021, however, and finished third in the five-round championship in a season that included a pair of runner-up round results, two pole positions and his first Carrera Cup race win, on the Mountain in the final round of the year.
When not racing, Harri splits his time working at McElrea while also studying a bachelor of Civil Engineering and Maths at the University of Queensland.
He also races competitively in an array of historic racing cars prepared by his father, Peter, and their family racing firm.
Driver Bio
Sam Shahin is a product of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid, entering Porsche one-make racing in the entry-level GT3 Cup Challenge series before making his Carrera Cup debut at the 2017 Pro-Am event at Phillip Island, where he teamed with Dan Gaunt to place third on the Pro-Am class podium.
Shahin’s continued improvement in Porsche one-make series has seen the South Australian businessman develop into a hugely competitive Porsche racer among the Pro-Am ranks, though he shocked even the overall competition when taking the outright victory at the opening 2017 GT3 Cup Challenge round at Sandown – the first Pro-Am driver to win outright.
Shahin then made his Carrera Cup debut as a single driver entry at Carrera Cup’s fourth round of 2017 in Darwin, where he claimed round honours in the Pro-Am class.
Racing with the Adelaide based Buik Motorworks, Shahin entered Carrera Cup full time in 2018 while also continuing his campaign in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge; wining the Pro-Am category of that championship in 2019.
His magnum opus came in 2021, however, when in a thrilling championship showdown he claimed the Morris Finance Pro-Am title in the final race of the year, his second Porsche title but the biggest of his career to date.
When not racing, Sam is the Executive Director of The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia, a circuit that hosts rounds of both Carrera Cup and Sprint Challenge.
Driver Bio
Competing in top-level motorsport was never on Matthew Belford’s radar.
Barely five years ago, the Melbourne-based businessman had not even been on a racing track, let alone in one of the most competitive forms of one-make racing in the world. He is now a regular frontrunner in the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Series’ competitive Pro-Am class and in 2022 steps up to the Morris Finance Pro-Am Class in Carrera Cup.
After cutting his teeth via track days and the Porsche Driving Experience in Queensland, Belford linked up with Porsche Centre Melbourne’s experienced team of motorsport professionals, led by legendary engineer Karl Batson, for his racing debut in the 2019 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge series.
After missing the opening round thanks to a poorly timed biking accident, he ultimately finished seventh in the Pro-Am class in his rookie season, followed by maiden Pro-Am class race and round victories coming early in the 2021 racing season.
He steps into Carrera Cup with the same PCM team in 2022.
Driver Bio
Another incredibly fast Kiwi from across the Tasman, Callum Hedge, 18, is following in the footsteps of a host of quick New Zealanders to come and race Carrera Cup.
Like most, Hedge started his career young and was a multiple karting champion before he moved into racing cars.
He won the 2018 NZ Formula Ford title and the one-make Toyota 86 championship the following year before switching his attention to racing in Australia.
The recipient of a Porsche New Zealand Scholarship, Hedge linked with Earl Bamber’s team and made his debut in the ultimately abandoned Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge in 2021 – winning a race before the season was cut short due to the Pandemic.
He steps up to Carrera Cup in 2022, again with Bamber’s guidance, following his debut in the series at Mount Panorama late last year.
Driver Bio
Since making his full-time debut in the 2018 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship, Adrian Flack has become a regular contender for Morris Finance Pro-Am victories.
Flack made his debut in the 2016 Pro-Am event at Phillip Island however became full time in 2018 and was immediately a frontrunner in both Pro-Am – and indeed in the top 10 of races outright.
His 20 rounds of experience have delivered six round wins, 9 race victories and a host of other highlights throughout his journey, including third in the 2019 Pro-Am Championship.
Adrian is the second Flack to race Carrera Cup: his older brother Damien was also successful in the category.
Driver Bio
One of Carrera Cup Australia’s ‘originals’, Dean Cook returned to the championship in 2017 after a more than a 13-year absence.
Cook competed in the first two season of Carrera Cup Australia, finishing a strong 10th outright in the inaugural 2003 championship – in front of serious names like Andrew Miedecke, Rodney Jane, Peter Hill and Geoff Morgan.
That was despite a limited racing CV prior to his Carrera Cup campaign, that included several starts over two years racing in the popular GT Nations Cup series, also racing a Porsche 996 GT3 Cup.
He returned for several races in the 2004 Carrera Cup season however did not contest the full series and had not raced in a major championship until his successful return in 2017, when he claimed a class victory in the final round of the season in the Gold Coast and a pole position on the series international debut in Sepang, Malaysia.
Since then he has firmed to be a regular Morris Finance Pro-Am frontrunner in the ultra-competitive category, and finished third in the class in the 2021 season.
Driver Bio
Michael Almond burst on to the Porsche scene in 2010, when he qualified on pole on his debut in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia – and he has since to go on and forge a strong career with the brand.
A race winner in GT3 Cup Challenge, Almond also won races in the classic Touring Car Masters series, racing a 1973 Porsche RS against much larger and more powerful cars – and drivers like Jim Richards, John Bowe and Glenn Seton.
A move to Carrera Cup in late 2012 has seen his career climb towards a breakout season in 2016 that netted his first career win. Appropriately for this Adelaide born and bread driver, it came in front of his home town fans and friends on the streets of Adelaide at the Adelaide 500.
Since then, Almond has become a formidable contender and has remarkably finished seventh in the championship on five separate occasions. His 4 race wins and 9 podium finishes have come from 54 career rounds, a majority of them at the front of the ultra-competitive grid.
Having completed much of his career under the auspices of Sonic Motor Racing, Almond changes environment in 2022 with a move to Garth Walden’s Sydney-based team.
Driver Bio
Liam Talbot is no stranger to Porsche racing having contested the Australian GT Championship in a Porsche 911 GT3 R for several seasons before moving to the Carrera Cup Australia championship – and the 911 GT3 Cup model race car – for the 2019 season with Sydney based squad Wall Racing.
His 2019 season was remarkable and his consistency and raw speed – he won five Morris Finance Pro-Am races – saw him claim the title.
It was his first major title and the second for Wall Racing, who had won the outright championship in 2017 with David Wall.
Following two seasons on the side-lines, Talbot returns to the track in 2022 to take advantage of the brand-new 992 Generation GT3 Cup Car.
He remains active and successful in GT Racing alongside his Carrera Cup commitments.
Driver Bio
A graduate from the competitive world of Hyundai Excel Racing, Bayley Hall’s two most recent seasons may have been interrupted by the Pandemic, but he’s still shown plenty of speed in his brief appearances at a National scene to prove he has what it takes at a high level.
Fresh from success in Queensland state-level competition, Hall expanded into national-level racing via the MARC Cars Australia program, including making a start in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
He finished sixth in the Bathurst 6 Hour in 2021 and also made his Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia debut with McElrea Racing that year, scoring one podium finish from two round starts in the pandemic challenged season.
He steps to Carrera Cup this year with the same team.
Driver Bio
Indiran Padayachee is one of the many Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge (GT3 Cup Challenge) graduates to compete in the Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia season.
The Pro-Am ranked driver also entered the 2018 Carrera Cup season having 15 rounds of experience in the GT3 Cup Challenge category and a single round of Carrera Cup after partnering his son and former Carrera Cup driver, Duvashen Padayachee, in the 2015 Pro-Am event at Phillip Island.
Padayachee Snr races his Rentcorp-backed Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Care out of the Garth Walden Racing stable in Sydney.
Driver Bio
David Wall is one of the most successful drivers in the history of the Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia Championship, and the 2017 series champion.
Two-time Australian GT Champion David Wall made a triumphant return to the Championship in 2016, winning in Darwin, scoring 10 podium finishes and finishing an outstanding third in the championship.
He followed that up with the 2017 championship, finished second in 2018 and then third in his 2019 campaign in a remarkable four-year campaign that is yet to see him off the podium.
Sydneysider Wall made his name in Carrera Cup between 2006-2008, before winning in Australian GT and then making the move into Supercars competition.
Wall has made nine Bathurst 1000 starts and in 2016 also scored a podium finish – his first in the sport – on the Gold Coast, sharing the No. 33 Garry Rogers Motorsport entry with Scott McLaughlin.
Wall returned to Carrera Cup full-time in 2016 with his own Wall Racing team and eventually achieved the ultimate success, claiming the 2017 Carrera Cup crown.
His strike rate is remarkable: 3rd in 2016, 1st in 2017, 2nd in 2018, 3rd in 2019 and 4th in 2021 ensures he is yet to finish outside of the top four in the championship since returning to the category five years ago.
His remarkable career includes 19 podium finishes, 13 race wins and 10 pole positions, which are likely to expand further with the advent of the 992 GT3 Cup Car.
Driver Bio
Duvashen Padayachee is now one of the more experienced drivers in the championship, with 40 round starts to his credit in a strong Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia career.
He returned to Carrera Cup Australia in 2019 after a short break from the championship, becoming teammate to his TAG Heuer Pro-Am ranked father Indiran Padayachee at the Sydney based GWR Australia team.
While the duo had never faced one another in Carrera Cup competition before 2019, they did become the first father-son combination to race any international Carrera Cup round in the same entry during the 2015 two-driver Pro-Am event at Phillip Island.
Since then Padayachee has become a consistent competitor in the championship, notching up a pair of sixth-placed round results in 2019.
He stepped out of the car again to let Indiran take the lions share of the steering since then, however will return in 2022 with the brand-new 992 GT3 Cup Car.
Driver Bio
Arguably one of the most credentialed drivers ever to join the Morris Finance Pro-Am class in the long history of Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, Geoff Emery was always likely to be a strong title contender in 2021.
A three-time Australian GT Champion, Emery is also a five-time Commodore Cup champion in the one-make V8 formula and has extensive experience in the Super2 Supercars series, Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge and the NZ V8 Super Tourers.
Prior to joining the championship full time, Emery had already tasted success in the category; he paired with Matt Campbell to sweep the 2016 Pro-Am event at Sydney Motorsport Park – scoring pole, both race wins and the round victory with the eventual champion, forming a key part of his title year.
Emery made his full-time debut driving for Ash Seward Motorsport with a Force Accessories-supported entry in 2021 and was a title contender; winning four races and contending for the title through to the final race of the season at Mount Panorama, where in a dramatic and controversial finish he came agonisingly short of claiming the crown. You can bet he will be a title contender in 2022.
Driver Bio
Now one of Australia’s most versatile and experienced drivers, Luke Youlden returned to the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup for the first time since 2013 in season 2021 – and as a solo driver for the first time since 2005!
A former Australian Formula Ford and Production Car class champion, Youlden has forged a lengthy career as a regular Supercars endurance driver, driver trainer and coach and young driver mentor.
He has two podiums from 20 Bathurst 1000 starts, including pairing with David Reynolds and Erebus Motorsport to claim a famous victory in 2017.
Youlden tackled a full Carrera Cup season in 2005, finishing 4th outright for VIP Petfoods Racing.
In 2013 he returned to co-drive with Max Twigg in the Porsche Rennsport Pro-Am races, and has now partnered with Michelin Sprint Challenge regular Rob Woods to form the TekworX squad, which will run cars in Carrera Cup while also fostering young talent in other categories.
He returns for a full-season campaign in 2022 as part of a two-car team, young South Aussie talent Max Vidau in the sister car.
Driver Bio
The 20-year-old from Adelaide is another to have followed the Porsche Pyramid through the ranks to ultimately end up in the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship.
The 2017 Australian Formula Ford Champion, Vidau joined the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge (GT3 Cup Challenge) in 2018, driving for Sonic Motor Racing Services with backing from Bob Jane T-Marts.
Vidau was instantly effective, finishing third in his debut season. He was even more competitive in his second and though he finished in the same championship position, he was a regular contender for race and round victories along the way and won more races than any other driver.
After Covid-19 saw his 2020 and 2021 Carrera Cup seasons interrupted, Vidau has forged a new relationship with brand-new team TekworkX Motorsport and will drive and work for the team full-time in 2022, driving a car sponsored by Tyrepower.
His brief Carrera Cup career of six rounds has already seen him finish fourth outright at The Bend in 2021, with a top-three race result at the same venue.
Outside of Carrera Cup racing, Vidau has been racing on the dirt tracks of South Australia in his 800hp Sprintcar.
Driver Bio
The vastly experienced David Russell returned to Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia in 2020, sharing the #23 car with Roger Lago. A veteran of the category, Russell made his name in Australian Motorsport with a series of strong performances in the series in the late 2000s.
Having since gone on to forge a solid career in Supercars – both in Super2 and the main game, especially as an Endurance race co-driver – Russell also has a wealth of local and international GT racing experience to his credit making him one of the most versatile drivers on the grid.
In 2022 he makes a move to the EMA Motorsport team for the first time, looking to build with the team towards the kind of Carrera Cup success he has always experienced.
Russell’s 44 round starts have netted him 4 race wins and a host of podium finishes, though he has come agonisingly close to a round win on five occasions without claiming one yet.
In 2021 he remarkably paired with Brodie Kostecki at Erebus Motorsport to stand on the podium in the Bathurst 1000, his first podium finish in the iconic race.
Driver Bio
Christian started in karting, racing karts from 2012 till 2017, winning numerous Regional and State championships and Australian championship rounds. He went on to race in two international championship racing events in Daniel Ricciardo’s race team.
His first move to main circuit was straight into Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge in 2018, where he won the class B championship and impressed by racing with the Pro cars in class A.
In 2019 Christian stepped up again, this time to Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Pro class, where he saw highlight performances including a qualifying pole position, two podiums and a lap record.
In 2021 he joined McElrea Racing, racing in both Sprint Challenge and Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup campaign prior to a full championship tilt with the 992-generation car in 2022.
His early rounds showed plenty of promise, including several front-running performances and a best finish of 6th on three occasions.
Driver Bio
A Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia ‘original’, Rodney Jane returns to the championship in 2022 following a lengthy stint on the side-lines from full-time competition.
Jane made his Carrera Cup debut in the series’ first ever round at Phillip Island in 2003, and was quickly a force to be reckoned with in what is now the Morris Finance Pro-Am class.
There, he’s a two-time champion of the category, claiming back to back titles in 2006 and 2007. His 55 rounds have delivered 10 wins and 30 race victories, plus 16 poles ensuring he remains one of the class benchmarks.
One of only three drivers on the grid to have raced in the inaugural season as well as 2022, Jane is well known for his close links with Sonic Motor Racing both as a driver, and as a major supporter of their Porsche programs over the years: Bob Jane T-Marts backed cars have claimed multiple outright titles in the past.
Driver Bio
Runner-up in the 2019 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge series, Aaron Love made the step to the Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia in 2020 as a Michelin Junior – impressing immediately with his raw speed.
He follows in the footsteps of his older brother Jordan, who won the 2019 Championship and Junior prize.
Love, 17, started his career in karting before stepping into open-wheel racing in Formula 4 competition. From there he graduated to Porsches, coming close to winning the 2019 Sprint Challenge title for Sonic. After making his Carrera Cup debut on the Gold Coast at the end of the 2019 season, Love’s immediate impact in the shortened 2020 season saw him finish on the podium at the Adelaide season-opener, and at the season-ending (non-championship) Porsche Payce and Michelin Cup event, proving his title-contending abilities.
Driver Bio
Racing in the Morris Finance Pro-Am Class, Drew Hall made his Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia debut in 2021 driving for Wall Racing.
His three-round campaign saw him finish a strong sixth in the final round at Mount Panorama in just his third ever Porsche event.
Hall joins David Wall and Liam Talbot in an expanded three-car Wall Racing squad this year.
Driver Bio
A Familiar fact to the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship, Victorian Dylan O’Keeffe makes his return to the championship this year.
Prior to stepping into Supercars competition, O’Keeffe was a title contender in Carrera Cup and finished third in the 2019 championship. He has 25 round starts, a round win (in Darwin in 2018), five race wins and five pole positions to his credit.
Dylan’s career began in Victorian state racing, competing in Porsche 944s before stepping into Michelin Sprint Challenge and ultimately Carrera Cup as his career rose in status.
Several seasons in Super2 included him earning his place in the Supercars paddock as a Bathurst 1000 co-driver.
Along with his extensive Supercars experience, he has also become an accomplished and versatile GT racer, and will dovetail his Carrera Cup campaign this year with a return tilt at the TCR Australia Championship as well.
Driver Bio
Dale Wood entered Porsche one-make racing in 2018 after a lengthy stint in Supercars.
Wood entered Supercars in 2007, racing in the Super2 Series and ultimately graduated to the Supercars Championship full-time in 2009. Wood would return to the Super2 Series and claim the series title in 2013 before securing a full-time Supercars drive from 2014 to 2017 and, ultimately, making his way to the Carrera Cup Australia series in 2018 in a season where he scored more race wins than any other driver.
After finishing fifth in the championship that year, he improved further in 2019 and was a title contender through to the final race of the year – narrowly falling short of beating teammate Jordan Love in a dramatic season finale’ on the Gold Coast that saw the pair come to blows in an early race.
Wood switched to Ash Seward Motorsport for the 2021 season, however shifts again in 2022 to link up with Earl Bamber Motorsport and add considerable experience and firepower to their fledgling team.
His 25-round career to date includes two round wins, 10 race wins and a trio of pole positions. Albert Park, the home of the Australian Grand Prix, is his most successful circuit.
Driver Bio
A Carrera Cup Australia Original, Tony Quinn was on the grid for the series’ first ever race at Phillip Island in 2003 and, after stepping out of the championship at the end of the 2007 season, returns this year with the advent of the 992 GT3 Cup Car.
Quinn’s first Carrera Cup stint was incredibly successful: twice finishing on the outright podium against professional drivers and recording a best finish of 7th in the 2004 championship.
He was three-times a runner up in what is now the Morris Finance Pro-Am Championship with 8 round wins and 28 race victories to his credit in Porsche’s ‘race within a race’.
Quinn’s career has been well documented and has included success in GT Racing and podium finishes at the Bathurst 12 Hour.
In recent years he has built his portfolio of racing circuits that began with the Highlands Motorsport Park on New Zealand’s South Island.
He acquired Hampton Downs, south of Auckland, several years ago and recently closed a deal to purchase Queensland Raceway, near Brisbane.
Driver Bio
Now an experienced racing driver and team owner, Scott Taylor has built a diverse experience base in all forms of racing in his driving career, having now contested 25 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia championship rounds and a similar number in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge.
He’s also vastly experienced in GT endurance racing, Production Sports Cars and Aussie Racing Cars – and has also completed several successful campaigns in the New Zealand V8 category.
Taylor lines up for a full-season tilt at Carrera Cup this year with support from Ash Seward Motorsport, prepping his STM-backed car sporting its unique black, green and red livery.
He posted career-best results in his 2019 campaign and was set to improve further in 2020 and 2021, before the respective seasons were cut short.
7th in the 2021 Morris Finance Pro-Am championship represented his best ever season result in the series.
Driver Bio
Brutally fast in anything he drives, Brad Shiels joins the 2022 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia championship with an enormous Racing CV driving almost anything with four wheels.
From Sports Sedans to Sports Cars, Radicals, GT cars, Time Attack weapons and everything in between he has generally driven them – and driven them quickly.
His 2021 season saw him tackle 41 races across four categories alone.
His lengthy relationship with Tilton Racing and fellow racer (and sometime co-driver) Konstinken Pohorukov has seen him step into Carrera Cup in 2022 under the banner of Royal Purple Racing.
Driver Bio
Two years out of the seat are unlikely to phase Simon Fallon, who returns to one-make Porsche racing in 2021 as the 2018 Porsche Michelin Sprint Cup Champion.
After a funding shortfall sidelined him for two seasons, Fallon re-grouped for 2021 and reunited with the same team with which he won the Sprint Challenge title – beating Cooper Murray in the process – in Sonic Motor Racing.
The young Victorian took over the famous #777 entry for the Melbourne based team, who technically remain the defending champions thanks to their success with Jordan Love (in the same car) in 2019.
He follows in the footsteps of the champion Love, Nick Foster and Andre Heimgartner to have steered the #777 car.
Fallon graduated to Sprint Challenge from open-wheel racing, where he was a regular contender in the Australian Formula 4 Championship.
He contested all five rounds of the 2021 season held, with a best finish of 11th overall at The Bend.