Porsche runs in the Almond family blood, just as thick as the Stuttgart brandโs 70-year history in Australia.
As Porsche celebrates its 70th anniversary down under, Michael Almond is well into his eighth season in Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia and his 10th in racing altogether.
Courtesy of his father, Ross Almondโs long-held passion for the brand, Michael grew up around the iconic golden logo, and falling in love was easy.
Paging even deeper into the books, it all stems from Rossโ daily trip to school.
โEver since I was fairly young Iโve loved the brand,โ said Almond Snr.
โI used to walk to school in Sydney and go past the Porsche dealership every morning and fell in love with the 911 back then. At that stage in 1974, they were about $8000 new and I just loved them ever since.โ
The Porsche journey had started for the Almond family, and there was no turning back.
โItโs a symbol of achievement to me, itโs something Iโve always wanted, always aspired to, and I bought my very first Porsche in 1991 I believe,โ added Ross.
โIt was a very exciting time. Iโve got pictures at home of my son Michael at about six or seven years of age sitting on my knee driving it around the car park.
โThe brand has been a sense of personal enjoyment of my achievements and the cars are just incredible. Porsche is just the vehicle for me.โ
While Rossโ first 911 was a Carrera 2, his next car, a 911 Turbo type 964 like the one featured in the film ‘Bad Boys’, made him โthe worldโs coolest dadโ in the eyes of his son.
โThrough the early days of my childhood I can remember seeing Porsches in the movies and on the TV and when I was about six or seven my father bought his first Porsche,โ Michael reflected.
โI know he had to sell it early on and he got a 964 Turbo out of Bad Boys when I was about 10 in 1994 or 1995.
โThe Porsche brand has always been in the family and Iโve loved them for as long as I can remember.โ
The passion for Porscheโs road car product naturally translated into an interest for the thoroughbred racing product.
Ross Almond spent years racing in various disciplines, enabling his son to catch the racing bug in the process.
As Michael kick-started his motorsport career in 2012, his dad stepped away from racing, but it was merely the turn of a new chapter.
In his first-ever race, Michael found himself steering a GT3 Cup car and despite starting his racing career later than usual, he was fulfilling a life-long dream.
โYou hear all the stories about how great a Porsche is and theyโre bulletproof and until you do that yourself you only then realise how true it is,โ he commented.
โThatโs why they have that one-make category in all the regions around the world; thereโs not many manufacturers that have such a successful program.
“The cars are just built to do it, theyโve got strong engines, a strong chassis, they handle well. For me, it doesnโt get much better.โ
As a stalwart in Carrera Cup Australia, Almond Jnr has been able to experience the technology and progression of Porscheโs racing product first-hand.
Next season Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia will introduce the first 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, with the latest iteration of machinery for Porscheโs global one-make formula seeing an increase of 25 horsepower from its predecessor.
An example of the Type 992 car was sent straight from Porsche Motorsport in Weissach, Germany to Australia and was on show at Round 2 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia at The Bend Motorsport Park in May.
Next yearโs car will be the fifth different Cup car that Michael has competed in, such is his experience in the series.
โThe development and the technology that Porsche are bringing, you see that every three or four seasons when they bring a new car out,โ he said.
โBeing a part of that is pretty special and being able to experience how much better they make the front end of a car generation-on-generation.
โThe aero is another thing and the power delivery and all those little improvements. Thatโs the icing on the cake, but the formula of a one-make series where you work in a nice team culture within Porsche and that positive sport psychology side of it is what I love.
“Getting the most out of myself and the team; itโs such a great brand to chase sponsorship, Porsche put on such a good show that they really give you everything to lean on and go racing and make a career out of it.
โItโs all a real family culture that Porsche put on.โ
In its 70-year history in Australia, and even more incredible 90 years globally, Porsche has come a long way.
The brandโs success in motorsport is only part of the story.
Itโs how the Stuttgart manufacturer has developed its road cars over the years with one thing in mind โ precision engineering.
Precision is at the core of every car that is born in the factory.
Having owned multiple 911s, as well as the GT2 RS and GT3 RS models and more, Ross Almond gave a testament to the 70-year long success of Porsche in Australia.
โI think Porsche have done a brilliant job with the product,โ he said.
โTheyโve managed to modernise the product by still keeping the character of when it was first built by the look, style and feel of the vehicle, plus the mechanical side of it.
โTheyโre the only manufacturer thatโs managed to keep true to its original form and thatโs what I think the secret is โ people feel theyโre driving something with heritage
“Itโs very rare in this day and age to say that. Whether youโre driving a 1994 3.6L turbo or the latest GT3 RS, they just feel part of the same family.
โThatโs probably where the lure for most people comes on the car.โ
For more Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia news and content follow the Porsche Motorsport Australia social pages: Instagram – @PorscheMotorsportAU / Twitter – @PorscheMspAU / Facebook.com/ PorscheMotorsportAU