– Adelaide driver Sam Power to graduate from Porsche Carrera Cup Australia to international Porsche Supercup in 2015.
– Power to race for top Team – MOMO Megatron – and will be based in the UK throughout the season having relocated in December.
– Supercup is a pathway to top GT series in Europe including major races like the LeMans 24 Hour.
– New Zealand drive Earl Bamber won Porsche Supercup in 2014 and now is a factory Porsche endurance driver.
– Sam is the second team BRM driver to graduate from CCA to Supercup – following the lead of Ben Barker in 2010/11.
– Sam will continue to support Adelaide-based charity, the Childhood Cancer Association.
– Please find below Sam’s rundown of why he’s making the trek to Europe this year – in his own words!
Sam Power. Adelaide Racing Driver. Porsche Supercup.
I really don’t enjoy putting out personal press releases.
The problem is, it’s a necessary evil – you have to stay in circulation. Like other drivers, I owe it to people who support me and sponsor me to keep them up to date about my career. So I do this for those wonderful people, however I am going to do it a little bit differently to the norm – an honest appraisal.
For the 99.56%(1) of readers who don’t know me, I am Sam Power from Australian Carrera Cup. A curly haired racing driver who’s ambition last year was to not only rival Warren Luff for the craziest driver hair award, but to see if I could hang onto the likes of himself, Baird or Richards on the track. In the same fashion a rookie water skier would, by holding onto the tow rope after losing both skis and getting dragged through water at 100kph by a speed boat with Justin Cotter(2) at the helm.
In other words, with difficulty.
Did I do well? I had my moments, sure, but as the championship ladder will tell you, 5 other people did better. However, contrary to the saying that winning is everything, It really isn’t – especially as a junior.
Winning is great, it is also very important, but the journey is invariably more important; and in 2014 our journey was epic. We won a race, had a few podiums, battled with some of the best in the business, got sent to Europe by Porsche and to top it off we raised heaps of money for The Childhood Cancer Association.
I was very fortunate to have 2014 remind me exactly why I began racing in the first place.
I race because I want to be a sportsman. But what does that mean exactly? It means that I don’t do this because I want the fame or notoriety3, I certainly don’t do it for the money4 (I am in motorsport after all, sorry mum and dad(5).
I do this because I love the idea of sport, the power of sport. All I want is to try my best up against the biggest test of skill I can find, so long as I am worthy of it, so long as I’ve earned my stripes. And if I fail? So be it. I would rather fail trying something insane, than go insane knowing I never tried it. But crucially, I have an opportunity most would kill for, and with that opportunity comes the responsibility to do whatever I can with it.
So speaking equally of insanity and opportunity, shortly after the Australian season ended in December I risked everything, abandoned all plans to race an Australian championship in 2015 and moved to the UK immediately to pursue a career against the Europeans.
It is, and will continue for some time to be, the biggest challenge of my career.
However, as I write this from a room which size would make most Hobbits claustrophobic, I am happy to announce I will be competing in the 2015 Porsche Supercup, the highest one-make GT series in the world, with Team Momo Megatron(6).
So if you want to see if I sink or swim, or are genuinely interested to see if my hair is as crazy as Luffy’s – follow me on facebook, tweet me @sammy_power or laugh at my silly selfies on Instagram. It’s going to be one crazy journey. Come on board, the more the merrier.
Footnotes:
1) Based on a personal survey conducted at the Gold Coast 600 counting the number of people who recognised me, said hello, in relation to event attendance. Figures included family members and cases of mistaken identity.
2) Justin Cotter, despite being one of the best driver trainers in the country is a crazy, crazy man behind a wheel of a vehicle.
3) I did admittedly pay to boost my Facebook likes, and my number of selfies for 2014 was 54% higher than the same time last year.
4) I currently need massive help with sponsorship.
5) Should have picked Tennis, sorry again Mum and Dad.
6) No, I didn’t choose the team based on the name. Ok yes I did.
MORE INFO: https://www.facebook.com/SamPowerRacing
