Touring car ace Ash Walsh will transition from V8 Supercar racing to Porsche Carrera Cup Australia this season, with the 28-year-old impressed with his first taste of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car.
Walsh, who yesterday tested at Phillip Island, will contest the 2016 season in the championship winning #777 Porsche, which was last year raced by champion Nick Foster.
The former V8 driver enjoyed his first outing in the Porsche 911 race car and looks forward to racing in competitive one-make series.
“Driving the Carrera Cup car for the first time was an eye opener and very different to the V8 Supercar. It has less power than the V8, the balance is completely different with more weight towards the rear and the tyres have incredible grip. Much of the test was driving on old tyres getting used to driving the Porsche,” said Walsh, who is eager to once again enjoy going racing.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to that feeling of enjoying my motor racing again in 2016 and hopefully win some trophies along the way. From what I’ve seen of Carrera Cup last season, it’s certainly a very competitive championship with a lot of good young drivers. I know it’s going to take a lot of work to get up to speed but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Walsh added that he looks forward to joining the championship winning outfit, Team Sonic, having raced against the Melbourne based team earlier in his career.
“I’ve raced against Sonic for many years in Formula Ford so I know how competitive the team is and that its preparation is second-to-none. So when the opportunity presented itself to race with Sonic in Carrera Cup this year, I jumped at it.”
Walsh is the second driver to make the move from V8 Supercars to Carrera Cup over the off-season; David Wall was also confirmed to race in the Porsche series after four seasons in the V8 ‘main game’.
Walsh will next test the Porsche 911 race car at the championship’s official test day at Sydney Motorsport Park on February 10 before the season opening round at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide on March 03-06, 2016.
