Australian driver Sam Power will this weekend begin the greatest challenge of his motor racing career – competing at the opening round of the 2015 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Spain.

Racing for German-based, American team MOMO Megatron, Power will be pitted against 25 of the world’s top Porsche one-make series drivers representing 12 countries at the season opener in Barcelona as support to Formula 1.

Power, a graduate of last season’s Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, is eager to begin his long-awaited Supercup campaign, in which he will contest the entire season.

“The build up to the first round of the Porsche Supercup has been an incredible journey,” Power said.

“Many people have assumed that this venture of mine has been organised with both plenty of resources and time. The reality is the opposite; I’ve had to dedicate 95% of my time to finding the budget required to make sure I can get on the grid. The remaining 5% has then had to deal with finding a place to live, a job to pay for living expenses, building relationships, finding time for fitness training all before I think about driving a race car. Unfortunately, it has meant that in the last 6 months I’ve seen the inside of a race car three times.

“However, I will be in with a chance, and that is all I’ve been trying to achieve. I’ve earned my stripes and I just want to give myself a shot, even if it is a long one. Having completed one full test in the car we can see the pace is there, and I know the areas I need to work on.”

Joining Power on the grid will be two other Carrera Cup Australia graduates: Briton Ben Barker will join Power at MOMO Megatron having completed the 2011 Australian season while Spike Goddard will also make his Supercup debut after contesting the opening two rounds of the 2015 Carrera Cup Australia season.

Power and his 25 combatants will all have just one goal – to earn maximum points from eleven races. But it all depends on the performance of the individual competitors in this tradition-steeped brand trophy series. Their race car is the 911 GT3 Cup – a near-standard, 460 hp sports car powered by the characteristic 3.8-litre, flat-six engine in the rear.

Pitting themselves against a few seasoned veterans, many talented young hopefuls are eager to step into the limelight in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Amongst the experienced pilots are Michael Ammermüller (Lechner Racing Middle East) and Christian Engelhart (MRS GT-Racing) from Germany, last year’s runner-up Kuba Giermaziak (PL/Verva Lechner Racing Team), and Robert Lukas (PL/Förch Racing by Lukas Motorsport). Most of the competitors come well prepared from the 20 Porsche one-make series around the world. Philipp Eng (D/Team Project 1) competes as the winner of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (I/Team Project 1) clinched championship honours in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, and Côme Ledogar (F/Martinet by Almeras) won the Porsche Carrera Cup France.

With the number of races increasing from nine to eleven this season, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is more attractive than ever: Nine races are held at seven European events – with Spa and Monza hosting a double-header. Two races will also be contested at the final race weekend in America at Austin/Texas.

Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Race Schedule

08-10.05.2015
Formula 1 Gran Premio de España 2015, Catalunya (Race 1)

21-24.05.2015
Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco 2015, Monte Carlo (Race 2)

19-21.06.2015
Formula 1 Großer Preis von Österreich 2015, Spielberg (Race 3)

03-05.07.2015
Formula 1 British Grand Prix 2015, Silverstone (Race 4)

24-26.07.2015
Formula 1 Magyar Nagydíj 2015, Budapest (Race 5)

21-23.08.2015
Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix 2015, Spa-Francorchamps (Races 6 & 7)

04-06.09.2015
Formula 1 Gran Premio D’Italia 2015, Monza (Races 8 & 9)

23-25.10.2015
2015 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix 2015, Austin (Races 10 & 11)