31 Porsche ready for Sydney Motorsport Park battle

A STUNNING season-high field of 31 cars will tackle the third round of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series at Sydney Motorsport Park next week.

One of the most broadly competitive grids assembled in series history, the field includes 13 drivers in the Pro class – a record since the introduction of the current class structure.

The series heads to Sydney Motorsport Park with New Zealand teenager Marco Giltrap leading the standings following victories in the first two rounds, at Phillip Island and Symmons Plains, respectively.

He leads Ronan Murphy in the series standings, the second-generation racer fresh from his first race win on Aussie soil last time out in Tasmania.

A consistent performance so far this year has Sonic Motor Racing / Bob Jane T-Marts racer Harrison Goodman third in the standings, breaking up what has otherwise been a series dominated by Kiwi drivers.

That’s reflected with Zac Stichbury sitting fourth in the standings, just ahead of young Aussie Michelin Junior driver, Tom McLennan.

Meanwhile, Nash Morris will add to the broad list of cars he has raced this year by making his one-make Porsche racing debut aboard a car entered by TekworkX Motorsport.

In the Pro-Am battle, Sam Shahin and Brett Boulton have finished first and second in every race so far this season, though a Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia ring-in could upset the applecart this weekend.

Adrian Flack will join the field this weekend to gain more racing laps amidst his Carrera Cup campaign, where he and Shahin regularly go head-to-head.

Class B, which caters to the previous-generation Type 991.1 GT3 Cup Car, will see its strongest entry yet with five cars to race for class honours.

Phil Morriss has a comfortable lead in the championship thanks to finishing second or third in every race so far, however 2022 champion Lachy Harburg – who swept the opening round this year – returns this weekend having missed the Tasmanian event.

Round 2 winner Brad Carr sits equal second in the championship having won all three races in Tasmania, but missed the first round.

Sydney Motorsport Park was a highlight of the 2022 Michelin Sprint Challenge season with Ryan Wood and Tom Sargent going head to head across three gripping races.

Wood scored pole and the first two race wins, while Sargent claimed the finale’ after plenty of wheel-to-wheel racing.

Carrera Cup graduate Courtney Prince finished third overall while Sam Shahin won Pro-Am.

The series hits the track for the first time at 9:35am on Friday, July 28 for practice one, followed by the second session at 12:30pm.

The grid will be set at 2:40pm that afternoon with the three races spread across Saturday and Sunday.

Race one will be run under lights at 6:25pm on Saturday evening as the lead-in act to the Supercars Championship race that evening.

Races two and three will start at 10:00am and 1:35pm respectively on Sunday.

ENTRY LIST – Round 3, Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia

No	Car #	SPONSOR	CLASS	DRIVER	SURNAME	STATE	MAKE	MODEL	CC
1	2	McElrea Racing	Pro-Am	Richard	Cowen	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
2	3	Racing to Beat FA	Pro-Am	Jonathan	Gliksten	VIC	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
3	4	Grove Racing	Pro	Oscar	Targett	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
4	8	Car Mods Australia	Class B	Bradley	Carr	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen I	3800
5	11	UpTo11 Motorsport	Pro-Am	Eric	Constantinidis	NSW	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
6	12	Ares Group	Pro-Am	Matt	Slavin	VIC	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
7	13	The Bend Motorsport Park	Pro-Am	Sam	Shahin	SA	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
8	14	McElrea Racing	Pro	Caleb	Sumich	WA	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
9	16	TekworkX Motorsport	Pro	Hamish	Fitzsimmons	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
10	19	Wall Racing	Class B	Brayden	Taylor	NSW	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen I	3800
11	20	Agas National/ EBM	Pro-Am	Adrian	Flack	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3996
12	22	Cirrus Aircraft	Pro-Am	Andrew	Goldie	WA	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
13	23	Bloxsom Team Navy	Pro	Lachlan	Bloxsom	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
14	26	Taplin Group	Pro	Tom	Taplin	SA	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
15	34	Wall Racing/ Hillcrest Merimbula	Pro-Am	Casper	Tressider	NSW	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
16	35	Hyundai Forklifts	Pro-Am	Indiran	Padayachee	NSW	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
17	47	Effect Building Projects/ Bass Hill Electrical	Class B	Stephen	Moylan	NSW	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen I	3800
18	64	Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM	Pro	Marco	Giltrap	NZ	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
19	66	PER Equipment Rentals	Pro-Am	Tim	Wolfe	WA	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
20	67	TekworkX Motorsport	Pro	Nash	Morris	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
21	72	Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM	Pro	Zac	Stichbury	NZ	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
22	77	Sonic / Dayle ITM	Pro	Ronan	Murphy	NZ	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
23	78	Sonic Motor Racing / Rosche Paper / Supa Straws	Pro	Marcos	Flack	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
24	81	McElrea Racing / McLennan Motorsports	Pro	Tom	McLennan	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
25	84	Bold Living	Pro-Am	Brett	Boulton	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
26	86	Morriss Racing Service	Class B	Phil	Morriss	VIC	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen I	3800
27	87	DW Motorsport	Pro-Am	David	Greig	VIC	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
28	88	Sonic Motor Racing / Bob Jane T Marts / True Grid	Pro	Harrison	Goodman	VIC	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
29	91	Autohouse Racing	Class B	Lachlan	Harburg	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen I	3800
30	99	Southern Star Windows P/L	Pro-Am	Ross	McGregor	VIC	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II	3966
31	116	TekworkX Motorsport	Pro	Aron	Shields	QLD	Porsche	GT3 Cup Gen II