A brilliant double century: Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia will celebrate its 200th championship race in Sydney at the 2012 season finale, as Alex Davison and Max Twigg also reach a significant milestone this weekend.
The Porsche one-make championship has held 199 races since its inception into Australian motorsport in 2003, with the opening race at Sydney Olympic Park to be the 200th in the category’s history.
The 2012 championship title was secured by Craig Baird at the penultimate Gold Coast round, leaving the fight for second in the points open to former champion Alex Davison and the hard charging Jonny Reid, who missed the opening round of the season in Adelaide.
Davison is hungry for success in Sydney following tough Bathurst and Gold Coast rounds, allowing Gold Coast round winner Reid to close within seven points of Davison in the standings. Daniel Gaunt and Steven Richards are also mathematical chances to move into third place in the standings at the Sydney round.
Celebrating his 100th Carrera Cup start in the final race of the season, Davison is determined to finish the year on a high on the streets of Sydney Olympic Park.
“We haven’t had the success that we had hoped for at the last two rounds; we had motor problems at Bathurst and a Race 1 incident at Gold Coast, so we’re really motivated to get some race wins in Sydney to finish the year,” said Davison.
“It would be a pity to drop back to third in the championship. My focus in Sydney is to win all three races, and if I do that the pointscore will take care of itself.”
Upon reaching his 100th Carrera Cup Australia championship race start, Davison added that he was thrilled with the role Porsche has played in his racing career.
“I’ve spent a long part of my career racing Porsches all over the world. Porsche got me started in my professional career in Germany, and since I’ve raced Porsches in most of the endurance and sports car championships around the world, it holds a special place in my heart.”
Elite Class points leader Max Twigg is another driver set to reach the impressive milestone of 100 Carrera Cup championship race starts in Sydney, entering the final round with a lengthy 143-point lead over nearest class rival James Koundouris after dropping the least point-scoring round of each Elite Class driver.
Twigg will contest his 100th Carrera Cup Australia race in Race 2, and is looking forward to reaching the significant milestone in the Porsche championship.
“I’m proud to reach 100 race starts. I started Carrera Cup thinking that I’d do a few races, but to do 100 races is something that I never anticipated doing,” said Twigg.
“I’ve had some phenomenal times. I remember my very first race start in Carrera Cup, which was at Bathurst. Jim Richards was on pole and I was last. He walked from the front of the dummy grid to the back of the dummy grid to wish me luck. From those days through to dicing with Mark Skaife this year at the Grand Prix, I’ve had many great memories in Carrera Cup.
Now for this weekend, I’ve just got to be careful in practice and qualifying so that I don’t do any damage to my car. If I do that and get through Race 1, I’m sure we can secure the Elite Class championship.”
A former regular of the Porsche championship, Theo Koundouris, brother of Elite Class front-runner James, will return to Carrera Cup having last raced in the one-make category 12 months ago, also at Sydney Olympic Park.
Also returning to the category is Queenslander Shae Davies, who successfully debuted in Carrera Cup Australia at the last round on the Gold Coast.
In addition to racing in Carrera Cup, the 2012 Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia champion Baird will also complete demonstration laps in the Porsche RS Spyder at the Sydney Telstra 500 event.
