Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship

Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship

Category	GT Racing One-make racing
Country	Australia
Inaugural season	2003 Resumed: 2011
Folded	2008
Drivers	22
Constructors	Porsche
Tyre suppliers	Michelin
Last Drivers' champion	Matt Campbell
Official website	Carrera Cup Australia
Current season

The Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship is a sports car racing championship open to drivers of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. First held in 2003, it is administered by Porsche Cars Australia and sanctioned by CAMS as an Australian Championship.^[1] During its history, Carrera Cup has been a leading support category for the Supercars Championship. New Zealand driver Craig Baird has been the most successful driver in the championship, winning the series five times.

History

The regulations for the championship are based on those used for Porsche Carrera Cup racing series in Europe and the rest of the world, with modifications to the cars strictly controlled to ensure parity between competing vehicles. From 2003 to 2005 the specified model was the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 996) with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 997) used from 2006 and various iterations of the car beyond that, usually in a three-year cycle.

Jim Richards was the inaugural champion, fresh from having taken Porsche 996s to three consecutive Australian Nations Cup Championships. The series quickly proved its worthy as a ladder category for emerging young drivers with Alex Davison and Fabian Coulthard winning championships while Marcus Marshall, Jonathon Webb and David Reynolds were also early graduates. The series was also responsible for the creation of a number of professional motor racing teams, including Paul Cruikshank Racing and VIP Petfoods Racing while also giving teams like Sonic Motor Racing Services, Tekno Autosports and International Motorsport to expand.

In the lead up to the 2009 season the series organisers were forced to cancel the series, citing a lack of competitors.^[2] Those competitors left with 997 GT3 Cup Cars found themselves without a series to race in as the cars were neither able to compete in the Australian GT Championship, to which they were eligible but were prevented by CAMS with the intention of preventing the collapse that ultimately occurred or the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia as models newer than 996s were not eligible for points. As the situation evolved permission was gained for the Porsches to enter the GT series in strictly limited numbers and likewise 997s were allowed to compete in the GT3 Challenge but to compete to their own pointscore rather than take points away from the 996 and 993s that made up the bulk of the series competitors.

Porsche Cars Australia announced the series would return for the 2011 season featuring the 2011 specification version of the Type 997 GT3 Cup.^[3] Since the series revival Craig Baird, already a two-time champion, dominated again, winning a further three championships. The following three seasons saw three new champions, with Baird remaining the only multiple champion as at 2016.

Champions

Craig Baird (pictured in 2013) has won the championship five times

Steven Richards won the 2014 Championship

Season	Champion	Car
2003	Jim Richards	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 996
2004	Alex Davison	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 996
2005	Fabian Coulthard	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 996
2006	Craig Baird	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 997
2007	David Reynolds	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 997
2008	Craig Baird	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 997
2009 2010	not held
2011	Craig Baird	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 997
2012	Craig Baird	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 997
2013	Craig Baird	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 997
2014	Steven Richards	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991
2015	Nick Foster	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991
2016	Matt Campbell	Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Type 991

Multiple champions

Wins	Driver	Years
5	Craig Baird	2006, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013

References

External links

• Porsche City Index Carrera Cup Australia
• Cup Car Australia - Archived at web.archive.org