PORSCHE CARRERA CUP ASIA SERIES SHAPES UP FOR 2010
2009-10-29 19:45:43 Author: admin Source:
Asia’s premier sportscar championship, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, is set for a new look in 2010, with the addition of private teams to the line-up as well as the stunning new Porsche 911 GT3 RS-based version of the 911 GT3 Cup car and a stellar calendar.
From next season, private teams will be permitted to enter the 12-round championship for the first time, providing their own mechanics and race engineers to service the cars. However, the ‘arrive-and-drive’ package will remain available, where competitors are provided with professional mechanical services by respected motorsport outfit and series partner EKS Motorsport.
Just seven of the 14 international Porsche one-make series have been selected to run with the new car in 2010, amongst them the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.
For the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, established in 2003, the change to the regulations marks a coming of age for the series. Says Porsche Asia Pacific’s Motorsport Manager, Christoph Choi: “We believe the option of actually building your own team and running your car will broaden the entry, particularly as there is an increasing number of regional racing outfits who operate at a very high level. Their participation will only add to the competitiveness and quality of the series.”
However, Choi is keen to emphasize that the series will still provide the same level playing field which has made the concept so successful internationally, with seven Carrera Cups running across the world this season.
“Modifications to the car are, and will remain, strictly limited and tightly controlled. Porsche provides a high-performance and reliable racing car, a comprehensive set of regulations, and the rest is down to driver skill. We create a competitive environment carefully designed to nurture and reward sporting excellence. This is the principle on which all Carrera Cups are based, and this will not change.”
Already Porsche Asia Pacific has been flooded with enquiries from teams across Asia looking to secure entries in the 2010 season, which will get underway with an official test at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit in February next year.
The provisional calendar includes four meetings in China: At the 2010 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai in April; in the country’s capital city Beijing in May; at the Pearl River Delta’s Zhuhai International Circuit in June; and the season grand finale schedule for the newly-constructed Guangdong International Circuit in October.
The calendar also includes a second round of the Formula One Championship, on Singapore’s Marina Bay Circuit, and the series’ debut in September at the new South Korean track which is scheduled to host the country’s first F1 Grand Prix in October next year.
