Carrera Cup (Australia)
New Zealand Porsche driver Craig Baird has continued his great start to the season in the Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup by topping the time sheets during today’s practice sessions at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin.
Baird (Team VIP Petfoods) only needed to front up for a single practice session this morning to clock the day’s fastest time of 1:10.6845.
After some recent globetrotting which took him to Germany for the Nurburgring 24-Hour race, Baird is confident the new 997-based Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars can break the 1:10 barrier tomorrow.
Second in practice today was inaugural 2003 series champion Jim Richards (OAMPS Insurance Brokers) who recorded a best time of 1:10.8258 around the 2.88km circuit.
Richards is a former race winner at Hidden Valley, victorious in two of the three races during the Darwin round in 2003.
David Reynolds (Bob Jane T-Marts) led the youth brigade today finishing the day with the third fastest time of 1:10.8357 – the only driver in the top five to register a better time in the second practice session.
This is Reynolds’ first visit to the Hidden Valley Raceway circuit, and he will be hoping to celebrate his 21st birthday on Monday with a debut round win.
Alex Davison (Glenfords Racing) will also be one of the feature drivers this weekend. The former series champion set the fourth fastest time today (1:10.8939) and will be aiming to repeat his 2004 triumph at Hidden Valley when he claimed a hat trick of Porsche race wins.
Also breaking the 1:11 mark today was South Australia’s Bryce Washington (ADRAD Racing) in fifth spot with a 1:10.9607. Washington is fresh from a win last weekend in the Australian GT Championship.
Jonathon Webb (Glenfords Racing), Aaron Caratti (Firepower Racing), David Russell (Boom Logistics/Sherrin Hire), Dean Fiore (Landscape Developments) and Ian Dyk (Juniper Racing) filled places six through to 10 – interestingly, all drivers aged under 30 years.
Round two of the Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup at Hidden Valley Raceway will continue tomorrow with Qualifying at 9.00am and Race 1 over 15 laps at 2.00pm.
An autograph session featuring Craig Baird, David Reynolds, Ian Dyk, Dean Grant, John Kaias and David Wall will also be held tomorrow at 10.30am on the Centre Stage.
ABOUT THE CHAMPIONSHIP
Twenty-two drivers from Australia and New Zealand in 22 brand new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 997) cars will be vying for prestigious championship acclaim in 2006. Exhibiting innovation, emotion, aspiration and fascination, the marque is Porsche and the championship is the Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup Australia.
The Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup Australia is the primary support category to the V8 Supercar Championship Series. The championship, now in its fourth season in Australia, will travel to nine events (eight official championship rounds) in five states in 2006 and exhilarate crowds of more than 1.3 million people.
All cars in the 2006 Wright Patton Shakespeare Carrera Cup Australia were developed and built by Porsche’s racing headquarters in Weissach, Germany. With a top speed in excess of 300 kilometres per hour, the lightweight, high performance vehicles have a 400 horsepower, 6 cylinder Boxer engine which revs to 8000 RPM, producing a sound that is distinctly Porsche.
Drivers will vie for the prestigious Overall Championship in 2006, as well as a host of other awards including the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge for the leading privateer driver 30 years of age or older; the Wright Patton Shakespeare Michelin Driver to Europe for the leading driver under 30 years of age who has not previously driven in a Porsche Michelin Supercup or International Carrera Cup round; the Michelin Rookie of the Year for the leading driver who has not competed in more than six rounds of a Porsche racing series prior to 2006; and the Mobil 1 Hard Charger for the driver who makes up the most number of grid positions in points-scoring races over the eight rounds.