GOLD COAST DRIVERS AIM FOR BIG CARRERA CUP FINISH
8/11/2004 19:00 (Press Release) -
Porsche young gun Alex Davison may have secured his first Australian Carrera Cup title, but a legion of local drivers and teams are aiming to take the spotlight away from Davison as the final round hits the Gold Coast for the Lexmark Indy 300 from October 21 to 24.
Twenty-year-old Jonathon Webb, whose team Paul Cruickshank Racing is based on the Gold Coast, has been making considerable inroads over the past few rounds.
The Sydney-based driver placed third for the round at the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 and then backed up to finish a career-best second at the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 in Bathurst.
Webb, who now sits fifth in the championship, will be among a host of young drivers shooting for race wins around the 4.47km Surfers Paradise street circuit.
Gold Coast 22-year-old Klark Quinn posted his best race result at the Lexmark Indy 300 last year, finishing third in front a huge local crowd on the main race day.
This year Quinn has continued his steady climb culminating with a personal best round finish of third at the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 two weeks ago to move him into sixth in the standings.
Quinn’s father Tony, also from Team VIP Petfoods, is coming good at the right time of season. Tony recorded a sixth place for the round in Bathurst to consolidate seventh position in the series.
The Quinn duo’s team mate, Craig Baird, another Gold Coast-based driver, is one of the most experienced Porsche drivers and will once again double up by driving in the Gillette V8 Supercar Challenge at the Lexmark Indy 300.
Baird has driven in the past two Carrera Cup rounds, posting a fourth and fifth place round finish respectively to show he is right in the mix in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car category.
Porsche rookie David Thexton, who made the switch from V8 Supercars to Carrera Cup earlier this year, is another Gold Coaster keen to impress in front of a home crowd.
Thexton (thexton.com.au) has been making progress with every round, and is hoping for a top-10 finish at the Lexmark Indy 300 to end the season on a high.
One driver who loves the tight and demanding Surfers Paradise street circuit is experienced campaigner Charlie O’Brien from the Wright Patton Shakespeare team.
The Surfers Paradise resident had a season high race finish of second at the Lexmark Indy 300 last year, after qualifying fifth.
Whilst the Gold Coast drivers and teams will be aiming for a big finish to the 2004 season, the series champion Alex Davison will be hoping for a dual celebration – holding aloft the championship trophy after winning the Gold Coast round.
Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) has won six of the eight Carrera Cup rounds so far this season, and holds an unassailable lead from last year’s champion Jim Richards, the victor of the other two rounds this year.
Richards has history on his side coming into the Lexmark Indy 300, after claiming pole position and then all three race wins in the Carrera Cup on the Gold Coast last year.
There will be plenty of spirit and rivalry in one of the yet-to-be-decided award categories in the Australian Carrera Cup – the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge which rewards the highest scoring driver who is 35 years of age or older and drives a 2003-spec 911 GT3 Cup car.
Currently Melbourne-based Dean Grant (Becks Racing) holds a 90-point lead over local Tony Quinn, but anything can happen in the race for the victory prize – a TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph.
The final round at the Lexmark Indy 300 will also feature the ‘Celebration of Carrera Cup 2004 Dinner’ at the Porsche Centre Gold Coast on Thursday night.
Another initiative in the Carrera Cup will be the Fit2Drive program, where Klark Quinn will be hooked up to monitoring equipment transmitting his heart rate and g-forces live to the Indy FMTV screens on Thursday. The Fit2Drive program aims to showcase the importance of fitness in motor racing.
One of the weekend highlights will certainly be the Friday Night Racing featuring race one of the Carrera Cup in a 50-minute illuminated showpiece.
The final round of the 2004 Australian Carrera Cup – the Lexmark Indy 300 begins with practice and qualifying on Thursday October 21, race one on Friday night October 22, race two on Saturday October 23 and race three on Sunday October 24.
‘Trackside’ on Network Ten will telecast this round of the Carrera Cup on Sunday November 7 at 2pm (check local guides).
The Carrera Cup is the most successful ‘one make’ championship in the world with close-to-identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars built by Porsche’ racing arm in Weissach, Germany set for racing in 2004. All cars have a top speed in excess of 300 kilometres per hour with a 400-horsepower, 6 cylinder Boxer engine which revs to 8000 RPM.
STATS & INFO
Circuit – 4.47km anti-clockwise
Practice – 10.40am Thursday
Qualifying – 1.20pm Thursday
Race 1 – 6.45pm Friday
Race 2 – 5.15pm Saturday
Race 3 – 11.15am Sunday
Carrera Cup Track Qualifying Lap Record – Jim Richards 1:57.6609 (2003)
Carrera Cup Track Race Lap Record – Jim Richards 1:57.9403 (2003)
2003 Round Results – 1. Jim Richards 2. Marcus Marshall 3. Peter Fitzgerald
2003 Race Winners – Jim Richards x 3
2004 ROUND RESULTS
Round 1 (Clipsal 500, SA) – 1. Alex Davison 2. Jim Richards 3. Fabian Coulthard
Round 2 (Eastern Creek, NSW) – 1. Alex Davison 2. Jim Richards 3. Peter Fitzgerald
Round 3 (Hidden Valley, NT) – 1. Alex Davison 2. Jim Richards 3. Fabian Coulthard
Round 4 (Barbagallo, WA) – 1. Alex Davison 2. Jim Richards 3. Fabian Coulthard
Round 5 (Queensland Raceway, QLD) – 1. Alex Davison 2. Fabian Coulthard 3. James Cressey
Round 6 (Winton Raceway, VIC) – 1. Jim Richards 2. Alex Davison 3. Fabian Coulthard
Round 7 (Betta Electrical Sandown 500, VIC) – 1. Jim Richards 2. Alex Davison 3. Jonathon Webb
Round 8 (Bob Jane T-Marts 1000, NSW) – 1. Alex Davison 2. Jonathon Webb 3. Klark Quinn
CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS (AFTER ROUND 8)
1. Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre) 1242
2. Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers) 996
3. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun, Mossimo) 921
4. Peter Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald Racing / Abcor, Acer) 615
5. Jonathon Webb (Tekno Autosports) 531
6. Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 507
7. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 417
8. Rodney Jane (Rodney Jane Racing / Bob Jane T-Marts) 399
9. Paul Pedersen (International Motorsport NZ / Lakesawn Lumber) 393
10. James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods) 378
11. Dean Grant (Becks Racing) 342
12. Stephen Borness (Celerity Racing / Logiadd) 283
13. Peter Bradbury (Team MPS Security) 279
14. Peter Hill (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 261
15. Kevin Bell (International Motorsport NZ / G-Tech NZ) 234
16. Charlie O’Brien (Charlie O’Brien Racing / Wright Patton Shakespeare) 168
17. Craig Baird (Team VIP Petfoods) 168
18. Matt Halliday (International Motorsport NZ / Lakesawn Lumber) 129
19. David Thexton (Thexton Racing / thexton.com.au) 102
20. Roger Oakeshott (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 97
21. Ash Samadi (Globe Racing) 92
22. Paul Freestone (Freestone Racing / Freestones Transport) 84
23. Ross Rutherford (International Motorsport NZ / Woodstock Bourbon) 84
24. Marc Cini (Adamco) 78
25. Matt Coleman (Matt Coleman Racing / racepaint.com.au) 70
26. Troy Hunt (MOG Sport / Talent 2) 57
27. Claude Giorgi (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 39
28. James Koundouris (SupaBarn Supermarkets) 27
29. Tony Pugliese (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 21
30. Chris Seidler (Enterprise Express Racing / Seidler Homes) 18
31. David Giugni (SupaBarn Supermarkets) 9
32. Graham Cameron (International Motorsport NZ / CAN AM Construction) 9
33. Bryce Washington (ADRAD) 6
34. Dean Cook (Redline Promotions / Talent 2) 6
35. Theo Koundouris (SupaBarn Supermarkets) 6
TAG HEUER CARRERA CHALLENGE
(For Drivers 35 years or over in a 2003 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car)
1. Dean Grant (Becks Racing) 1104
2. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 1014
3. Stephen Borness (Celerity Racing / Logiadd) 942
4. Peter Hill (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 714
5. Roger Oakeshott (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 579
MICHELIN PORSCHE DRIVER TO EUROPE
(For Drivers under 30 who haven’t driven in a European Porsche series)
1. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1164
2. Klark Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 888
3. Jonathon Webb (Tekno Autosports) 792
4. James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods) 750
5. Matt Halliday (International Motorsport NZ) 120
MICHELIN ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
(For Drivers in their first Porsche racing series)
1. Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) 1182
2. James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods) 852
3. Ash Samadi (Globe Racing) 768
4. David Thexton (Thexton Motor Racing) 660
5. Paul Freestone (Freestone Racing / Freestones Transport) 354
FUCHS HARD CHARGER
(For the Driver who passes the most cars in Carrera Cup races)
1. Tony Quinn (Team VIP Petfoods) 44
2. Peter Bradbury (Team MPS Security) 41
3. James Cressey (Team VIP Petfoods) 40
4. Rodney Jane (Rodney Jane Racing / Bob Jane T-Marts) 38
5. Stephen Borness (C elerity Racing / Logiadd) 35
HIGHEST PLACED NEW ZEALAND BASED DRIVER
1. Paul Pedersen (International Motorsport NZ / Lakesawn Lumber) 393
2. Kevin Bell (International Motorsport NZ / G-Tech NZ) 234
3. Matt Halliday (International Motorsport NZ / Lakesawn Lumber) 129
4. Ross Rutherford (International Motorsport NZ / Woodstock Bourbon) 84
5. Graham Cameron (International Motorsport NZ / CAN AM Construction) 9
Release Date: 19/10/2004
Carrera Cup
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