The Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship celebrates its milestone 400th championship race as part of a massive Repco Bathurst 1000 event at Mount Panorama this weekend.
The second race of the seventh round of the 2022 Championship will see the category reach a milestone that has been achieved by only a handful of national-level championships in the history of Australian Motorsport.
The milestone 400th Championship race will see a field of 29 Type 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Cars charge towards Turn one on Saturday afternoon at Mount Panorama, as the 2022 championships in both Pro and Morris Pro-Am reach their deciding moments.
Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia has carved a reputation as one of the most competitive and visible national categories in the sport, serving as both a destination category and as a pathway for young stars looking to further their driving careers both nationally and internationally.
227 drivers have raced in the category since its first race, staged at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on 12 April 2003. Australia and New Zealand Motorsport legend Jim Richards won that first race aboard his Jim Richards Racing Porsche 996 GT3 Cup Car, going on to claim the first seven consecutive races and the 2003 title.
Richards, the inaugural Carrera Cup Australia Champion, was the first to win 10, 20 and 30 Carrera Cup race wins in Australia and still holds the records for most consecutive race wins (8) and most wins in a single season (20, both achieved in 2003).
It took more than six weeks and the third round of the 2003 season to see the championships second ever winner: Marcus Marshall breaking Richards’ streak at Winton in round 3 that year.
49 different drivers have won Carrera Cup championship races in Australia, with five-time champion Craig Baird claiming the most of all time, with 60 wins to his credit.
Alex Davison, with 47 race wins, and Richards’ 31 victories see those two Porsche legends join Baird as the only drivers to have claimed more than 20 race wins.
Other notable Carrera Cup Australia race winners include a host of Supercars stars and Bathurst champions, including Fabian Coulthard, David Reynolds, Steven Richards, Nick Percat, Warren Luff, Andre Heimgartner, Luke Youlden and Lee Holdsworth.
Meanwhile, race winning names like Matt Campbell, Jaxon Evans, Nick Foster and Jordan Love have used the championship to progress their careers to an international level.
26 drivers, including 10 current competitors, have started more than 100 Carrera Cup races in Australia, with Morris Pro-Am competitor Tim Miles the latest to join the group at Sandown recently.
2017 champion David Wall eclipsed 200 career race starts earlier this season, while Morris Pro-Am champion Stephen Grove will likely be next to reach the 200-club.
Marc Cini holds the record for the most starts by any single driver: The Victorian aboard familiar Hallmarc Property Group entry to make his 350th championship race start at the same time the category he has long supported launches into their 400th. Cini has contested 119 of the 135 championship rounds held to date.
Of the current field, only Cini and Rodney Jane were on the grid for the first championship race in Carrera Cup Australia history.
More than 180 individual cars, across Porsche’s 996, 997, 997 MY11, 991, 991.2 and 992-generation GT3 Cup Cars have competed across the lifespan of the series to date.
EMA Motorsport driver David Russell holds the record for the narrowest winning margin in a Carrera Cup race, claiming Race 1 on the Gold Coast in 2014 by 0.0456s – following a five second time penalty applied post-race.
Three races have been decided by less than 0.1 seconds, while only a handful of races have been decided by more than 10 seconds: the largest winning margin (13.7 seconds) being Jonny Reid’s win over Alex Davison at Phillip Island, in 2012.
Qualifying for Round 7 of the 2022 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship takes place on Thursday afternoon followed by one race each day across the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Repco Bathurst 1000.
Thursday 06 October
Qualifying 17:10-17:30
Friday 07 October
Race 1 14:15-14:55 (15 laps)
Saturday 08 October
Race 2 15:20-15:45 (9 laps)
Sunday 09 October
Race 3 09:40-10:05 (9 laps)
Source. Porsche
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