Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia will make its maiden visit to a Supercars Championship event in 2019, opening its season at the Tasmania SuperSprint.
The all-Porsche series’ first Supercars event will also be its third visit to Symmons Plains Raceway – following a Tasmanian round in both 2008 and 2010 – and provide an unprecedented level of exposure for the series through the event’s live television broadcast on Fox Sports.
Following the Tasmanian season opener, GT3 Cup Challenge will return to the Shannons Nationals for the remaining five rounds, held at Sydney Motorsport Park, Phillip Island, Queensland Raceway, Sandown Raceway and a season-ending The Bend Motorsport Park round in November.
The series will feature more endurance racing in 2019, with the opening five rounds to begin with an endurance-style race one, followed by two sprint races. This will therefore increase the number of Jim Richards Endurance Trophy races from three to five in 2019. Meanwhile the season finale, to be held at The Bend, will remain as a sprint format across all races.
The 2019 calendar announcement comes after GT3 Cup Challenge’s best season to date in 2018; the introduction of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991) coincided with an influx of new competitors in the Pro, Pro-Am and Class B divisions. What resulted was tremendous racing throughout the field and a strong recognition as one of the best driver development platforms in Australian motorsport.
“Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia certainly experienced its strongest year to date in 2018 and we look to replicate this success in 2019,” said Porsche Cars Australia Motorsport Manager Troy Bundy.
“The obvious change to the 2019 series is the inclusion of a Supercars round, something the series has never seen before. This provides an incredible platform from which to start the 2019 series while providing our teams, drivers and series partners great exposure. There is great interest from those looking to race in GT3 Cup Challenge next season and we expect to see a similar number of drivers and cars, if not more, on the grid in 2019.”
The addition of a Supercars event adds to the unique range of racing events at which Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia has visited since its 2008 inception; a list that includes the Shannons Nationals, Porsche Rennsport Australia (2013, 2016), Top Gear Festival (2014) and Bathurst 12 Hour (2009, 2010).
2019 Porsche Michelin GT3 Cup Challenge Australia Calendar
Round 1 – Symmons Plains, Tas (Supercars) April 05-07, 2019
Round 2 – Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW (Shannons Nationals) May 17-19, 2019
Round 3 – Phillip Island, Vic (Shannons Nationals) June 07-09, 2019
Round 4 – Queensland Raceway, Qld (Shannons Nationals) August 02-04, 2019
Round 5 – Sandown Raceway, Vic (Shannons Nationals) September 20-22, 2019
Round 6 – The Bend Motorsport Park, SA (Shannons Nationals) November 15-16, 2019