Sydney Motorsport Park to host Porsche qualifying under lights

After wet weather and two unfortunate accidents marred the opening round of the 2021 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, both Mobil Pro and Morris Finance Pro-Am competitors will be looking forward to drier conditions and better fortunes when they converge on Sydney Motorsport Park for Round 2 of the one-make series on Friday.

A full Shannons Motorsport Australia Championship program has provided a rare opportunity for Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge competitors to qualify under lights on the Friday evening. The 20-minute qualifying session follows two earlier practice sessions on the first day, before the business end of the weekend starts early on Saturday morning, where teams contest a 20-minute Sprint race followed by a 45-minute Endurance race. The final 20-minute Sprint race of the weekend takes place on Sunday afternoon, with all three races broadcast live on the 7plus app.

The Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge series last visited Sydney Motorsport Park in May 2019, a fiercely competitive round that saw three different winners from the three races. Max Vidau won race 1, while Ryan Suhle and Harri Jones shared the spoils in races 2 and 3. Sam Shahin was fourth overall and took home the silverware in the Morris Finance Pro-Am class.

Ryan Suhle

Suhle will be hoping to carry the momentum from both Round 1 and his 2019 race victory into Sydney Motorsport Park this weekend, with the McElrea Racing driver currently leading the Mobil Pro Championship from the Team Porsche New Zealand rookie, Callum Hedge. The impressive New Zealand teenager gave the Earl Bamber Motorsport team their maiden win on Australian soil on his (and their) debut and will again be a podium contender in Round 2 together with McElrea Racing team mates Christian Pancione and Bayley Hall, as well as Courtney Prince from the Sonic Motor Racing team.     

In Morris Finance Pro-Am, Porsche Centre Melbourne driver, Matt Belford, leads the Championship for the first time in his career, from Sam Shahin. David Greig sits third with Michael Hovey fourth after a second in race two in Phillip Island. Shahin became just the third driver to notch up 100 race starts in the series in the opening round, only Ross McGregor (106) has more.

Callum Hedge

The Bend Motorsport Park owner will also surpass John Goodacre for second on the list for all-time starts in Sydney – and will eclipse Goodacre for rounds started at the Sydney circuit, with the pair currently tied on 34 starts a piece following the Victorian event.  

For race information, videos and interviews, follow the Porsche Motorsport Australia social pages: Instagram - @PorscheMotorsportAU / Twitter - @PorscheMspAU / Facebook.com/ PorscheMotorsportAU

Courtney Prince / Bayley Hall

ENTRY LIST: Round 2 – Sydney Motorsport Park

 

#

NAME

SURNAME

CLASS

SPONSOR

2

Richard

Cowen

Morris Finance Pro-Am

McElrea Racing

3

Jonathan

Gliksten

Morris Finance Pro-Am

Racing to Beat FA

5

Nathan

Murray

Morris Finance Pro-Am

Garage 1

7

Ryan

Suhle

Mobil Pro

Latitude Coffee

8

Madeline

Stewart

Mobil Pro

Porsche Team NZ/EBM

9

Callum

Hedge

Mobil Pro

Porsche Team NZ/EBM

13

Sam

Shahin

Morris Finance Pro-Am

HTFU / OTR

14

Matthew

Belford

Morris Finance Pro-Am

ID Land

22

Andrew

Goldie

Morris Finance Pro-Am

Cirrus Aircraft

26

Tom

Taplin

Mobil Pro

Taplin Real Estate

28

Bayley

Hall

Mobil Pro

Siebe Gorman

29

Rob

Woods

Morris Finance Pro-Am

TekworkX Motorsport

32

Courtney

Prince

Mobil Pro

Sonic Motor Racing

44

Marcel

Zalloua

Morris Finance Pro-Am

Valmont Racing

55

Sergio

Pires

Morris Finance Pro-Am

Valmont Racing

68

Terrance

Knowles

Morris Finance Pro-Am

ASM

73

Michael

Hovey

Morris Finance Pro-Am

HHH Racing / Triffid

76

Christian

Pancione

Mobil Pro

VCM Performance

87

David

Greig

Morris Finance Pro-Am

David Greig

99

Ross

McGregor

Morris Finance Pro-Am

Southern Star Windows

131

Graham

Williams

Morris Finance Pro-Am

Sonic / Williams Racing

 

BROADCAST SCHEDULE: Round 2 – Sydney Motorsport Park

 

Race 1: Sat 01 May  09:35-09:55  7plus

Race 2: Sat 01 May  15:10-15:55  7plus

Race 3: Sun 02 May 14:05-14:25  7plus

 

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