Porsche Cars Australia has hosted a technical handover and is conducting a two-day test session for all Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia teams and drivers at Sydney Motorsport Park on the new 992 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Porsche teams and drivers received a technical briefing on all aspects of the new car from Porsche Motorsport AG technicians, together with a presentation from Michelin Australia on the new wider specification front tyre as well as track and part support from the Porsche Cars Australia Motorsport Team.

The 992 generation racer debuted in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup last year together with several other Carrera Cup Championships around the globe, including North America for the first time. 

The spectacularly styled Cup car is the first racing version based on the current 992 generation and the first one make-cup racer of the German sports car manufacturer to feature a wide turbo-spec body.

Producing around 375 kW (510 hp), the new 911 GT3 Cup exceeds the output of its immediate predecessor by 25 horsepower. The overall increase in performance of the 992 generation – over the Type 991 II generation – was immediately apparent in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup rounds in 2021, where lap times were slashed by up to three seconds at most European circuits.

This was in part due to not only the increase in power, but increased traction and downforce, with component run times also extended over the previous generation – offering lower running costs and reliability for all teams.

At the handover event, Australian Porsche teams and drivers also received information and advice from Jaxon Evans on the driving characteristics of the new Type 992 over the outgoing 991 Gen II.

Evans piloted the Type 992 to second in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup Championship in 2021 and is a two-time Porsche Carrera Cup Champion (Australia – 2018 and France – 2020).

“It’s exciting to see the car here and with 25 more horsepower and more aerodynamics, bigger rear wing and wider body, it really suits this style of car,” Evans said.

“It will excel at tracks like Bathurst where we’ll certainly see some lap records fall and I’ll be excited to witness that.”

After the first laps, all reactions to the new 992 were extremely positive with some drivers amassing over 50 laps on the Monday track session.

“It’s very consistent, I mean we are here at Eastern Creek and the tyre surface is very aggressive, so obviously you would expect the lap times to drop off,” explained Wall Racing driver, Liam Talbot.

“But for me it was very consistent for 40 laps over one big stint and the car felt mega, I can’t wait to do more laps. The 991 Gen II was a great car but this is even better, just having that little bit more aero gives you confidence, especially through turn one, it really is such a cool feeling.”

Added McElrea Racing’s Tim Miles: “The car’s unbelievable, everything you expect and more, even the little one percenters, where normally manufacturers will find just one or two of those, Porsche has found twenty I reckon. Everything is just slightly better and it feels faster than the old car.”

Following open track sessions on the Tuesday, teams will now have two busy months of testing before all 32 drivers line-up for the first round of the Championship at the Formula One Grand Prix on the 07-10 April.