THE COMPETITIVE debut of Porsche’s 992 GT3 Cup Car at the fast and flowing Sydney Motorsport Park will highlight round 4 of Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia this weekend.

While the 3.9km circuit served as the launching point for the latest-generation car in 2022, and is the testing circuit for several teams, it’s yet to see a competitive lap turned in anger for the latest and greatest one-make racer from Germany.

This weekend will rectify that scenario with three championship races the first in Sydney’s West since the 2018 season and plenty on the line as the championship charges towards its half-way point.

It will also mark a return to racing under lights for Carrera Cup Australia, a feat only seen twice in the 20-plus year history of the category and only once for championship points.

A 40-minute endurance race held Friday night at the Gold Coast Indy event in 2004 marked Carrera Cup’s first night race, won by Alex Davison by under half-a-second over Jim Richards.

A pair of joint Carrera Cup Australia-versus-Asia sprints were then held under lights at Sydney Motorsport Park in 2018 though weren’t for championship points.

This weekend marks the 11th Carrera Cup round to be held at Sydney Motorsport Park, the circuit having twice staged the Porsche Rennsport festival as well as a pair of Carrera Cup Asia and Australia joint rounds.

On the last visit in 2018, James Moffat won the round despite not winning a race while race wins went to Dylan O’Keeffe and Jordan Love. Eight drivers on track that weekend remain in or have returned to the championship since then.

There has, however, been a host of one-make Porsche racing at the circuit lately with the venue a staple on the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia series calendar.

Sprint Challenge competed at last year’s Sydney SuperNight event, with Nash Morris claiming two race wins in Pro while a guesting Adrian Flack swept the weekend in Pro-Am. Along with Morris and Flack, six other drivers on the grid last year bring recent night racing experience at the circuit into this weekend’s round.

The field returns to Sydney all chasing Harri Jones, who was dominant on his way to victory last time out at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin.

A sweep of the TAG Heuer pole award and all three wins rocketed him to the top of the Equity One Professional class championship, with Jackson Walls second and Dale Wood third. Taupo winner David Russell remains fourth with a consistent Dylan O’Keeffe fifth, this weekend racing at the home circuit of his locally-based GWR Australia / RAM Motorsport squad.

Wood and Walls are tied atop the Enduro Cup standings in Pro, while Walls also leads the Porsche Michelin Junior standings following three rounds.

Already incredibly competitive, the Pro field is further bolstered by the return of proven winner Nick McBride and Bathurst champion Garth Tander, who will race a Grove Racing / EBM entry in his second solo Carrera Cup round start.

In SP Tools Pro-Am runaway championship leader Adrian Flack is re-setting the class record books and recently notched up his fifth consecutive round victory, a new benchmark for the class.

The return of Stephen Grove, however, adds even more competitive intent to the Carrera Cup ‘race within a race’ with the Victorian still the most successful in class history – his 190 races delivering 36 wins and a class-leading 17 round victories, along with three titles.

The Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia field gets underway on Friday with a pair of practice sessions, ahead of TAG Heuer qualifying on Saturday.

Race one will be held as the curtain raiser to the Supercars night race on Saturday under the bright lights at Sydney Motorsport Park, before a further two races – the first of which is the Enduro Cup affair – completing the round on Sunday.

All six sessions will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 506, Kayo Sports and Sky NZ this weekend.

Entry List – Round 4, Sydney Motorsport Park, NSW