A MILESTONE moment for the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship will see Australia’s top one-make category contest its 150th points-paying round this weekend at Sandown.

The championship has built a rich history in Australia since its debut in 2003, with some of the biggest names in Australian and New Zealand Motorsport having tasted success behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car.

This weekend marks Round 5 of the 2024 championship which resumes after a midseason break with Harri Jones (Equity One Pro) and Adrian Flack (SP Tools Pro-Am) leading the way.

A 26-strong field will tackle Sandown’s long straights and high kerbs this weekend, including the Porsche Carrera Cup debuts of young-gun Caleb Sumich and Super2 / Supercars racer, Zak Best.

The first Carrera Cup Australia round was held in 2003 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix circuit and was won by Jim Richards, who went on to dominate the inaugural season.

The 50th round was held at the same circuit in 2008, eventual champion Craig Baird claiming the win aboard a Porsche entered by Peter Fitzgerald’s team.

The series’ milestone 100th round also came in Victoria, Cameron McConville claiming outright honours at the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in 2017.

Of the 149 rounds contested to date, Marc Cini has the most starts of any Carrera Cup driver, contesting 131 rounds aboard his Hallmarc Property Group entry. The Victorian is the only driver to have started more than 100 rounds in series’ history. 

David Wall sits second on the all-time round starts list with 82, followed by Rodney Jane (72), Nick McBride (71) and Craig Baird (66).

10 drivers have started more than a third of every Carrera Cup round contested, while 53 have started at least 20 rounds.

Other active drivers feature prominently in the round starts list, with David Russell (62), Dean Cook (55), Dylan O’Keeffe and Dale Wood (45 each) featuring in the top 15.

The championship has held rounds at 18 different venues, including two overseas – Sepang in Malaysia and Taupo, New Zealand. There have been Carrera Cup rounds in every Australian state and territory except for the ACT and Tasmania.

Sandown will host its 14th event this weekend, equaling Albert Park on the list of most-visited Carrera Cup venues.

Only Adelaide (15), the Surfers Paradise street circuit (18 rounds) and Bathurst (19) sit higher on the list.

45 drivers have claimed Carrera Cup round victories over thejourney, 30 of them claiming more than one.

Just three drivers have won 10 or more rounds, however, with five-time champion Craig Baird topping the list with 21 – in front of Alex Davison (17 round wins) and Jim Richards’ with 10.

On nine occasions a driver has won a round without winning a race, while 59 rounds have seen the winning driver sweep the weekend.

On five occasions two drivers have shared a round win thanks to the two-driver, Pro-Am races contested annually between 2013-2017.

72 different drivers have taken trophies home from Carrera Cup rounds, Craig Baird (43 podium finishes) and Alex Davison (40) unlikely to be toppled at the top of that particular leaderboard any time soon.

Of active drivers, David Wall sits equal fourth with Steven Richards on 21 podiums while David Russell (16), Dale Wood (15), Fabian Coulthard (14) and Dylan O’Keeffe (11) all sit in the top 10 of all-time trophy getters in PCCA.

Among the teams, McElrea Racing has claimed the most Carrera Cup round wins of all time with 27, just one solitary victory ahead of long-time rivals Sonic Motor Racing on 26.

Porsche Centre Melbourne Motorsport and Greg Murphy Racing have each won 14 rounds, while Jim Richards’ own team claimed 13 – with both Richards’ and Alex Davison driving.

The 150th Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship round commences this Friday with a pair of practice sessions, with qualifying and three races to follow across the weekend at the Penrite Sandown 500.

Live broadcast coverage will be available via Fox Sports 506 and Kayo Sports in Australia, plus Sky Sports in New Zealand.ENTRY LIST – ROUND 5, SANDOWN