PORSCHE Motorsport Australia has announced a record class of drivers taking part in the 2023 Porsche Michelin Junior Program.

21 young rising stars from Australia and New Zealand hold official Michelin Junior Status this year and will compete across the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series and Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship.

Top juniors in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge receive support to progress to Carrera Cup, while the top-performing Michelin Junior in Carrera Cup receives an invite to compete in the global Porsche Michelin Junior shootout each year.

Porsche Motorsport Australia graduates Matt Campbell, Jaxon Evans, Jordan Love and 2022 champion Harri Jones are all recent shootout participants.

The Porsche Michelin Junior program is a core element of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid and gives young drivers opportunities to not only progress their career, but also improve their own physical and mental performance on their individual pathways to becoming professional racing drivers.

A majority of the Michelin Juniors were put through their paces in an extensive two-day camp in Melbourne earlier this year, developed by Porsche and specialist motorsport trainers, Reaction Performance.

“This year in the Porsche Michelin Junior Program we’re giving these guys, over a two-day workshop, as much of an introduction to the different elements they need to bring in to improve their performance,” said Leigh Stamation, Reaction Performance.

“We did some reaction time testing; we did some body composition testing and we’ve moved on to do a beep test.

“Beyond that we do a spin test. We then had a seminar based on different elements, coaching, training, mindset, and the guys really absorbed it a lot through that.”

Stamation explained that the group showed enormous promise across the extensive, intense two-day program.

“There’s some standouts in the group, but there’s also the quiet achievers who show great promise,” he said.

“We’ve seen some real opportunities with some of these young kids and bringing them all together like this is a great way to observe where those future champions are going to come from.”

Barry Hay, Porsche Motorsport Australia Motorsport Manager said: “The biggest thing about Porsche is that everything is about development. We want to continually be at the top of our game in Motorsport throughout the world, and the best way to build champions is at the grassroots level.

“We’ve basically got some of the biggest hot shots in Australian Motorsport as juniors coming through.

“There are names here you’ll be hearing lots about in the next five years.”

Eleven Michelin Juniors will be in action this weekend within a strong 24-car field contesting the opening round of the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia Series, at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.

The 2023 Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia Championship commences at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne this March 30-April 2.

2023 PORSCHE MICHELIN JUNIOR DRIVERS: