Top Porsche team to win £5000

The most successful team in the 2013 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge GB will win £5000 at the end of the season in what is thought to be the most lucrative award of its kind at this level of British motor racing.

The new GT3 Cup Challenge Team Championship, launched today (Thursday 10 January) at Autosport International, will be open to two cars from each team with points scored on the same basis as the drivers’ championship. However, to make the Team Championship as flexible as possible, teams will be able to change their nominated scoring cars for each event.

Seven days prior to a race weekend, each team must nominate which cars will score points for the team for that weekend. The nominated cars can then be changed again for the following race weekend if required.

Leading team boss Stuart Parker from Team Parker Racing said that the award is another boost for the championship. “This is great news for the GT3 Cup Challenge,” said Parker. “Anything that encourages teams to contest the championship is excellent news and I’m sure there will be some tough competition for the prize.”

Meanwhile, the scoring system for the drivers’ championship has been amended to better suit drivers’ family and business commitments. In calculating end of season totals, drivers will count the scores from their best five weekends out of the scheduled six double-headers. This will be a boost for drivers who need to miss a race weekend due to clashing commitments and also means that drivers can have a bad weekend without necessarily damaging their title bid.

GT3 Cup Challenge drivers in action

Twelve races in six weekends covering Britain’s best-loved tracks make up the superb calendar for the 2013 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge GB.

Headlining the season will be the deciding two races on the BTCC support bill at Silverstone in September, while visits to Donington Park, Brands Hatch, Croft, Snetterton and Rockingham make up the balance of the season. Importantly, general test sessions are available before the race weekend at each track to allow less experienced drivers to learn the circuits.

The season starts at Donington Park in mid-April, just a week before the Carrera Cup GB races at the East Midlands track on the BTCC schedule. Double-headers at Snetterton (May), Croft (July) and Rockingham (August) follow through the spring and summer before an all-action finish to the season in September with dates at Brands Hatch and then at Silverstone for the BTCC weekend.

At four of the tracks (Snetterton, Croft, Rockingham and Brands Hatch) general testing is available on the Friday of the race weekend, At Donington, the general test will be on the Thursday before the races and at Silverstone testing will be on the Wednesday prior to the event.

“We’ve listened to the feedback from our competitors and believe we have an excellent calendar,” said championship co-ordinator Darioush Gheissari. “I’m particularly pleased that testing is available before each of the race weekends.”
 

The full schedule is:

April 13/14             Donington Park

May 11/12             Snetterton 200

July 6/7                  Croft

August 10/11          Rockingham ISSC

September 21/22    Brands Hatch Indy

September 28/29    Silverstone National