BARE-BONES MARC GT CAR COMPLETES FIRST TEST

The latest iteration in the Australian designed and engineered MARC car has hit the track for basic systems shake down test at Queensland Raceway.

The MARC GT prototype car tested without major body panel components fitted, including the nose section, bonnet, rear quarter panels, boot lid and rear bumpers.

The test session run by PACE Innovations with former Super2 driver Dan Jilesen completing the laps behind the wheel.

While the car looked very incomplete it featured the major aerodynamic components that will carry onto the production versions of the new Mercedes C63 inspired coupe race car.

MARC Cars owner Geoff Taunton was on hand to watch the latest creation take to the track in its unfinished form and spoke to AUTO ACTION as the test was underway.

“PACE Innovations wanted to give the chassis and drive line components some verification testing and it all went really well,” Taunton said.

“It looked a bit ungainly, but it was perfectly safe with all the major aerodynamic components in place including the front splitter and rear wing which allowed us to test what has been developed so far for this new car.

“It’s an exciting moment for MARC Cars and PACE Innovations because we have made some significant updates to the concept with this new version of the car.

“The changes made make the car cheaper to build in the first place and we believe that it will see significant reductions in the costs to race the cars as well.

“This is the latest technology, developed over the MARC I and MARC II programs, and PACE Innovations have worked hard come up with great new package, building on what we know. It is showing great speed and balance for its first on track session.

The new MARC GT car made its on track debut at Queensland Raceway – Images: MTR Images

“Once fully developed, we believe that lap times will see performance similar to Porsche Cup Car at a cost of around $275,000, and that’s a race car with all the latest GT technical features such as traction control, ABS all controlled by MoTeC systems.

“Some changes have been made to the mechanical side of things and the MARC GT will feature a LS3 6.2 litre engine. The LS engine is significantly cheaper to purchase over the Ford Coyote motor that our other MARC Cars have used.

“The cost to purchase the Ford engine has increased significantly over recent times so we have changed over the LS engine. They are new engines are similar to the power units that are fitted to the locally raced Trans Am cars, so we have plenty of knowledge of how they perform and the reliability etc.

“We think it is a great new package and we still believe, as with all of our cars, these are a great steppingstone to Supercars – they have many similar characteristics and have the speed to match at a very affordable cost.

“This prototype will see the balance of panels arrive for final testing at the end of August. The production cars for customers will follow, with the first three chassis’ already sold.”

The prototype MARC GT is owned by Mark Petch who owns Racer Products in NZ. Petch is the importer of MARC Cars into New Zealand and this chassis will be shipped to NZ after testing in August to continue testing over there and display to potential customers in New Zealand.

A total of 28 MARC Cars having been built over the program, and recently MARC Cars Australia have been trialling a MARC Cars Championship in 2022 and with a view to running a full standalone series calendar next year.

The MARC series allows all MARC Cars to race together, separated by classes depending on model of car.

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