FINAL SPECIFICATION OF THE MARC GT TAKES TO THE TRACK

The final specification of the new MARC Car has taken to the track at QLD Raceway today for a series of tests prior to it being shipped to the new owner Mark Petch in New Zealand.

The new car is now complete with all the final body panels fitted and is now ready to go through the final testing process.

Today’s test follows several earlier tests, including a day at QR when the prototype ran without some of the major body panels now fitted to the complete prototype.

MARC GT Inspired by C63 – Image by Mick Reynolds MTR Images

The MARC GT is the third evolution of the MARC Car program, with cars that first began racing in 2013 and is the latest incarnation is themed on a Mercedes C63 coupe.

Developed in conjunction with PACE Innovations the MARC GT is a significant development over the previous two models.

The first of the batch of 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 and will continue testing over there and display to potential customers in New Zealand.

MARC Cars Team Manager Alyson Fradgley spoke to AUTO ACTION from QLD Raceway this morning about the testing program and the plans to start building the new MARC GT for customers.

“It’s been a little while coming, but today we are testing the final version of the car complete with the final bodywork specification.

“It’s also exciting that we are also giving some of our confirmed and potential customers a taste of the car as we have fitted a passenger seat to the car.

“Although the car looks very much like a C63, to save on build costs and in keeping with the MARC Cars ethos, we are always looking to maximise the value of the cars and keep the build costs as low as possible, so it does carry over some of the major components from the previous MARC II.

“We have firm orders for four of the new cars for local competition and we are building two cars to send to New Zealand.

“Now that the prototype is complete and proven, we will start the build program for the customer cars next month, with the expectation that the first of these new cars will be delivered to customers and hit the track next January.” Fradgley confirmed to AUTO ACTION.

MARC Cars was originally developed be Ryan McLeod and later purchased by long time MARC Car racer Geoff Tauton.

On hand for the testing duties was MARC Cars CEO Geoff Taunton, who told AUTO ACTION about some of the major changes to this version on the MARC Car program.

MARC GT designed and engineered by PACE Innovations – Image by Mick Reynolds MTR Images

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

“The changes made to the MARC GT platform 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.” Tauton confirmed.

While maintaining much of the engineering and many of the major components of the MARC Car program which have developed over more than nine years of competition, one major change to the MARC GT program will be the power plant, with a shift to the Chevrolet LS3 engine.

The LS3 platform will deliver slightly more power and it is claimed that running costs will be cheaper than the previous Ford Coyote powered MARC I and II race cars that have seen service for the past several years.

Explaining the move to the Chevrolet LS3 engine program, Tauton told us about the change to the LS3 platform.

“Some changes have been made to the mechanical side of things and going forward the MARC GT will feature a LS3 6.2 litre engine.

“The LS engine is significantly cheaper to purchase over the Ford Coyote engine package that our other MARC Cars have used, as the cost of the Ford engine has increased significantly over recent times, so we have changed over the LS engine.

“They are brand new engines and are like the power units which are fitted to the locally raced Trans Am cars, so we have plenty of knowledge of how they perform and the reliability they will deliver etc.” Taunton told AA.

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

The new car is being driven today by Gene Rollinson, who works for Mark Petche’s Racer Products in New Zealand, with former Bathurst 1000 winner Luke Youlden and Geoff Taunton doing test sessions in the new car.

Over the past season MARC Cars Australia has been trialling a MARC Cars series with a view to running a full standalone series calendar next year.

The planned 2023 MARC Series will allow all MARC Cars to race together, separated by classes depending on model of car.