AUSSIE TEAM READY TO TAKE ON AMERICA

Australian-based team McElrea Racing will race against the big boys next year in the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup North America.

McElrea Racing has established a separate US base of operations in Mooresville, North Carolina, and will field a multiple-car team in Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship next year.

Despite making their first foray into America, their existing Australian operations will continue unaffected.

The team has signed one exciting Australian driver, to be announced in coming weeks, with others to be confirmed at a later date, while experienced GT and Porsche mechanic David Gahagan will be the Crew Chief managing US operations.

McElrea and Gahagan’s relationship began eight years ago when he came to Australia with David Calvert-Jones’ McElrea Racing Bathurst 12 Hour program, which was supported by.

Additional key positions, including race engineers, are already in place.

McElrea Racing team principal Andy McElrea said the team has been building up to the big announcement for some time.

“I spent six years living and working in the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s and I love the lifestyle, the people and the way they go motor racing,” he said.

“We’ll be spending a bit more time there in the next few years with Hunter’s racing so the timing of this is perfect.

“We have been looking at it for some time and after discussions with Troy Bundy (Head of One Make & GT Sports for Porsche Motorsport North America), who we know well from racing in Australia, helped me decide that this is where we want to be.”

Based in Queensland, McElrea Racing was founded in 2009 by New Zealand racer Andy McElrea with the ambition of forming the best customer racing team in one-make Porsche racing in Australia.

The team has won 12 major national titles in Australia – including two Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia championships – while it currently leads the 2022 championship with one round remaining.

McElrea Racing has also tasted success in long-distance racing with class and outright success at the Bathurst 12 Hour and in GT World Challenge Australia competition.

McElrea Racing’s Harri Jones currently leads the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship as the team prepares to head to North America.

Current IMSA GTD-Pro class drivers champion Matt Campbell is a McElrea Racing graduate, having raced in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge and won the 2016 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship with the squad.

Other McElrea Racing alumni include Jaxon Evans, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Davison and James Davison, while Andy McElrea’s eldest son, Hunter, currently races for Andretti Autosport in the Indy Lights championship.

McElrea said the vision behind the plan is to open up another pathway for young Australian Porsche drivers to make it on the international scene.

“From a competitive and commercial standpoint, GT racing in the United States is one of the best-kept secrets in Motorsport. It’s the largest market in the world with the best commercial and sponsorship opportunities for young drivers to progress their careers,” he said.

“Our objective is to create an alternative to the existing European Porsche Pyramid, wherein we bring young talent from our part of the world to the US. 

“The reality is that the Porsche junior program being developed in the US is creating huge opportunities for young Carrera Cup drivers to win scholarships to advance to IMSA sports car racing, without having to win the junior shootout in Europe.

“We have had great success with the European pathway, as proven by Matt Campbell and Jaxon Evans, but there is opportunity for an alternative and was the key driver behind our decision to tackle this really exciting opportunity. We want to cover both bases.

“With the people we have in place there is no reason we can’t start our Carrera Cup North America program the same way our Australian Program did in 2011, which is with immediate success.”

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