Christian Pancione to race super Carrera Cup car

By Thomas Miles

Date posted: 28 March 2023

Christian Pancione has taken the covers off a striking Supercheap Auto backed Porsche he will steer at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.

Pancione will drive a bright red #76 car in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia series for McElrea Racing.

It is covered in a similar livery used by the likes Craig Lowndes, Shane van Gisbergen and Broc Feeney at the Bathurst 1000 and 12 Hour events.

It will be his second visit to Albert Park at Carrera Cup level, having finished fifth, ninth, sixth and 11th in the four races at last year’s season opener.

Pancione is gearing up for his third Carrera Cup campaign and hopes to better his P9 championship finish last year.

Pancione is a lifelong friend of Australia’s newest Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri and the Carrera Cup driver was the Daniel Ricciardo lookalike when the pair were photographed in a McLaren sports car at Melbourne in January.

The Piastri and Pancione families have been inextricably linked through their shared business and motorsport interests, with Oscar and Christian developing a close friendship that continues today.

With the Carrera Cup season kicking off at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, Pancione is excited to be racing at the same event as his best mate, who will race the MCL60 at home for the first time.

“It’s a massive weekend for Oscar, being the first time that he’s raced at his home Grand Prix, so it’s very cool that I get to compete at the same event as him,” Pancione said.

“He’s obviously going to be very busy, but hopefully, he’ll have some time to watch our Carrera Cup races, and then naturally, I’ll be cheering for him in the F1 race on Sunday afternoon.”

During his time in Carrera Cup, Pancione has achieved seven top-five finishes on his way to ninth in last year’s standings.

The 21-year-old is thrilled with the support from Supercheap Auto, which joins existing partners VCM Performance and HP Tuners on Pancione’s McElrea Racing Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car.

“Supercheap Auto has a long involvement in motorsport sponsorship, backing some of the highest-profile drivers, teams and events in Australia, so their support is a big boost for our 2023 program,” Pancione said.

Supercheap Auto sponsorship manager Justin Murray said Pancione has made an impression through the junior ranks and hopes the support can push him to success in 2023.

“We are SUPER excited to partner with Christian Pancione in this year’s Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia season,” Murray said.

“Christian has been super impressive coming through the junior ranks and is a future star.

“The Porsche Carrera Cup Series is a highly respected and successful category, and we’re pumped to make it super with Christian for the 2023 season.”

This weekend’s Carrera Cup season-opener at the Australian Grand Prix will consist of races on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday as a support category to Formula 1.

For more of the latest motorsport news, pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.

AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.

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Christian Pancione to race super Carrera Cup car

Pancione is a lifelong friend of Australia’s newest Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri and the Carrera Cup driver was the Daniel Ricciardo lookalike when the pair were photographed in a McLaren sports car at Melbourne in January.

“It’s a massive weekend for Oscar, being the first time that he’s raced at his home Grand Prix, so it’s very cool that I get to compete at the same event as him,” Pancione said.

The 21-year-old is thrilled with the support from Supercheap Auto, which joins existing partners VCM Performance and HP Tuners on Pancione’s McElrea Racing Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car.

“We are SUPER excited to partner with Christian Pancione in this year’s Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia season,” Murray said.

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