Pancione ready to tackle Darwin with new beast
Christian Pancione is keen to see what his new car is capable of when the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia series returns in Darwin.
Pancione will steer a brand new Supercheap Auto backed Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car at Hidden Valley Raceway this weekend.
The McElrea Racing driver has already got a feel for the machine, which does not feature a single used part, after a recent two-day test at NT circuit.
Pancione said he was pleased with the car’s first impression at the test where all McElrea Racing drivers took part and less than a tenth split the four Pro drivers.
“They are all the exact same, but when the opportunity came up to get the new car it was easy to move on from the old one,” he told AUTO ACTION.
“It feels nice and smooth without any vibrations and does everything that you want it do.
“It was a productive test. We had a couple of little teething issues on the first day, but nothing serious and got it fixed pretty quick to back into things by the afternoon.
“On the second day we got straight into it again and tested a lot of different things with car setup wise and stuff we had never done before.
“It was very humid, but by the end of the test were a little bit faster than the last time we went there.”
Pancione hopes the new set of wheels can help him bounce back from a character building season opener at Albert Park.
Amid taxing conditions where the Porsches had to race in the dark and rain, the #76 McElrea Racing driver recorded P10 and P16 finishes.
Having suffered a significant spin on the slippery Albert Park streets, Pancione admitted it was a weekend he wants to quickly move on from.
“It was definitely a weekend to put behind me and focus on Darwin,” he said.
“From a driving perspective it started pretty decently, but it became one of those weekends where once a bad thing happened, it all came tumbling down after that, so it was a bit frustrating.”
However, Hidden Valley is home to some happy memories for Pancione, being the scene of his most consistent round of 2022 with two top fives.
He also showed extreme one-lap pace, breaking the Carrera Cup lap record around the 2.870km circuit with a 1:07.5065.
Although stating the difficulty to pass, he enjoys the challenge of nailing the tight and flowing final sector.
“I don’t mind the track, it is fun to drive on,” Pancione said.
“It does have a nice long straight into turn 1 which is the main passing opportunity, but elsewhere you pretty much have to be alongside the car or they have to make a mistake.
“I like the last sector because you have to push pretty hard and there is no margin for error and getting the last corner perfect is critical for the run down the straight.
“It will be a good event and always has lots of hype around it.”
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