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31 Porsche Cup Cars to take on SMP

By Timothy Neal

Date posted: 27 July 2023

Round 3 of the Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia will see 31 GT3 Cup Cars head to SMP this weekend, with a bevy of young talent on show.

It will also feature a record 13 drivers in the Pro Class field, with teenage NZ talent Marco Giltrap at the head of the standings.

Giltrap is having a sensational field both in Oz and abroad, as he also heads the field of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia series, but he’ll have his hands full at SMP with Ronan Murphy on the charge after taking his first win at Symmons Plains last time out.

Young Porsche NZ talent Marco Giltrap heads to SMP with four wins under his belt in 2023

Ronan, the son of Supercars legend Greg Murphy, finds himself second on the table, trailing his compatriot by 56 points, with Victorian Bob Jane T Marts racer Harrison Goodman in third place, holding sway over another young Kiwi talent in Zac Stichbury.

Making his Porsche debut this weekend is Trans Am racer Nash Morris, who’s hoping his stellar V8 form translates over the GT3 circuit for TekworkX Motorsport in the Pro field.

Some other young talent to watch for at SMP is Grove Racings Oscar Targett, McElrea’s Tom McLennan, and young Queenslander Marcos Flack, who scored pole on his debut at Phillip Island in Round 1.

Young Oscar Targett (inside right) took a double podium in the Sprint Challenge debut for Grove Racing

In the Pro-Am stakes, Sam Shahin and Brett Boulton have finished first and second in every race so far this season, but this weekend they’ll have to contend with Carrera Cup ring-in Adrian Flack, who’s joined the field to get some more seat time in 2023.

The smaller Class B field – which uses the previous-generation Type 991.1 GT3 Cup Car – will see five entries, with Victorian Phil Morriss enjoying a comfortable class lead, with Brad Carr and 2022 class champion Lachy Harburg splitting the points for second after both missing a round.

The Sprint Challenge field hit the track at 9:35am on Friday for practice one, followed by the second session at 12:30pm.

The grid will be set at 2:40pm that afternoon with the three races spread across Saturday and Sunday.

Race one will be run under lights at 6:25pm on Saturday evening as the lead-in act to the Supercars Championship race that evening.

Races two and three will start at 10:00am and 1:35pm on Sunday.

ENTRY LIST – Round 3, Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia
Sydney Motorsport Park

No Car # SPONSOR CLASS DRIVER SURNAME STATE MAKE MODEL CC
1 2 McElrea Racing Pro-Am Richard Cowen QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
2 3 Racing to Beat FA Pro-Am Jonathan Gliksten VIC Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
3 4 Grove Racing Pro Oscar Targett QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
4 8 Car Mods Australia Class B Bradley Carr QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen I 3800
5 11 UpTo11 Motorsport Pro-Am Eric Constantinidis NSW Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
6 12 Ares Group Pro-Am Matt Slavin VIC Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
7 13 The Bend Motorsport Park Pro-Am Sam Shahin SA Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
8 14 McElrea Racing Pro Caleb Sumich WA Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
9 16 TekworkX Motorsport Pro Hamish Fitzsimmons QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
10 19 Wall Racing Class B Brayden Taylor NSW Porsche GT3 Cup Gen I 3800
11 20 Agas National/ EBM Pro-Am Adrian Flack QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3996
12 22 Cirrus Aircraft Pro-Am Andrew Goldie WA Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
13 23 Bloxsom Team Navy Pro Lachlan Bloxsom QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
14 26 Taplin Group Pro Tom Taplin SA Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
15 34 Wall Racing/ Hillcrest Merimbula Pro-Am Casper Tressider NSW Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
16 35 Hyundai Forklifts Pro-Am Indiran Padayachee NSW Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
17 47 Effect Building Projects/ Bass Hill Electrical Class B Stephen Moylan NSW Porsche GT3 Cup Gen I 3800
18 64 Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM Pro Marco Giltrap NZ Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
19 66 PER Equipment Rentals Pro-Am Tim Wolfe WA Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
20 67 TekworkX Motorsport Pro Nash Morris QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
21 72 Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM Pro Zac Stichbury NZ Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
22 77 Sonic / Dayle ITM Pro Ronan Murphy NZ Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
23 78 Sonic Motor Racing / Rosche Paper / Supa Straws Pro Marcos Flack QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
24 81 McElrea Racing / McLennan Motorsports Pro Tom McLennan QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
25 84 Bold Living Pro-Am Brett Boulton QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
26 86 Morriss Racing Service Class B Phil Morriss VIC Porsche GT3 Cup Gen I 3800
27 87 DW Motorsport Pro-Am David Greig VIC Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
28 88 Sonic Motor Racing / Bob Jane T Marts / True Grid Pro Harrison Goodman VIC Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
29 91 Autohouse Racing Class B Lachlan Harburg QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen I 3800
30 99 Southern Star Windows P/L Pro-Am Ross McGregor VIC Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966
31 116 TekworkX Motorsport Pro Aron Shields QLD Porsche GT3 Cup Gen II 3966

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

PODCAST: The latest episode of the Auto Action RevLimiter podcast is out now!

Supercars parts & parity with an SMP preview. F1’s Oscar & Dan show, and the Aussie’s take on NASCAR!

Hungary GP was all about Oscar and Dan for us while Max and Red Bull set some more records as they steamroll 2023 – we pull this Grand Prix apart. Then with Supercars we talk Gen3 reliability issues and the problems with testing in public, and we preview Sydney Motorsport Park… its been a while since we’ve seen Supercars, how will the new parity package perform?

Listen to our latest podcast episode on your podcast app of choice or here on Apple Podcasts.

AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport.

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