A surprise visitor to the Sandown pits for today's open practice for round three of the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship at Sandown.
The new challenger of the reborn Carrera Cup series completed a handful of laps with Jim Richards behind the wheel.
The new car features more advanced aerodynamics than the previous model with a wider rear wing and more pronounced front splitter.
The new car is also more powerful than the car it will replace with power increased to 450 bhp.
The car was entered for the day via Porsche Cars Australia who were testing the car for compliance with noise regulations.
Porsche Cars Australia have made no secret of their desire to return the Carrera Cup to the local racing scene.
The return to the V8 Supercar support calendar could cause some consternation in the ranks of the Australian GT Championship who have established for themselves a popular niche in several major V8 events.
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The most famous name in Australian Motorsport will return to the nation's racetracks, as Matthew Brabham contests a limited Formula Ford campaign in the Victorian State Circuit Racing Championship.
Brabham, son of Le Mans 24 hour winner Geoff, will race with the support of Melbourne's Kangan-Batman TAFE and their Automotive Centre of Excellence (ACE).
Speaking at a launch held at the ACE, Matthew told the assembled crowd that despite the remarkable achievements of his famous Grandfather, Father and Uncles, his inspiration to race came from his Mother.
“As I grew up I watched my Mother competing in Jet Ski races in America, it was there I got into the whole racing bug.” he said.
Despite carrying such a famous name, the 15 year old says he is feeling no extra pressure to perform.
“I'm just the same as everybody else, I've been racing karts for seven years, just trying it out and to get into the whole atmosphere of what my family's been doing for so long.” he said.
Matthew's Father Geoff said that he hadn't encouraged his son to follow in the family footsteps but he was happy to give his son his full support.
I tried to get a tennis racquet in to his hand, I tried everything I possibly could” he said jokingly. “ But my wife was racing Jet Skis when he was like three or four years old so that didn't help either. We tried very hard to get him interested in something else but unfortunately we failed miserably.”
With so many racers in the family Matthew has no shortage of career advice, although he's admitted that he may not necessarily listen to all of it.
“My Granddad (3 times World F1 Champion Sir Jack) gives me Grandfather type advice, he says just go for it, my Dad is a bit more professional talking about marketing, presenting yourself and also racecraft, but it's very hard to relay over information and tips from other generations... road racing has changed so much from when my Grandfather was doing it.”
Matthew tested the new car at Winton the following morning and could make his debut at the next round of the Victorian State Series at Sandown on July 18 and 19.
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Friday, July 23, 2010
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