Team Parker Revs up for tilt at Porsche Supercup
COUNTY OUTFIT IS LINKING UP WITH PATRICK DE GROOT FOR 2021 SEASON
TEAM Parker Racing has confirmed it will team up with Revs Motorsport to compete in the Porsche Supercup for the 2021 season.
Fielding a two-car line-up for the eight-round series, it will be the only UK outfit offering competitors the chance to progress along the Porsche motorsport pyramid.
The entry will be a collaboration between the hugely successful Leicestershire-based outfit and the Revs Motorsport operation of Patrick de Groot.
Patrick engineered Team Parker Racing’s Carrera Cup entries in 2020 and with two Supercup titles to his name, the partnership brings together the best of both organisations as they target success in 2021.
Having raced in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB since its inception in 2003, the team swept the board in 2020, claiming the Teams,’ Pro, ProAm and Am championship titles, claiming 13 wins in the 16-race season.
In addition, there was also a debut outing in the new Porsche Sprint Challenge GB, ahead of a full-season entry this year, while the team is also fielding a Porsche 911 GT3 R, pictured, in the British GT Championship.
Formed in 1992, it races alongside the Formula One World Championship, with its races always held in the prime slot directly before the Grand Prix. This year it will race at Monte Carlo, Paul Ricard, Red Bull Ring, Silverstone, Hungaroring, Spa-Francorchamps, Zandvoort and Monza, utilising the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, based on the current 992 generation 911.
The updated machine will deliver 510hp with greater aerodynamic downforce, with an expected reduction in lap times of around one per cent.
Parker Revs Motorsport will take delivery of its two new cars at the Championship’s official hand over day at Zandvoort on March 30.
The team is in discussions with drivers to join it in the Porsche Supercup, with further announcements to be made in due course.
Team Parker Racing’s joint team principal Stuart Parker said: “We are extremely happy to be competing in the Porsche Supercup and cannot wait to get started with this exciting new challenge.
“Team Parker Racing has always been a big supporter of the Porsche one-make series, so it was a natural decision to offer drivers the chance to climb from the Sprint Challenge GB, through the Carrera Cup GB, and then into the Supercup.
“We will be under no illusions that it will be a learning experience for us as we’ll be up against some well-run, experienced race teams, but we might surprise one or two who underestimate us.
“It will be a new chapter in the team’s history, but one which we are keen to begin.”
Patrick de Groot, joint team principal of Revs Motorsport, said: “I have known Stuart for some time, first as an adversary, and latterly working for Team Parker Racing.
“I have worked in the Porsche Supercup for many years and realised that as a team we had what it takes, so halfway through last year, while we were competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB, we started talking about entering the Supercup.
“Having had my own team, this was the opportunity to start a joint venture with Stuart.
“We have both competed in Porsche Supercup before, so we know what is required.
“Although we have a steep learning curve ahead, I cannot wait to get this exciting challenge started together.”
Meanwhile, Nick Jones and Scott Malvern will compete again for Team Parker Racing in the British GT Championship’s premier class.
Nick and Scott, who took an overall victory in the series at Donington Park last year – just their fourth race in GT3 – will take to the track in the team’s newly acquired Porsche 911 GT3 R for the nine-round campaign.
It will be their sixth season with Team Parker Racing in the British GT Championship, and eighth together.
The pair have previously raced a Porsche in the series, with the team, but that was in a Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR, at the start of their journey into endurance racing.
Claiming the GT4 Pro-Am title in 2018, they returned together for a shot at the overall class crown a year later, before making the step up to GT3 with the team in 2020, with their memorable victory at Donington Park the highlight in a year beset by mechanical difficulties.
The 2021 British GT Championship is set to get under way at Brands Hatch, in Kent, over the weekend of May 22/23.