BTCC AND BGT EVENTS FOR CAYMAN SERIES
New category will also feature alongside Porsche Club series
Porsche GB’S new onemake series for the Cayman will appear alongside both the British Touring Car Championship and British GT next season.
The new Porsche Sprint Challenge GB category will feature the 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport – which has a 3.8-litre engine that can produce 425bhp – and has a six-event calendar for its inaugural campaign.
Three events will be held at British GT meetings (Silverstone GP and both Donington Park fixtures), two alongside the
BTCC (Silverstone National and Croft) and the other round will take place alongside Porsche Club GB’S two club championships. Each will include two races and there will be classes for Pro and Am drivers.
“We have the Porsche motorsport pyramid and we identified that with Carrera Cup GB we only occupy one level of the pyramid,” said Porsche GB motorsport manager James Macnaughton. “With the launch of the new 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport we saw that was a great opportunity to fill that out and capture more of Porsche’s products in what we do in the UK.
“By supporting both TOCA and British GT we feel we are showcasing the car to the right audiences. With the TOCA package they can see what that’s like as they look to graduate to Carrera Cup GB. And with
British GT they can see what that championship is like and they can do that with a 718 Cayman GT4 or step up to the GT3 class in a GT3 R.
“We will also have one round with the Porsche Club, which will showcase our championship to those people currently taking part in Porsche club racing. We’ve had other things introduced including new experiences at the Porsche Experience Centre so we’ve really fleshed out Porsche’s activity in Great Britain.”
The series is designed to sit between the Porsche Club Championship and the
Carrera Cup GB, with it being significantly cheaper than the Carrera Cup. The Cayman, complete with the additional MR homologation kit, has contested the GT4 class of British GT this season, as well as the GT Cup.
Macnaughton says the car boasts low running costs as the engine and gearbox don’t have a prescribed life and can run for long periods with the correct servicing.
He added he’s been very encouraged by the amount of interest in the series already, despite it only being officially launched earlier this week.
“We started mentioning it to teams and people who bought a GT4 Clubsport this year to gauge the level of enthusiasm and, as we’ve done with the Carrera Cup, we wanted development to be very collaborative,” Macnaughton said.
“As often happens in motorsport, the news spread reasonably quickly and the amount of interest we’ve had prior to the official launch is fantastic. A number of Carrera Cup teams are interested and we’ve also had a lot of interest from potential championship sponsors.”