Porsche Caps A Bumper Show With UK Racing Series Launch

Sports car legend Porsche today underlined its commitment to top-level British Motorsport by unveiling a new race series for the UK, and has confirmed a bumper crop of orders for its Cayenne Sport Utility Vehicle at the Show.

The first ever Carrera Cup Great Britain, a championship for identical 180 mph racing versions of the legendary 911 Carrera road car, will run as part of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) package in 2003 - the UK's biggest racing series.

The new racers were unveiled on the Porsche stand on Motorsport Day.

Meanwhile, 700 customers have confirmed orders for the striking Cayenne during the Show, taking the total number of UK orders to 1,500. That's around a whopping £65 million of sales.

Andy Goss, managing director of Porsche Cars GB, was delighted at the reaction to the Porsche range.

And he believes the Carrera Cup series, which will see wheel-to-wheel competition at circuits across the British Isles and in Ireland, is an extra boost for the successful BTCC package, and motorsport as a whole.

“At a time when motorsport is being criticised for not being interesting or competitive enough, this is a real domestic fillip with strong competition in road-based sports cars. Results will be down to driver skill,” said Andy.

Porsche did not confirm any driver names for the GB Carrera Cup, which already runs as separate championships in Germany, Asia and Japan, but says it has already received “an encouraging level of interest”.

The cars are closely based on the 911 GT3 road cars, and the series is a career stepping stone for ambitious racers looking for top-level sports car, touring car and single seater drives.