QUAIFE HEADS SOUTH FOR NEW ZEALAND PORSCHE GT3 CUP RACE

20 December 2007

Phil Quaife will start the new year on the far side of the world, with the young sportscar driver heading to Taupo, New Zealand to contest a round of the 2007/08 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Championship, the country’s national Porsche Series.

New Zealand was the first country in the world to get to race the new 2008 version of Porsche's 911 GT3 Cup Car, and behind the wheel are the pick of the country's current crop of fast-rising young drivers, who will be battling one of the UK’s front runners in the Porsche category.

Entering its fourth season in New Zealand, the GT3 Cup Challenge has developed into the most successful ‘one make’ motor racing championship in the world. With a top speed in excess of 300 kilometres per hour, the lightweight, high performance vehicles have a 400 horsepower, 3.6-litre six-cylinder boxer engine which revs to a maximum 8200 RPM, producing a sound that is distinctly Porsche.

Quaife joins the Triple X Motorsport team for his one-off race in the Southern Hemisphere championship, alongside Matt Halliday and defending champion, Craig Baird, who remains unbeaten after two rounds of the 2007/08 Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge championship.

Quaife will be looking to take the fight to his team mate when he races in Taupo. The 2007/08 New Zealand motor racing season commenced with a dream debut for the new Porsche GT3 team Triple X Motorsport after they dominated the opening day of Round 1 of the summer series at Pukekohe Park Raceway. After dominating qualifying to claim the two front row grid positions, the team went on to control the race and claim victory in their first ever appearance.

In the second round Baird continued to show his superiority claiming pole position and the race win. Quaife says of his New Year trip south, “It’s an opportunity I couldn’t resist. I’m always looking to gain experience at different tracks and in different environments, so my first visit to New Zealand will be very special. I don’t know how my performance level will stack up against the local boys, so it’s an unknown quantity. That makes it a great challenge for me, and I can’t wait to get there.”

The Porsche GT3 Cup Championship in Taupo supports the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport from 18 – 20 January 2008. Three races will feature on the schedule for this event, the biggest motorsport race weekend in the Taupo calendar. Ends.