Last year’s Australian Formula Ford Series runner-up Jake Santalucia and rising talent Conor Somers form a twin Sonic attack on the Australia’s second-tier Porsche title, kicking off at Phillip Island this weekend.
Sonic is the most successful team in the history of Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge in Australia, having won the inaugural series with Sven Burchartz in 2008 and later scoring an Australian Porsche Motorsport record four titles in a row between 2015 and 2018.
In what was Santalucia’s maiden national Formula Ford season in 2023 and he came of age by securing second in the standings as he broke through to secure a maiden round win at Symmons Plains, before a repeat success at The Bend finale.
Joining Sonic at the start of the 2023 season after running as a privateer, Somers was sixth in the standings after finishing multiple times on the podium. As part of Sonic’s crew at Carrera Cup events, Somers is experienced with Porsches and will be one to watch this season.
The duo have completed testing already in preparation for the season ahead.
The pathway through Sonic is one of prestige as the likes of Jamie Whincup, Will Davison, David Reynolds and Nick Percat have emerged to become Supercars race winners. This remains relevant this year as Marcos Flack won on debut in Carrera Cup following his graduation from Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge together with Harrison Goodman.
The opening round for the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge is at Phillip Island on April 12-14 as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries to be broadcast live on 7mate and 7plus.
Jake Santalucia
#777 Sonic/Vision One, Porsche 991 Cup Car Type 991.2
“I went through Formula Ford, because I thought that was the best pathway I could take and after we completed that season getting into Porsches was the best way to go,” Santalucia said.
“Going Porsche racing opens up opportunities all over the world and is something I want to do as I eventually want to compete against the best GT drivers in the world. Sonic has what I’m looking for in my progression and it was a simple choice to stay.
“I’ve spent four test days in the Porsche and I’m feeling comfortable in it. We’ve had some quick lap times, which is always a good thing, but racing is a different challenge and you can’t really test for that. It’s just going to be down to my ability to take on what’s coming and adapt the best that I can.
“I’m using this year as a building season, but also I want to go out and do the best that I can. Results-wise, I don’t know what’s coming, but as long as I start the year off solid and end the season well I might be able to progress in 2025.”
Conor Somers
#71 Sonic/Hi Tech Field Services, Porsche 991 Cup Car Type 991.2
“The Porsche is definitely a different car to drive compared to Formula Ford, but it has been good to have the experience of all the crew at Sonic to help us along the way,” said Somers.
“It’s definitely very different to go from a light car weighing 500kg to a 1.3 tonne sports car that moves around a bit and rolls, but the adaption has been really good.
“It was good to get a couple of test days done at a fast track like Phillip Island and we’ve got some great learnings from those runs, which will hopefully put us in a good position for the race weekend.
“I’m prepping the Sonic Porsches in the workshop. I’ve been learning about how these cars work the best through listening to the mechanics and engineers. This will help me when I jump into the driver’s seat because I’ll know a little bit more about how they all go together and what makes them tick.
“I’m in the right team, there’s no better place to do it. For us there are no expectations, we’re just going to try to do the best we can with what we have and see where we end up.”
Michael Ritter
Team owner, Sonic Motor Racing Services
“We’ve seen many of our Formula Ford drivers do this, and many with great success. We have every confidence that Jake and Conor will be perform very well in this class.
“Our career development pathways that we have at Sonic are something that we are very proud of and we are hoping, like last year in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, we will be fighting for race wins every race weekend.”
