A SPECTACUALR start to a new Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia season is in store following confirmation of an outstanding grid for the opening round at Phillip Island this week. 

The 23-strong field will once again see a mixture of up-and-coming young Porsche Michelin Junior drivers, more experienced Professionals and Pro-Am / Class B competitors looking to claim their own titles this year.

13 cars are entered in the Professional class, 11 of them current Porsche Michelin Junior drivers.

Tom Bewley makes his debut as the official Team Porsche NZ representative, following in the footsteps of Ryan Wood, Callum Hedge, Marco Giltrap and Brock Gilchrist in the program’s fifth year.

His signing comes as Earl Bamber Motorsport look to win a third consecutive Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge title, a feat only achieved once before in series history.

Tyler Greenbury Racing expands to a pair of entries for the first time, the karting ace himself to be joined by young-gun Lincoln Evans, a Ferrari young driver academy member.

TekworkX Motorsport will field a pair of young chargers from New Zealand in the form of current New Zealand GT4 Champion Willie Exton and 19-year-old Toyota 86 series graduate and multiple Australian and NZ Karting champion, Jackson Rooney.

Another New Zealander, Hunter Robb, will contest a full season with Jones Motorsport, the team led by reigning Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia champion, Harri Jones.

DNA Autosport will field former TCR Australia winner Ryan Casha in a continuation of their GR Cup relationship, while Lachlan Bloxsom will create his own piece of Porsche history by doubling up his Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup campaign with a full season in Michelin Sprint Challenge as well. As he is in Carrera Cup, Bloxsom will be fielded by McElrea Racing.

Auticon-backed Ben Taylor shifts to Wall Racing for his second Sprint Challenge season, while new team Cup Car engineering will sport two entries having locked in US F4 champion Daniel Quimby and another Formula 4 graduate in the form of Sydney-based driver, Kamal Mrad.

Multiple Sprint Challenge champions Sonic Motor Racing return for another tilt this year, second-year driver Jake Santalucia returning for his second Sprint Challenge season. The Formula Ford graduate returns following six top-five finishes in his rookie season, including a best of a runner-up finish at The Bend.

Completing the Pro mix will be Ashley Seward Motorsport, who have secured Toyota GR Cup series runner-up James Lodge to pilot their #39 entry this year.

The Pro-Am fight is set to be fiercely competitive once again with defending champion Lachlan Harburg returning to defend his title in his The Cover Shop / EBM entry.

Harburg, who will have reigning Sprint Challenge Champion Oscar Targett on the headset from pit lane this weekend, will seek a maiden Pro-Am race win this year having claiming the 2024 title without winning a race in an incredibly consistent performance.

He is likely to be challenged by the very quick Ramu Farrell – who won six races in 2024 – while a Phillip Island wildcard could be Damien Flack, who makes his first Porsche one-make start since the 2014 Carrera Cup Australia Championship season.

The father of Carrera Cup Michelin Junior Marcos, Damien will return to Sonic Motor Racing in a Phillip Island one-off next week.

The Pro-Am field will add to its depth by including PSCA regulars David Grieg, John Papantoniou, Indiran Padayachee and Eric Constantinidis.

In Class B, Daniel Quimby is expected to be the man to beat, however newcomer David Valeo and 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge Michelin Sportsperson of the year Stephen Moylan will be in the mix, running the previous-generation 991.1 GT3 Cup Cars.

The Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia field will contest three races across the Phillip Island weekend running alongside the Shannons SpeedSeries.

Following a pair of practice sessions on Friday, qualifying will be held on Saturday morning with the opening race later that afternoon.

Two further races will be held on Sunday to complete the opening round, with both the Saturday and Sunday action to be broadcast live on 7+ and 7mate this weekend.

Michelin Sprint Challenge has developed since its 2008 foundation to become one of Australia’s premier development categories, for both Professional and Pro-Am drivers and teams.

12 of the 18 Professionals in this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup championship are Sprint Challenge graduates, as are seven in the Pro-Am class.

Meanwhile, existing Sprint Challenge teams Jones Motorsport and DNA Autosport became race winners in Carrera Cup on stepping up for the first time this year.

ENTRY LIST
Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia, Round 1.

No	Car #	SPONSOR	C/L	DRIVER	SURNAME	COLOUR
1	4	Team Porsche New Zealand / EBM	Pro	Tom	Bewley	White / Black / Yellow
2	6	Tyler Greenbury Racing	Pro	Tyler	Greenbury	White / Blue / Black
3	7	Cup Car Engineering	Pro	Kamal	Mrad	White
4	11	Aera Cloud & Cyber Security Group	Pro-Am	Eric	Constantinidis	Blue
5	23	McElrea Racing	Pro	Lachlan	Bloxsom	White
6	24	Cup Car Engineering	Class B	Daniel	Quimby	White
7	25	Auticon / Wall Racing	Pro	Ben	Taylor	White
8	29	Tyler Greenbury Racing	Pro	Lincoln	Evans	White
9	30	TekworkX Motorsport / Jackson Rooney Motorsport	Pro	Jackson	Rooney
10	35	Rentcorp Forklifts	Pro-Am	Indiran	Padayachee	Red / Blue / White
11	37	Jones Motorsport / Bondi Carpets	Pro-Am	Andrew	Georgiadis	Silver
12	39	Ashley Seward Motorsport	Pro	James	Lodge	White
13	42	Tractor Repairs & Spares / TekworkX	Pro	Willie	Exton	White
14	47	Effect Building Projects	Class B	Stephen	Moylan	White
15	55	AeroAdapt / Tigani Motorsport	Class B	David	Valeo	White / Multi
16	69	Jones Motorsport / vomofiji.com	Pro	Hunter	Robb	White
17	79	DNA Autosport	Pro	Ryan	Casha	White
18	87	DW Motorsport	Pro-Am	David	Greig	White / Blue
19	91	The Cover Shop / EBM	Pro-Am	Lachlan	Harburg	Navy / Pink
20	96	Entertainment Park	Pro-Am	John	Papantoniou	White / Green
21	99	Sonic Motor Racing	Pro-Am	Damien	Flack	Silver / Blue
22	777	Sonic Motor Racing / Dexion	Pro	Jake	Santalucia	White / Grey / Red
23	888	Rennauto	Pro-Am	Ramu	Farrell	Black / Gold