Dear colleagues and friends of Porsche Motorsport,

Welcome to the first update of the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge season 2008/2009. We have been working hard with The Motorsport Company to finalise some of the details for the forthcoming series, and would now like to provide you some information to assist you in your planning.

Calendar 2008/2009

The eight round calendar has now been confirmed and is as follows:

There are 6 championship rounds and 2 non-championship rounds in the series. At the A1GP event, we will feature two long distance races with a second driver, and the Battery Town Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge will be the main support category at the event.

Race Format

The normal race format of the GT3 Cup Challenge NZ series is based on the Carrera Cup worldwide format and will see 3 races of approx. 20 minute duration over each weekend.  Testing will be on Friday with two sessions of 30 minutes duration each.

Qualifying will be on Saturday morning in one 20 minute session. Saturday afternoon will see the first 20 minute race, Sunday morning the second race, followed by the third and final race on Sunday afternoon.

Exceptions:

At Round 4 in Teretonga, the Saturday race will be of one hour duration and is planned to be held at twilight.

At Taupo A1GP meeting, we are planning the following:

To keep costs down, fuel must be filled through normal fuel orifice (no fast fill permitted) and the standard tank that came with the car must be fitted (no larger tanks permitted).

More details on this coming soon.

Thursday Testing

To assist in keeping running costs and budgets to an acceptable level, it has been decided to ban Thursday testing prior to the race meeting. However this will be compensated in longer testing times on Fridays, and also longer race distances.

Tyres

The control Michelin tyres are supplied directly to all competitors by Michelin NZ representatives. The subsidised price for the tyres has increased slightly from last season and will be as follows:

Michelin representatives will be trackside at all meetings to service all your Michelin tyre requirements. Fitment of your tyres at the meeting is free of charge. They accept all credit cards and are GST registered in New Zealand to provide you with a GST invoice.

Competitors are allowed a maximum of six (6) new tyres per weekend, and these are bar coded and checked during the weekend to ensure all competitors compete on an equal footing.

For the Teretonga and A1GP round, 8 tyres (instead of 6) will be permitted due to the longer race distances.

For those competitors competing in the 996 Trophy, we are looking at ways of reducing tyre costs. For those competitors who are interested (not mandatory) this may involve sourcing alternative pre-worn tyres to assist in keeping running costs to a minimum, but is still to be confirmed.

Porsche Parts

Parts will be supplied directly to GT3 Cup Challenge NZ competitors by Porsche NZ at specially subsidised prices. Parts will be transported to every meeting by us so that parts are always available trackside for competitors should the need arise.

All Porsche Motorsport parts are supplied to competitors at retail less 15% discount, and as such we require prompt payment for these parts. With this reduced margin we do not have the ability to have to fund outstanding debt for slow paying customers for long periods of time.

For season 2008/2009, at the end of each meeting, competitors will be given an invoice for the parts used during the meeting. You will be able to check and confirm that this invoice is correct. This will be a normal GST invoice made out in the competitor’s name.

It will then be a requirement that parts consumed during the weekend are paid for in full. This can be in the form of a cheque made out to European Motorsport, or paid with a credit card. We will also accept a bank direct debit, but this must be paid for on the Monday following the meeting.

For parts which are not supplied trackside, parts accounts will be set up for each competitor. These accounts must be paid for by 20th of the month following, however the discount will be reduced (by 5%) to retail less 10% in this case. Failure to pay by 20th of the month following, will see the parts charged at normal retail prices (with no discount), and a stop credit placed on your account.

Two Classes of Racing – both National Championship

The category features two distinctive classes:

This gives competitors the opportunity to compete in the championship at varying budget levels, and offers new drivers the chance to enter the category at a very cost effective level.

Changes for this season will see the separate points tables for 996 and 997, and also the winner of the 996 Trophy will be a nationally recognised champion in their own right.

New Logo

The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge will have a new logo for season 2008/2009 to bring us into line with the new worldwide Porsche Corporate Identity. Wherever possible and practical, you will need to update the existing logo which you currently use.

GT3 Cup Challenge Australia competitors

We are currently in negotiation with competitors in the GT3 Cup Challenge Australia series for some of them to come to New Zealand and compete in the January rounds. These would be 996 GT3 Cup cars, but would add significantly to our series.

Summary

This is a short overview of what we have planned so far, and should enable you to start finalising some of your planning. We would welcome any suggestions you may have, and look forward to season 2008/2009 being the best ever!

Kind regards

Grant Smith

General Manager Porsche