Porsche team scales new heights
TEAM Porsche Club Singapore Racing (TPCSR) will be starting a new season with a new car. The local team will compete at the 12-hour Merdeka endurance race on Aug 30 with an upgraded version of the wildly exotic Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
Last year, TPCSR raced with the previous generation of the RSR, which is based on the GT3 Carrera Cup car but built by Porsche Motorsport for endurance races. This particular specimen was one out of only 27 made last year by the Porsche factory division responsible for motorsport activities. Driven by team principal Mok Weng Sun, it came in 8th overall and 6th in class out of 91 cars last month at the 24-hour race in Dubai.
This year, a new handmade RSR - one out of 22 - has been ordered by the team. Extensive customisation for racing in Asia, which includes boosting the stock 465 hp to 540 hp, has taken the price up to 380,000 euros (S$805,440).
The 2008 car has the same 3,795 cc flat-six engine but it also boasts some new standard features, two of which are a brand new gearbox - derived from the RS Spyder, a Le Mans prototype racer - and a pump which supplies cool air to the cabin.
'When you race in Asia's tropical climate, the track temperature is 40-45 degrees Celsius and the temperature in the car is 60-65 degrees,' explains Arjunan Kulasegaram, the team's chief of operations. 'Hopefully, the pump will lower it to 25-30 degrees.'
He reveals that TPCSR will also be fielding three cars for this year's Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, which will kick off another season on March 21-23 at Sepang as the official support race to the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix.
Last year, Mr Mok drove the sole GT3 Cup Car in his debut season and won the the Division B title in the pro-am class. The team then decided to field another two cars for 2008 because it had been so much fun.
'We won the championship in our first year, everyone had so much fun doing it and there's not even a scratch on the car,' adds Mr Kulasegaram. 'It looks brand new because he drove an intelligent championship.'
All three cars will be driven by Singaporeans. It costs about 350,000 euros to run a GT3 car per season. This includes the cost of the car, travel arrangements and accommodation for the driver and engineer, tyres, spare parts and fuel.
Mr Kulasegaram says: 'It may sound like a lot of money but it is awfully good value. You arrive and drive - there are no headaches. And at the end of the year, you can sell the car and recoup your cost.'
The 2007 RSR and the new 2008 GT3 Cup car will be displayed at the Padang on March 14 as part of Porsche Pit Stop Singapore, an event to celebrate Porsche Club Singapore's 20th anniversary, as well as to officially launch the 2008 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season.
This story was first published in The Business Times on Mar 1, 2008.