Dannemora’s Andre Heimgartner has returned to the Porsche Carrera Cup series after two seasons in the top tier. Supercars Championship.
Five seasons ago Heimgartner became the youngest driver to compete in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship aged 16 years and 8 months.
Heimgartner made immediate impact, placing fourth in his debut race in Adelaide, finishing the season seventh. He went on to contest two seasons in the Super2 Series, followed by two seasons in the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship before his Carrera Cup return this season with top-ranked Sonic Motor Racing Services.
This weekend the 21-year-old returns to the Porsche championship with more experience and greater expectations as he lines up in the 2015 title winning 911 GT3 Cup car.
Backed by a range of sponsors – including new supporter Money Now – the Melbourne-based Kiwi will compete in the #777 Bob Jane T-Marts Porsche of championship-winning team Sonic Racing across 2017 – starting with the opening round at the Clipsal 500 (Adelaide Parklands, March 2-5).
While having a sufficient budget to continue in Supercars, Heimgartner’s management and sponsor group decided Carrera Cup was a better fit for 2017.
“To sign up with a top ranking team within what is a prestigious and respected racing series is very exciting and I am really looking forward to seeing what we can do together in 2017,” Heimgartner said.
“I really appreciated the opportunities afforded to me in 2016 with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport (LDM) and send my thanks to all in the team for their support across last year’s season.
“While I won’t be competing in the Virgin Australia Supercars Series full-time in 2017, I of course extend my best wishes to LDM and the entire field for the upcoming season.
“I am also working on co-driving possibilities amongst the Supercars field and am hopeful that I will make a return to the main game sometime in the future.
“In the meantime, I am so very lucky to enjoy the support of an amazing sponsor group who have stuck by me throughout what has been a topsy-turvy few months and backed me to enable me to lock in a promising drive for 2017 with a top-running outfit.
“I can’t wait to see what 2017 has in store!”
Sonic Racing Team owner Michael Ritter said he was expecting great things from Heimgartner this year.
“Andre is a real talent and great to deal with off the track as well. We are looking forward to welcoming him to Sonic Racing in 2017 for what we expect to be a rewarding partnership,” Ritter said.
