Marcus Marshall To Make Porsche Supercup Debut At Indianapolis Grand Prix

[RaceTime]

MARCUS MARSHALL TO MAKE PORSCHE SUPERCUP DEBUT AT INDIANAPOLIS GRAND PRIX

Aussie Carrera Cup ace joins forces with top Farnbacher squad

GOLD Coast driver Marcus Marshall is set to take on the world’s best Porsche drivers in the next round of the Porsche Supercup at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 27/28.

The 25-year-old, who races a VIP Pet Foods/AEG Power Tools-backed Porsche in the Australian Carrera Cup and currently sits second in the championship, will join Infineon Team Farnbacher in a third car alongside team drivers Frank Stippler and Pierre Kaffer.

The Farnbacher team, established in 1992, won the 2001 Porsche Supercup with driver Jorg Bergmeister.

Marshall will drive an American-based 2003-model car that has been used as a corporate ride vehicle driven by none other than 1978 Formula 1 World Champion and outright racing legend, Mario Andretti.

The Indianapolis adventure began for Marshall a month ago during a visit to the recent Porsche Supercup round at the Hungarian Grand Prix in Budapest.

“The trip to Hungary planted the seed for this drive,” said Marshall, who will fly out to the United States on Tuesday.

“Horst Farnbacher (team manager) mentioned he had a car available for Indianapolis and they were really keen to see me in a car there. I haven’t had time to get excited about it because we’ve been working flat out night and day getting everything with visas and licenses and the like all sorted out.”

The Indianapolis event is the championship finale for the Porsche Supercup and features two separate rounds rather than one which is the normal race format for the category.

Marshall is looking forward to racing on the historic Brickyard layout, even if it is the Formula 1 infield road course rather than the famous oval that holds the annual Indianapolis 500 IndyCar event.

“Indianapolis is one hell of a place. It’s going to be awesome. The track uses part of the turn one banking as its final corner so the cars are really flying through there.”
The Porsche GT3 Cup cars used in the Supercup are exactly the same specification used by Marshall and his Carrera Cup Australia rivals so the Queenslander is confident his car knowledge gained in Australia during the season will hold him in good stead.

“I really don’t know what to expect and that’s one of the reasons why I’m going and doing this. I want to rate myself up against the best guys in the world in this style of car and racing. I’d like to think that going well against the guys in Australia has put me in good stead for a good result at Indianapolis.”

Marshall hopes that a strong result at Indianapolis will help make his goal of racing full-time in the Porsche Supercup in 2004 a reality.

“Hopefully I can strike up some international interest with the Farnbacher team for the potential of going over and racing Supercup in 2004. If a result comes from the weekend, it’s only going to help me for next year.

“Another plus for the weekend is that Indianapolis is the only track the Supercup cars can’t test at. They can test at every other track in Europe so if I come back next year, then I’ve got some vital Indianapolis experience.”

Australia has already tasted success in the Porsche Supercup at Indianapolis. Last year, Weissach-based Victorian Alex Davison, 23, won one of the Indianapolis races on his way to sixth place in the 2002 championship.

Marshall already has international racing experience, having raced for Murray Racing in last year’s British Formula Renault Winter Series. He previously raced for the Valvoline/Sonic team in the Australian Formula Ford Championship, finishing third in the series in 2002.

In 2003 he has scored a victory in round three of the Carrera Cup at Winton and sits second in the championship behind Jim Richards with the next round at Bathurst a fortnight after Indianapolis.

Marshall has also been hired by Team Brock to drive in the Bob Jane T-Marts 1000 V8 Supercar event alongside Greg Ritter on the same weekend.


From Carrera Cup

[marcus]

awesome , he certainly has come on leaps and bounds this year , definately a heady time for the boy.

A top effort in the Australian series , made his V8 debut and now off to the states to take on the best in Porsches , wow , its what dreams are made of isnt it ?

go get em Marcus

[webberisgod]

does this mean he wont be starting for TB? if so whos the fill in?

[racer69]

The indianapolis race doesn't clash with Bathurst, so he'd still be in the seat.

Lets hope he can get a full-time ride overseas next year.

[gt3cup]

As part of the Aust Carrera Cup, the highest placed driver under 30 gets an invitation to attend a round of the 2004 supercup as a VIP driver. So look like Marcus will get more than one chance to get in to Supercup. Great opportunity for young drivers.

[jetsetter]

Good to see another young Aussie getting a start internationally hopefully he'll get a great result.

[The Tool Man]

Originally posted by racer69
The indianapolis race doesn't clash with Bathurst, so he'd still be in the seat.

Lets hope he can get a full-time ride overseas next year.

Yep hes in the seat at TB for Bathurst for sure. He might have Jet Lag but good on him, what an awseome oppurtunity. Well Done.

[gt3cup]

From Carrera Cup Website

AUSTRALIAN Marcus Marshall has enjoyed a strong debut in the Porsche Supercup at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the 25-year-old Gold Coaster finishing a sensational sixth and seventh in the two races that played support to the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Marshall, driving the #7 No Limit Property Development Porsche GT3 Cup run by the experienced Farnbacher squad, was impressive all weekend on a circuit he had never seen until last Friday.

The Queenslander, who drives for the VIP Pet Foods Racing team in identical cars in the Australian Carrera Cup, mixed it with the world’s best Porsche drivers, establishing himself as a strong candidate for a berth in the series in 2004.

“When I came here I had no idea what to expect,” said Marshall.

“Now I know where I’m at. This track and the competition in the Supercup are real eye openers. The thing I had to get used to most were the Michelins which are used in the Supercup. They have a very clear peak which you have to make the best use of. Then they go down a little bit but deliver a very good performance for the rest of the drive.”

In the first race of two for the weekend, Marshall finished a brilliant sixth, right behind team-mate – and championship challenger – Frank Stippler.

Having qualified 10th in the 22-car field on a wet yet drying track, Marshall worked his way past drivers with much more overseas experience to be right on the tail of his German team-mate at the end of the race.

“It was a great race, I could even have attacked Frank, but I didn't want to interfere with the title fight,” said Marshall.

In the second race, Marshall started from seventh, having qualified just 0.87s off pole position holder Wolf Henzler.

This time he was unable to work his way past any of the runners in front of him and had to settle for a consistent run to seventh place.

Marshall will arrive home in Australia tomorrow to begin preparations for the next round of the Australian Carrera Cup at Mount Panorama, Bathurst, on October 9-12.


Wel done Marcus!

[The Tool Man]

Well Done Marcus !!!!! Hope he does just as well along side Ritter in the TB car at the mountain.

[mixxer]

thats a great result Congrats Marcus, showed some maturity in not biting the hand thats feeding him too

[jetsetter]

Excellent result from Marcus against high quality opposition.

[GTRMagic]

I hate to be a party pooper, but how good would Richo have gone given the same opportunity

[mixxer]

Originally posted by GTRMagic
I hate to be a party pooper, but how good would Richo have gone given the same opportunity

I actually wondered the same thing but as Gentlemen Jum wasnt there .......... who knows

Can anybody tell me has Jim ever actively campaigned for a drive oversea's ? :confused:
He's someone porsche must keep their eye on (or at least he is a gold class customer) so surely there would be a place for him in the series if he wanted to drive ............
of course the funding could also be a reason

[GTRMagic]

JR has "Porsche Motorsport Australia" across the nose of his Carrera Cup car, so I assume he is already factory supported.

[mixxer]

If he hasnt chased an oversea's drive hopefully its because of personal reasons rather than funding or a lack there of, Im sick of hearing about drivers chasing sponsorship and having no luck in Aus/NZ.

Got a come clean here and say Im a closet Jum fan, closet cause he drives part time for the Dark side

Just to get back on topic does Marcus have a marketing team help him search out drives or was it his own ground work ? :confused:

[gt3cup]

I think Jim is the 'Patron of Motorsport' for Posrche Cars Australia. This effectively gives him sponsorship and lots of other factory support perks and basically makes him the Australian Works driver.

I don't think this drive for Marcus was the rookie drive as part of the Aust Carrera Cup deal, pretty sure he did this one on his own. He has a lot of contacts in Europe from his days in open wheelers, and is pretty well regarded in the UK.

[GTRMagic]

That the car is in the motorsport press with "No Limit Property Development" on the side, who is MM's major sponsor, suggests he had to contribute financially to the place