Young open wheel racer Tom Maxwell will make his transition to sports car competition this season upon joining the 2019 Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia championship with Sonic Motor Racing Services.

 

The 20-year-old Darwin native contested the 2015 Australian Formula Ford Championship before moving to Europe, first to race in the 2016 British Formula 3 Championship before stepping up to the highly regarded Formula Renault Eurocup for the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

 

Maxwell will now move to the Australian one-make championship to start his climb of the Porsche Motorsport Pyramid and, ultimately, return to European competition with the German sports car brand.

 

“I’m super happy initially just to be coming back to Australia and making the step into such an iconic global racing championship in Carrera Cup,” said Maxwell.

 

“There were many reasons we chose the Carrera Cup route as the next step after making the switch from Formula Renault. I know the cars are fantastic to drive with championships recognised all around the world. The calendar is probably one of the best throughout Australia visiting some really key locations for me. The Carrera Cup competition is also incredibly strong, and the depth of talent is very strong, enabling me to race against, some of the best in Australia.

 

“I’ve had some laps in the 911 GT3 Cup car and it’s very fun to drive. It has some real character about it; despite it being quite heavy it has a heap of power and a fair bit of grip through the low speed corners. With not a great deal of down force, I think they will be pretty cool cars to race.”

 

Maxwell will contest the 2019 Porsche PAYCE Carrera Cup Australia season with Sonic Motor Racing Services which will kick off at the Adelaide 500 later this month.