Max Vidau will return to the Sonic Motor Racing Services team for Round 2 of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia at The Bend Motorsport Park in South Australia this weekend.
Vidau, the 2017 Australian Formula Ford Champion, was a race winner in the 2019 Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge series with the Sonic squad before making the step up to Carrera Cup Australia competition in 2020. After completing rounds 1 and 2, the COVID-19 pandemic halted his plans for the remainder of the season.
Due to a budget shortfall, Vidau was unable to contest the opening Carrera Cup Australia round at Sandown earlier this year, but will now make a ‘one-off’ return at The Bend this weekend.
Vidau’s addition to the team bolsters Team Sonic’s current driver line-up to four cars in total, joining the two Bob Jane T-Marts entries of Michael Almond and Simon Fallon, as well as Michelin Junior driver, Aaron Love.
While he has not contested any circuit racing in the past year, Vidau has been keeping race fit by racing in various speedway events across South Australia and Victoria, driving a 410 sprintcar.
To reacquaint himself with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, Vidau and Sonic conducted a test at The Bend last week, giving him a chance to get his eye back in the game before he takes on the competitive field.
The Round 2 schedule sees two practice sessions on the Friday, before teams contest a 20-minute qualifying on Saturday morning followed by a Sprint race that afternoon. A 45-minute Endurance race follows on Sunday morning before the final Sprint race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon. All three races will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo sports.
QUOTES
Max Vidau, Sonic Motor Racing: “We missed the first round because of budget constraints. We had the chance to do it, but fell short, so we have decided to go round by round and see how the season plays out,” said Vidau.
“We did the test at Tailem Bend last week. We were straight on the pace, which was encouraging, but the field this year is super competitive, so we’ll need to be on our game in every session.
“I’ve been keeping sharp driving in a 410 sprintcar. I’ve had some heat wins and went under the 20 lap record at Murray Bridge recently.
“When we are in the Cup car, it feels like you have 10 seconds to think about what you are doing, but in sprintcar you have one second, so when you get in the Porsche, it seems more chilled out.
“Sonic always gives you a good car. The team was very fast at Sandown in the first round, so I’m looking forward to getting into a competitive car and having no excuses.”
Michael Ritter, Sonic Team owner: “Max is a driver that we’ve seen come through our Formula Ford ranks, and it’s great to get him back into Porsche and Carrera Cup,” said Ritter.
“It was a shame that we were not able to get him into a car for Sandown, but we know that he will be able to get in and be on the pace very quickly at The Bend.
“Having a four car team, with four extremely good drivers, is a great result for us and we’re looking forward to seeing how we go against the very competitive field.”
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Sources: Angus Thompson/Porsche Cars Australia