Porsche GT3 Cup

Lechner sees bright future for Porsche GT3 Cup series after new three-year deal–

Dubai. Walter Lechner, the driving force behind the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, is confident that the 12-round championship will go from strength to strength after signing a new three-year agreement to run the region’s headline race series.

The Austrian former racing star and head of Lechner Racing, who manages the one-make series on behalf of Porsche Middle East and Africa, said today: “I see a very bright future.”

“We’ve just signed a new agreement with Porsche Middle East and Africa to run the championship for another three years and I believe it will get stronger in the years ahead.

“We have a very good formula which appeals to drivers, particularly the arrive and drive nature of the series which allows competitors to compete at a very high, professional level, without taking up an enormous amount of their time.

“That’s very important as most of our drivers have jobs or run companies, and have a limited amount of time to devote to their passion for motor sport.”

Lechner added: “The GT3 Cup Challenge will remain attractive because it brings the best out of the drivers. As all the cars are identical, equally well-prepared GT3 Cup cars, the emphasis is on driver skill, with no-one having the advantage of a faster, superior vehicle”.

With the fourth season scheduled to start in November in Bahrain, Lechner is looking to attract more of the best young Arab drivers who will have opportunities to try out a GT3 Cup car at the home of the Middle East’s first F1 Grand Prix.

He says: “Just before the start of the new season we’ll be holding a number of track days at Bahrain International Circuit. We’re looking forward to welcoming some new faces who will have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a GT3 Cup car for the first time, and we hope some will enter the championship.

“We’ve set a very high professional standard in the way the series is run. This is something that attracts drivers who want to compete at the highest level in the region, and gain the experience they need to go further in international GT and sports car racing.

“The series has also been promoted very professionally and the exposure it enjoys makes it stand out above other regional championships and attract the attention of drivers.

“We are very open to meet people interested in joining the championship and help them in any way we can. They can test the GT3 Cup car, see what a fantastic racing machine it is, and meet the current drivers in the championship as well as our mechanics and technicians.”

Lechner was lured to motor racing in the 1970s by the exploits of Jochen Rindt, the German driver who represented Austria throughout his career. Rindt is the only man to posthumously win the Formula One World Championship after being tragically killed in practice for the Italian Grand Prix in 1970.

As a racing driver Lechner won the European Formula Ford championship in 1979 and six

Interserie Sportscar European titles, and says racing the famous Porsche 956 and 962

Group C sportscars was the highlight of his career which ended in 1996.

By then he had already set up the Lechner Racing School, as well as the Lechner Racing team which has contested the Porsche Supercup Series since 2003, collecting countless race victories and four team titles