Callum Hedge looks to already be a fan of the new Type 992 Porsche Carrera Cup car despite a plodding start to his 2022 campaign.
Last month, the Kiwi teenager was at Sydney Motorsport Park for Porsche’s handover of the new car to this year’s Australian Carrera Cup drivers.
The 992 generation of Cup Car made its global debut in last year’s Porsche Supercup championship.
Compared to the previous iteration of car, the 992 churns out roughly 25 more horsepower. It also has a significantly more noticeable downforce package.
Hedge had a couple of testing days in the car directly after the handover. When they get going, he says they are a whole lot of fun to steer.
“They look cool, and when they go, they go good,” he said.
“I’d say it is like driving the old [Cup] car on new tyres. There is less weight on the front axle, so it is more sensitive to pitch than to roll.
“I think they should race good once we get our heads around the aerowash.”
That’s all fun and games for Hedge. But the only problem is, as was the case for most of the test, his car didn’t want to get up and go.
“I think I only did about three laps and everyone else did like 150.”
Hedge’s car was one of several to experience fuel pump issues throughout the first test day.
“There would be a fuel pressure alarm and then the engine would just cut.”
No matter what Hedge and the Earl Bamber Motorsport team did to resolve the snag, the car continued to stop on track.
Eight cars throughout the field encountered identical problems. Fortunately, Porsche had some good-ol’ Number 8 wire mentality and rectified the drama using cable ties.
Mostly.
Cable ties rectified seven of the eight.
“The one car it didn’t fix was mine,” Hedge said.
Unsurprisingly, day two was equally frustrating as the car continued cutting out on Hedge.
The team’s quick-fix to ensure Hedge would have some running before the end of the day was to completely clean the fuel tank.
“I then did a few laps and it didn’t break down. So, we bolted on a set of greens, did three laps and that was the end of the day.”
Hedge says the team aren’t sure whether cleaning the fuel tank has fixed everything, but they have more tests queued up to figure it out before the season starts.
As for what Hedge achieved in those few laps he had, P2 on the timesheets isn’t too shabby.
His teammate, Ryan Suhle, was the only driver to go faster than him.
“The pace is really good,” he said. “They are faster than the Supercars and there is still more to come once we know what direction we are going in with set-up and all that.”
Hedge’s first race in the new-gen car will be at the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix in April.
