Wellington teenager Regan Scoullar will line up for a full season in the GT New Zealand Championship beginning in November when the campaign starts at Taupo.
Having clinched Class B and the overall NZ Porsche Championship earlier in the year in a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car, Scoullar will step into a newer 991.2 car.
“Last season was a bit of a rollercoaster, in all honesty,” says Scoullar. “A mechanical failure in one round, and some accident damage while passing a lapped car in another round, but with the team overcoming that, we collectively won the Porsche NZ Motorsport Championship, which was what I had been dreaming about doing that whole season.”
Scoullar did a one-off round in the GT New Zealand Championship last season at Hampton Downs, where he clinched a third placing in one of the 30-minute races, and is looking forward to contesting the 2023/24 season of the Summerset GT New Zealand Championship.
“I’m super excited to have a chance at competing in the whole championship. The atmosphere is pretty awesome, and the racing is very good as well. It was a real highlight to do that one round and get 3rd in the last race was a real highlight.
“I’m hoping that we can grab some more good results throughout the season and consistently be a contender in the front half of the field, but I guess we’ll find out in the first round.”
Having raced last season in a 997.2 spec Porsche Cup car, Scoullar moves up to a newer 991.2 car and has immediately noticed some differences.
“I’ve found it a massive difference as they drive quite differently even though they are both Porsches,” he says. “I’ve found that with the updated aero and chassis, it feels much more planted to the ground. The biggest thing I’ve found is that the 997.2 had a sequential gearbox like the V8 Supercars compared to my 991.2, which has paddle shifts which are way much easier to use.”
“In the last car, I had to pull around 20kg to get the shifter to put through a different gear, but in the new car, I just pull a paddle, and it changes gear, which is so much less tiring than before, and you don’t have to take your hand off the wheel to change gears in the corners.”
As for the future, like any young race driver, he has his eyes on future overseas racing ambitions.
“To race overseas somewhere like Australia or Europe in the future would be great,” he adds. “But at the moment, I’m just focused on the upcoming season in GT. Hopefully, some good results here will help with whatever happens after that.”
The 2023/24 GT New Zealand Championship will consist of a five-round series over five months commencing November 17-19 at Taupo Motorsport Park in Taupo.
Words & Images: Supplied
