Evans joins Porsche's champions for Hampton Downs Festival
Mitch Evans joins Festival of Motor Racing, representing Porsche
Kiwi single seater race ace Mitch Evans will join Porsche as a factory driver for the second weekend of the New Zealand Festival of Motor Racing at Hampton Downs.
Evans, a winner and championship contender in Formula One’s major support category GP2, recently tested Porsche’s Le Mans and World Endurance Championship winning machinery and has got the nod from the factory to drive the museum demonstration cars at the event with Le Mans winner Earl Bamber only available for the first weekend of the two weekend event.
Evans (21) will join World Endurance Champion Brendon Hartley to demonstrate the stunning Le Mans winning Porsche LMP1-98 and the iconic Martini-branded Porsche 935.
Mitch is one of the current crop of New Zealand motor racing superstars. He was the 2012 GP3 Series champion, has won races in GP2 and previously won the 2010 and 2011 Toyota Racing Series in New Zealand.
When he won the New Zealand Grand Prix in February 2011, it is believed he became the youngest driver to win an international grand prix anywhere in the world at only 16.
Evans impressed when he tested a Porsche 919 LMP1 car earlier this year. Photo / Porsche
Looking forward to the weekend and the experience of driving some of the world famous marque’s most iconic vehicles, he explained: “"I am extremely excited to be part of the Porsche Festival. I have a huge passion for the Porsche brand so it is a real privilege to be given the opportunity to drive some their iconic cars. It should be a fantastic event, everyone is super lucky to be able to see the cars out there on display."
The two weekends of the annual Festival take place on January 15-17 and 22-24 with back-to-back racing featuring Formula 5000, the Pirelli Porsche Championship, Historic Muscle Cars, Sports Sedans, Formula Ford and Formula Junior as well as Formula Libre (including Can-Am and F5000 cars) on the second weekend, Heritage Touring Cars, Pre-65 Racing Saloons and Classic Trial which will include a 1962 Ferrari 250GTE/0.
There's also a host of Porsche races and events over both weekends, including a New Zealand record attempt on Sunday 17th to bring together the most Porsches ever assembled in one place. A 30 minute endurance race and the feature one hour endurance race on the final Sunday will bring together the best of the country’s Porsche racing cars against other marques including Ferrari.
