The 2007/2008 season for Mark Russ in the 996 GT3 Porsche Carrera Cup series has been outstanding. Mark won 3 out of the 6 rounds but he also had 4 dnfs. "Pukekohe the first round, was very hard as I blew a clutch in the first race and then in the 2nd race, I picked up two punctures from a crash in front of me," said Mark.
"So we got off to a bad start for the season. Ruapuna was when we got going and I broke Craig Bairds lap record in the 996 in qualifying and won the weekend in my class. At Taupo, at the A1GP meeting, I won 3 out of 3 races which was awesome for me and the team. The car has been fantastic to drive and is a real race car. I can't say more about these cars, they are just great."
Through the season, Mark has had some great battles but mostly with some of the 997 new model cars. "They have more horsepower, the sequential gearbox and are very quick. I have managed to keep up with some of them and beaten a few which was my goal at the start of the season. Manfield and Timaru rounds were good but we had two dnfs but still set some very fast times and came home with good points. Invercargill was wet and cold but we managed to put my car on pole and won two races and had a 2nd overall. We won the round there as well which was nice to finish the season off." said Mark.
Mark was the only privateer team to run in the Porsche series this season on which he had no data or set up sheets to work off which is also a great achievement for him. He impressed the Triple X Motorsport race team owned by Shane Mckillen. They invited Mark to test in one of their 997 cars at Teratonga. The first session he went out and came 3rd overall and was two tenths off Australian David Reynolds who is the current Australian Porsche Champion. The second season, Mark settled more into the car and was quicker than Reynolds - coming 2nd overall.
"I thought the 996 was a great car but the 997 is something else" said Mark. "My goal is to run a 997 next season but that also depends on sponsorship which I am working on. So overall a good season and I'm looking forward the next one. I would like to thank my sponsors who have been fantastic and I would not have been racing if it wasn't for them."
