AN ENORMOUS logistical exercise rarely seen outside of the Repco Supercars Championship will be responsible for safely delivering the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia grid to New Zealand, before bringing them home again afterwards. 

Round 2 of Australia’s top one-make championship will see the category compete outside of Australian soil for just the second time in series history when they compete at the ITM Taupo Super400 on April 19-21.

Freight logistics have been provided by Gibson Freight, who have decades of experience shipping entire racing categories around the world.

The challenge to ship the entire Porsche grid to Taupo commenced with the scheduling of the 2024 calendar, including the date of the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.

That date saw a tight turnaround between cars finishing on track in Melbourne and dates required to have containers loaded and sealed for shipping across the Tasman.

With round 1 of the championship completed on Saturday evening, a majority of teams remained within the Porsche precinct in Albert Park on Sunday to prepare cars before returning to workshops or loading directly on Monday and Tuesday following the event.

Eleven, 40″ shipping containers have been used to freight the entire field to New Zealand, two having departed from Queensland and the remainder from Gibson’s Melbourne base in Tullamarine, where they were loaded following the Grand Prix event while teams were in town.

Six containers will carry the vehicles themselves, while the remainder have been allocated to take spare parts, team pit equipment and other necessities required for racing away from home.

11 containers will be used to return the field home with cars and equipment delivered back to their respective home ports in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne as required.

The total freight weighs more than 35,000 kilograms, with 19 Australian cars set to make the journey – to be joined by multiple Kiwi additions at Taupo in two weeks time.

This includes the usual array of spare parts provided by Porsche Motorsport for teams to access at the circuit if required.

As well as the enormous support from Gibson Freight, logistical support at the New Zealand end has been provided by the Giltrap Group and Porsche Motorsport New Zealand.

In total, more than 100 people will travel from Australia purely to support the second round of Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, in addition to the large number working on Supercars teams and series management.

BARRY HAY – Porsche Cars Australia Motorsport Manager

“This has been one of the largest logistical efforts we’ve ever had to manage and it’s taken an enormous amount of effort from the entire team, and the teams coming to New Zealand, to make it happen.

“There are so many little details to consider, from making sure all the cars are completely clean and debris free when they are loaded so Customs in New Zealand are happy when they land.

“There were racking systems to be welded to carry spare parts for Porsche Motorsport and the teams, and that’s before you even loaded the cars.

“Fortunately Gibson Freight are the best in the world at this and their effort has been outstanding.

“All our teams have pitched in with the same effort they apply to making their cars go fast and as a result we’ve got the field on the Sea and they’ll land in New Zealand next week, get inspected, and then travel down to Taupo.

“Everyone is fired up to get on track and race internationally and there are going to be plenty of bragging rights to see who can become the first winners of a Carrera Cup Australia race on New Zealand soil.”