Currently at 3rd place in the championship, Steve has Jonny Reid hot on his heals, but is still in with a chance to climb further up the championship ladder.

Stay tuned to the television broadcast to see how the Laser Plumbing and Electrical Porsche fares this weekend!

We’ve spaced out the first 3 rounds of the Championship so far this year. The City Index Porsche Carrera Cup Australia Championship kicked off at the Australian Grand Prix event in March. The second round was run and won at Barbagallo in Western Australia, with the third round held at the Sucrogen Townsville 400 V8 Supercar event in far North Queensland.

So far the Laser Plumbing and Electrical Porsche has had a very successfull transition into the Championship. 6 podiums from the 9 races held so far has been great. The next two rounds will be incredibly challenging. Not because we are going to two of the greatest race tracks in the world, but because I’ll be on double duty with Porsche Carrera Cup and the V8 Supercar Championship at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

The trick will be to be unbelievably organised. Our Laser Racing Porsche team is a very small group of dedicated, skilled people from our team Sponsor partners Laser Plumbing and Electrical, WesTrac, Boss Private Clients, UIM Investment Management and Watsons, through to our weekend race team.

During the week I basically look after most of the day to day running, prep and management of the Porsche, so gearing up for a weekend where I will spend a lot of time away from the Porsche Carrera Cup tent in the V8 Supercar garages will be a great challenge for me, Darrin who is our race weekend Team Manager and Ken who is Darrins right hand man. We’ll have to have all our ducks in a row. It will be a tough weekend to ensure everything goes to plan.

At the end of the day while the L&H 500 and Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 V8 Supercar races with Ford Performance Racing are very important to me, so is getting a great result for everyone that has made a big commitment to our Porsche Carrera Cup program this year.

In any case in 1 week from now history will tell us how it all went.

See you somewhere soon.

Richo.

Our conference started with the Laser Tour from Adelaide to Darwin. The Laser Plumbing and Electrical team had organized a route stopping overnight in Adelaide, Coober Pedy, Uluru (Ayers Rock), Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, and Katherine before a welcome in Darwin. Along the way 30 members from Australia and New Zealand would be raising some funds for Variety the Children’s Charity. At each location we had the Porsche on display and gave away our posters for a gold coin donation.

On arrival in Darwin the conference of around 500 greeted our tour which included Hailsy and Trippy who had spent 12 months rebuilding a 1969 Landrover with Holden 186 engine for the trip. They were the real heroes, leaving at 5 in the morning to get far enough up the road to meet us at the next destination. The old Landy would only do about 85 km/h flat out and as the weather got hotter so did the Landy.

Not to forget that on the Tuesday, the Plumbers, Electricians and suppliers donated their labour and expertise to help renovate the Goanna Park youth camp about 150 km’s out from Darwin.

The conference itself was fantastic with Laser Plumbers and Electricians from both sides of the Tasman. Top class guest speakers, Lasers major suppliers, fantastic night time entertainment along with fantastic Territorian local hospitality, oh and did I mention the weather!!

The conference finished on a high with the ‘L’ factor concert extravaganza. I made it along as one of the guest judges and there were some incredibly talented tradies belting out a few classics.

On the Monday after the conference we had 10 rides to undertake for Variety who had Auctioned them off during the month leading up to the conference. It was great to get the Laser Racing Porsche out on the Hidden Valley circuit for around 30 laps. Needless to say everyone walked away with a ‘smile on their dial’.

Then Ange and I loaded up the Laser Racing Carrera Cup Car and headed Southbound for Melbourne. But hey theres a whole other chapter in that Blog for some other time. What an adventure!

See you later.

Richo.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks since Townsville. The drive home was great fun with Ange and the kids in the truck.

The race weekend itself didn’t quite go as we were hoping, but that is going to happen now and again. Mind you we wouldn’t want another one like that for our Championship aspirations.

The Laser Plumbing and Electrical Porsche was fast enough, we just had a few things not go our way. A lock up on some fluid in the first race, a bump from behind in the second which spun us around, before the final run home back into 5th place. It dropped us down in the Championship from first to 4th, but there is still plenty of racing left in this Championship!

I’ve also had a bit to do for Ford Performance Racing during this week. They had their first drive day for the year at Winton. As a co driver with Mark Winterbottom for the enduros it’s good mileage in the car. Phillip Island is the next race on the agenda for the Porsche, but it’s ALSo the first of the V8 endurance races for the year. At Bathurst we will also be piloting the Laser Racing Porsche.

We have some fun coming up in the next couple of weeks as well. Firstly it’s off to Eastern Creek Raceway in NSW for FPR and the Laser team for another ride day, before the big road trip to Darwin for Laser Plumbing and Electrical’s National Conference.

Lots happening even when there’s not much racing going on.

Richo.

Tomorrow we set sail with the kids on a road trip up the center of Victoria, NSW and Qld in the truck for our next event on the calendar in far North Queensland.

I’ve grabbed the keys to Dads truck for the three and a half day journey, with the only worry being the kids constant cries of “how much further”.

It’s been a big break since our last event in WA. The first weekend in May, but with that said there has been enough fun and frivolity to ‘fill up the dance card’.

In fact I am just on a Qantas flyer, having been apart of on of the most enjoyable motoring events I’ve been a part of. This is the third year that MOTOR magazine have held the Castrol Edge hot Tuner Challenge. The connection is that I am an Ambassador for the Castrol Edge oil brand.

The event is all about the Aussie car tuning industry and allows any company to enter their own personalized automotive weapon and let me tell you there are some weapons amongst them.

There are various different categories including Aussie muscle, Open Anything and European Exotics and some of the different takes on the different cars are astounding. Most of course are supercharged or Turbo charged, but others have levered bigger engines into existing models ie the 7 ltr Harrop Engineering inspired SS Commodore, or a VW Golf Wagon with a turbo charged R32 V6. Regardless the variety is outstanding and the level of engineering and workmanship is second to none.

The testing criteria is also quite vast. We were doing the test at Sydney’s Eastern Creek raceway, so fastest lap of the circuit, dyno figures for power output, quarter mile times on the dragstrip and a wet motorkhana exercise.

So, what was the best car you may ask? For that answer you’ll have to buy MOTORS hot Tuner Challenge edition next month.

See you next week.

Rich.

Preparation is going well for the next event on the Porsche Carrera Cup Championship calendar. We completed our Laser Plumbing and Electrical ride day at Sandown in Victoria on Monday. Everyone left with a big smile on their collective faces, with USB stick of their lap in their hands.

Darrin and Cappa (Kenny) were on hand to keep the car in tip top condition and make sure that the passengers were strapped in nice and comfortable. Meanwhile the Laser Team were there to help out with downloading the videos from the car and get the customers suited up and have their lifes signed away with the indemnity’s. Nice job Ash and Dan!!

We even had a Hyperstimulator on hand where people could race a Porsche Cup Car around Sandown and Cam from Crownpro was on hand to showcase our range of merchandise and grab some video highlights of the day.

We had the man responsible for many of the trick photos of our Porsche in this months MOTOR magazine, Christian Brunelli taking the shots for us.

We had 60 people through the car which was great. I spent around 5 hours in car, which is great training for later in the year for the V8 Supercar enduros at Phillip Island and Bathurst.

After a quick pack up it was on to dinner to tell war stories from the days adventures.

The day was a fantastic success. The happy faces of the Laser members and their customers said it all.

So with that said we have a busy week ahead with an event in Bendigo tomorrow night for Laser Plumbing and Laser Electrical, finalizing the car prep and setup for Townsville before heading off next week with Ange and the kids.

Cant wait!!

Richo.

We’re pretty lucky as drivers being able to indulge in our passion day in and out. With that said it’s not all Screeching Tyres and fast gear changes in between race meetings.

Last weekend was the Castrol Edge Winternational Drag Racing event. This is the biggest drag racing event outside the USA. Unfortunately rain arrived late on Saturday afternoon and the event was postponed before we got to have a run. Lucky for the Pro Stock car I reckon!

Next week we have our second Laser Plumbing and Electrical Ride day. We’ll have around 60 people to run through our car. Following the Ride Day we have a bit of a relaxed dinner function for the Laser members and some of their key customers and staff, let our hair down and have a bit of a laugh about the days experiences.

Later in the week we’ll be up in Bendigo for Laser Plumbing and Laser Electrical. We have an invitation only event for their customers. We’ll have the car on display for photos and posters along with an Auction to raise some money for Beyond Blue.

After the Bendigo event, we’ll have a few days to prepare the car for the next event on the Porsche Carrera Cup Championship trail in Townsville.

Don’t forget you can keep up to date with us on Twitter and Facebook.

All the best.

Rich

There are many racing categories that the Porsche 911 model compete in. From the high tech Lemans 24 racing models through to the successful businessman that race in the international GT3 Championship. But it is the Porsche Carrera Cup Championship that has been the showcase for all of Porsches 911 models since the early 1990′s.

The Carrera Cup racing cars are based very much around the Porsche GT3 RS road going model. Porsche Motorsport in Germany build around 180 of these cars for Championships around the world. Championships are held in Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Asia. The Porsche Supercup is the ultimate Carrera Cup Championship as it supports most of the major European Formula 1 Championship events.

The Championship first came to Australia in 2003 and ran successfully until finishing in 2008 after the category management fell on hard times. In 2010 Porsche cars Australia decided to bring it back to Australia with a commitment of 22 brand new cars.

With a 7 round Championship following most of the major V8 Supercars Championship, the Porsche Carrera Cup has gained major support category billing at these events.

With the first two rounds complete the Laser Plumbing and Electrical Porsche sits at the top of the table which is a pretty good place to be!

The next round of the Championship heads up to Townsville in far north Qld on July 8 to 10.

If you’re in to your Porsches or more importantly our Laser Racing Porsche, check out this months MOTOR Magazine. We’ve done a story comparing our race car to the road going cousin Porsche GT3 RS.

Until next time.

Richo

On friday evening the 27th of May, we had our first Laser Plumbing and Electrical fundraising event in Ballarat.

Rob, Glenn, Scott and the team had organized the local Footy ground as a venue to hold a night for their customers and suppliers to come along, checkout our Laser Racing Porsche on display and also the Laser Electrical Altered Drag car of Chris Geddes.

It was a fantastic night. We signed a heap of posters for the kids of some of Laser Electrical’s customers. We also had a photographer available to take photos with the car which could then be emailed out to everyone the following week.

We started the afternoon at 5 pm, so the local Auskick kids could come and checkout the car and get a signed poster and a photo. Then from 6.30pm we moved inside for the function.

The Ballarat Courier newspaper also came out and did a bit of a story and took a photo with me and the Porsche. Then in the story they ran this week, promoted the fact that the Laser Electrical team had raised over $5000 for the local MS foundation.

The $5000 was raised through an auction of around a dozen items including a limited edition of framed Laser Racing Shirts that Laser Group services have had made.

Two of Rob and Glenn’s apprentices got up for a chat and told of their experiences being involved in the World trade skills competition in Europe, then I got up for a bit of a chat about my own motorsport career along with Chris Geddes who heads off to the Drag Racing Nationals in a couple of weeks. Not to forget the local MS foundation who have a very strong association in Ballarat.

It was a terrific night and true to form there were a few cold drinks consumed which added to the evening.

Well done everyone.

Richo

Want to see a smile on your face like you can see here on Ash Clemmett?
Perhaps you’d like to treat someone special to the experience of a lifetime?

Limited opportunities are available to join Steven Richards on a couple of hot laps in the Laser Racing Carrera Cup Porsche GT3, at a race track near you. All proceeds are going to Variety, the children’s charity, so you can feel great that you are also helping a very worthy cause.

As part of the package, you will get a video of your laps and a signed photo of yourself with Steve and the car.

Book your place NOW, to make sure you don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity.