Bayley Hall joins McElrea Racing in Porsche for 2021.

As a Grade 12 student at    Coomera Anglican College in Queensland, the talented GT racer sees 2021 as an opportunity to get                                                        acquainted with the first generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, before he starts his ascent up the Porsche                                              Motorsport Pyramid.

                                             “I’m very excited for this new chapter in my racing career. It’s all a bit surreal, but it’s a dream come                                                     true to announce that I will be with the McElrea team in a Porsche next year,” Hall said.   

                                            Hall has already amassed a large amount of experience despite his young age, having competed a                                                          number of different racing series and cars. His natural speed and adaptability was apparent from early in                                              his career, having finished second overall in both the 2019 Gold Coast round of the Australia GT                                                          Championship and the 2020 Bathurst combined sedans series. Hall also became the youngest ever                                                        podium finisher at the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year, finishing third in class in a Marc Cars Mustang                                              V8.

                                            Andy McElrea said, “We’ve been watching Bayley’s progress for a couple of years and for such a young                                              guy, he already has vast mileage and experience in a variety of cars. A year ago we chatted about a                                                        potential future with MR and having a shot at the Porsche Pyramid, following in the footsteps of Matt                                                  and Jaxon in Europe. We did an evaluation test with him a couple of weeks ago and we were very                                                          impressed with his first run in a cup car, needless to say, he has a very exciting few years ahead of him!”                                                           

                                            Hall partnered with McElrea Racing’s Warren Luff for the Bathurst event, “I’m excited that Luffy will                                                  be one of my mentors at McElrea as he has known me since I was a toddler playing Mario kart. We get                                                on very well and it was a huge experience to drive with him at one of the biggest races in Australia                                                        earlier this year.”

                                            Hall will also be part of the Porsche Michelin Junior Programme in 2021, which in the past has seen                                                      drivers like Nick Foster, Dylan O’Keeffe, Andre Heimgartner, Jaxon Evans, Jordan Love and Matt                                                        Campbell go onto to compete at the highest level of the sport both locally and internationally.

                                            Campbell and Evans both started their Porsche careers with McElrea Racing in Porsche Michelin                                                          Sprint Challenge (formerly known as GT3 Cup Challenge) before going onto win the Porsche PAYCE                                                  Carrera Cup titles in 2016 and 2018 respectively.

                                            On the prospect of joining Australia’s benchmark junior development programme Hall said, “I’m                                                          looking forward to learning as much as I can in the Porsche Michelin Junior Programme and my goal                                                    is to ultimately win the Sprint Challenge series, before I make the step into the main game in Carrera                                                    Cup.”

                                            “The opportunity to drive the GT3 Cup car in the test session for around 100 laps was incredible.                                                           Working with the likes of race engineer, Leigh Geyer and the rest of the McElrea team was also an                                                       amazing opportunity,“ Hall enthused.

                                            “After seeing the success the team have had in the past with the likes of Matt and Jaxon, I’m really                                                         looking forward to stepping up to the Porsche one-make series next year, as the cars are identical and                                                   the national competition is at the highest level,” Hall concluded.

                                            The Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge series gets underway at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in                                                 February of 2021.

                                           Credits:

                                            Porsche Motorsport Australia 

                                              https://www.carreracup.com.au/bayley-hall-joins-mcelrea-racing-for-2021-porsche-michelin-sprint-challenge-season/