Fujitsu Racing Secures Co-Driver for Phillip Island
Published on the 29th of April 2014 by McElrea RacingFujitsu Racing has confirmed Tim Miles as its Elite class co-driver for the upcoming Porsche Carrera Cup Australia (PCCA) round at Phillip Island.
Miles will make his PCCA series debut partnering the team’s regular Pro class driver, Renee Gracie in the Fujitsu Racing Porsche.
To be held from May 23-25, the Phillip Island event is the third round of the series and the only event to feature a two-driver, Pro/ Am format. As per last year’s Porsche Rennsport event, the race format will consist of 2 x 1-hour races where each regular Pro class driver must be paired with an Elite class driver, and vice versa.
In Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, drivers such as Gracie who pursue motorsport as a primary career are classed as Pro drivers, while drivers whose regular vocation is not motorsport compete in the Elite class. Drivers in the Elite category are mostly successful businessmen who have taken up motorsport as a serious pastime, or have previously competed at a semi-professional level.
Miles is the founder and principal of Miles Advisory Partners, a corporate advisory firm specialising in business divestments and mergers and acquisitions. Miles is best known in motorsport for his tenure as a part-owner of V8 Supercar team Tasman Motorsport, and for most recently managing the sale process of V8 Supercars to its current majority shareholder, Archer Capital.
Miles previously raced Formula Ford in his native New Zealand in the late 1980s, before heading to England where he worked with the Pacific and Bowman racing teams in Formula 3, followed by a stint with Vic Lee Motorsport in the British Touring Car Championship. In 2011, Miles returned to the driver’s seat in the Aussie Racing Cars category and currently races in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge with McElrea Racing, the same team that has run Gracie in PCCA for the past two seasons.
Gracie is coming off her best ever performance at the recent Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix, where the 19-year old finished 10th in the second race of the weekend and recorded career-best , qualifying, race and round results.
TIM MILES
“I am really looking forward to stepping up to Porsche Carrera Cup for the Phillip Island event. It will be a big step up from what I am used to but I am excited about racing one of the brand-new 991 model cars on one of the fastest and most exciting tracks in the country. Renee has really come on in leaps and bounds since she progressed to Carrera Cup from karts last year, and I am delighted to be teaming up with her.”_