VIP Takes On The World In 2007 Starting In Adelaide This Week

Team VIP Petfoods commences its huge 2007 campaign at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide this week with its defending champions in both the Carrera Cup and Aussie Racing Cars aiming to continue their hot form from last season.

Team VIP Petfoods has set itself to be a ‘Top Dog’ in not only Australian but International motorsport in 2007.

After winning two Australian championships last year in the Porsche Carrera Cup and Aussie Racing Cars as well as placing a remarkable ninth on debut at the prestigious Nurburgring 24-Hour race in Germany, Team VIP Petfoods is embarking on its busiest motorsport schedule in 2007.

The Gold Coast-based team will compete over 24 weekends this year, with cars entered in Carrera Cup, Aussie Racing Cars, Drift Australia Series, as well as in the premier Targa events in Australia and New Zealand, and the Nurburgring 24-Hour race for a second time this June.

Craig Baird and Paul Kemal will be out to retain their national titles in the Carrera Cup and Aussie Racing Cars respectively. Tony and Klark Quinn will join Baird in the team’s three-car Carrera Cup assault. Robbie Bolger will be supported by VIP Petfoods in the Toyo Drift Australia series. While three-time New Zealand Rally champion Joe McAndrew will also bear the VIP Petfoods logo in his Dunlop Targa New Zealand quest.

Joining Team VIP Petfoods in 2007 is a new Team Manager Craig Edgely who will service and maintain the outfit’s stable of Porsches and fleet of company vehicles.

Team owner and driver Tony Quinn said an aim was to firmly establish the team as Australia’s premier international endurance team.

“We are currently investigating running a Porsche 997 RSR in some of the major endurance races around the world, ” said Quinn.

“It is all part of our push of the brand into international markets, and to give Australia a team capable of winning some of these major races.

“We’d also still run a Porsche 996, which was a top-10 finisher at Nurburgring last year, to give us a two-car assault. With these, the world is our oyster! ”

Baird has his sights set firmly on becoming the Carrera Cup’s first back-to-back champion in the championship’s five year history.

“That would be a great achievement and one that we will be working very hard towards, ” said Baird.

“Team VIP Petfoods is a very professional outfit and has the resources and experience to give the Carrera Cup another good shake.

“There will be some tough competition again this year which will make it one of the most exciting motor racing championships in Australia. ”

Klark Quinn will aim to go close to his best series finish of fifth in 2005.

“My aim is to definitely improve on last year which wasn’t the best of years in my motor racing career, ” said Klark Quinn.

“I am taking it a lot more seriously, trying to get into a fitness routine and really get in some quality racing and training before the Nurburgring race.

“If all goes well I’ll hopefully be close to a top five in the Carrera Cup as well but we really want to give Nurburgring a big effort. ”

It might be fourth time lucky for Tony Quinn in the Carrera Cup. For the past three seasons Quinn has been runner-up in the TAG Heuer Carrera Challenge for privateer drivers aged over 30.

“I’ve been second too many times now, ” said Quinn. “I’ll give it my best shot and try to be as consistent as I can. Dean Grant has won it through consistency before but it will be a tough championship with Rodney Jane and a few others right up there. ”

This will be the fourth year of Team VIP Petfoods’ support of Kemal in the Aussie Racing Cars.

As a reward for Kemal’s series win last year, Tony Quinn has offered Kemal a test in a Team VIP Petfoods Porsche.

“It is just a test at this stage, ” Kemal said. “Who knows, if it goes well it may open a few doors for my future racing. But I am totally focused on defending my Aussie Racing Cars title in 2007 at the moment. ”

Kemal, who also won the series in 2001, is one of the most successful drivers in series history, having won more races than any other driver and also holding the record for the most consecutive race wins.

“Paul has done a great job over the past few years for us in the Aussie Racing Cars and we are more than happy to be involved with him again in 2007, ” said Quinn.

“We have been extremely impressed with his performance in the category, which has resulted in us offering him a test in one of our Carerra Cup cars. ”

The 2007 Carrera Cup and Aussie Racing Cars championships commence at Adelaide’s Clipsal 500 from March 1 to 4. Carrera Cup will be telecast both live and delayed on the Seven Network this year, while the Aussie Racing Cars will be telecast on Fox Sports with its own exclusive program each month.

Robbie Bolger will be out to build on his fine third placing last year in the Toyo Drift Australia Series when he contests this year’s championship in his 800 horsepower Holden Monaro.

Drifting is one of the fastest growing forms of motorsport in the world and has developed into one of the most competitive in Australia. The first round got underway last weekend in Barbagallo, with Bolger finishing 15th out of the 30 entrants.

The television coverage for each round consists of ‘Speedweek’ (SBS) on Sundays at 12 noon; ‘Inside Speed (Fox Sports) on Wednesdays at 8.30pm; Channel Nine on Saturdays at 12 noon; and, Fox Sports on Thursdays at 7pm.

Off the track, Team VIP Petfoods will vie for victory in some of the premier targa rallies in the southern hemisphere including Targa Tasmania, Suncoast Rally, Australian Safari, Targa West, Dunlop Targa New Zealand and the Mount Buller Sprint.

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