By Bruce Williams
Date of publication: July 8, 2022
The latest iteration of the Australian design and engineering MARC car has hit the track for the basic systems disassembly test at Queensland Raceway.
The MARC GT car prototype has been tested without major body panel components installed, such as the nose section, hood, rear panels, boot lid and rear bumpers.
The test session by PACE Innovations with former Super2 driver Dan Jilesen completing the laps behind the wheel.
Although the car looked very incomplete, it featured the main aerodynamic components that will incorporate the production versions of the new Mercedes C63-inspired coupe racing car.
MARC Cars owner Geoff Taunton was in attendance to see how the latest creation took to the track in its unfinished form and spoke with AUTO ACTION while the test was underway.
“PACE Innovations wanted to do verification tests on the chassis and drive line components and everything went really well,” Taunton said.
“It looked a little nasty, but it was perfectly safe with all the main aerodynamic components in place, including the front splitter and rear wing, which allowed us to test what has been developed so far for this new car.
“It is an exciting time for MARC Cars and PACE Innovations because we have made some significant updates to the concept with this new version of the car.
“The changes made make the car cheaper to build in the first place and we believe there will also be significant reductions in the costs of competing with cars.
“This is the latest technology, developed with the MARC I and MARC II programs, and PACE Innovations has worked hard to create a fantastic new package, based on what we know. It is showing great speed and balance for its first session on track.
The new MARC GT makes its track debut at the Queensland Raceway – Images: MTR Images
“Once fully developed, we believe lap times will be similar to the Porsche Cup Car at a cost of around $ 275,000, and this is a race car with all the latest GT technical features, such as traction control , ABS controlled by MoTeC systems.
“Some changes have been made to the mechanical part of things and the MARC GT will feature a 6.2-liter LS3 engine. The LS engine is significantly cheaper to buy than the Ford Coyote engine that our other cars have used. MARCH.
“The cost of acquiring the Ford engine has increased significantly in recent times, so we’ve changed the LS engine. They’re new engines that are similar to the power units that are installed in local racing Trans Am cars. , so we have a lot of knowledge about how they work and reliability, and so on.
“We believe it’s a great new package and we still believe that, as with all of our cars, these are a big step for Supercars – they have a lot of similar features and have the speed to match at a very affordable cost.
“This prototype will see the balance of panels arrive for the final tests at the end of August. Production cars for customers will continue, with the first three chassis already sold.”
The MARC GT prototype is owned by Mark Petch, owner of Racer Products in New Zealand. Petch is the importer of MARC cars in New Zealand and this chassis will be shipped to New Zealand after testing in August to continue testing there and show them to potential New Zealand customers.
A total of 28 MARC cars have been built throughout the program, and recently MARC Cars Australia has been testing a MARC car championship in 2022 and with the aim of running a full standalone series schedule next year.
The MARC series allows all MARC cars to run together, separated by classes according to the car model.
For more information on the latest motorsport news, read the current issue of Auto Action.
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