Team Porsche New Zealand (TPNZ) driver Zac Stichbury has unveiled a fresh Whittaker’s Chocolate ‘Peanut Slab’ themed livery for the TPNZ 991.2 GT3 Cup car racing in Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia 2023.
“It’s very special to have Whittaker’s support this season,” commented Stichbury. “The relationship started with my father back in the 90s when dad raced in Formula Ford with the iconic Whittaker’s Almond Gold livery. It’s so cool to follow in his footsteps and represent their brand once again with this amazing Peanut Slab livery on the Porsche Cup Car.
“It’s awesome to have the backing and support from Porsche NZ, EBM and Whittaker’s and I can’t thank them all enough. I’m super excited to roll out this weekend for round two at Tasmania and continue moving forward in this championship. Hopefully, we can spray some champagne and celebrate with a couple Peanut Slabs after.”
In striking gold and brown, the livery pays homage to the Kiwi chocolate favourite, a design that has been iconic in Kiwi motorsport since the late 1980s. The ‘Peanut Slab’ design was famously featured on the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth that was driven by Greg Murphy & Kayne Scott in the 1992 Wellington Street race. The chocolate design on the Porsche Cup Car is paired with the black fern bonnet and rear design featured on the 2023 Team Porsche New Zealand race cars.
The reveal of the new design announces the support of Whittaker’s Chocolate for Zac Stichbury in his debut Porsche season. Whittaker’s sponsorship of Zac is received with special significance, as the chocolate company also supported his late father Ashley Stichbury during his racing career. Ashley famously boasted a similar Whittaker’s ‘Almond Gold’ chocolate livery when racing in Formula Ford in the 1990’s.
Zac’s pursuit of Porsche victory follow’s his fathers’ motor racing footsteps, as Ashley Stichbury was selected to compete in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia before passing away in 2002. Zac was selected for Team Porsche New Zealand as a scholarship recipient in 2023 following their Scholarship shootout in October 2022, where the five top applicants were invited by Porsche New Zealand to test their skills in a 991.2 GT3 Cup car.
The new design won’t be missed on track as it makes its debut at the Tasmania SuperSprint this weekend (19-21 May). The Tasmania SuperSprint is round 2 in the 6 round Porsche Sprint Challenge series which runs until November 2023.
At Round 1 in March at Phillip Island, Stichbury saw strong results, with a quick pace throughout practice putting him in second place in qualifying. He achieved sixth in Race 1, fourth in Race 2 and his most impressive performance was in Race 3 where he climbed from 15th place to finish in fourth after running off the track midway through the race.
The Tasmania Sprint Challenge round will run alongside SuperCars which will be streamed on Sky Sports New Zealand.
Saturday, May 20
Race 1 – 11:40am AEST / 1:40pm NZST
Race 2 – 2:40pm AEST / 4:40pm NZST
Sunday, May 21
Race 3 – 11:50am AEST / 1:50pm NZST
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