Race car driver on dream mission

One of the Porsche GT3 Cup cars will be converted to Porsche Supercup specifications. Photo / Supplied

Another young talented New Zealand race car driver is about to head overseas to test Porsches at the highest level. Nineteen-year-old Jono Lester leaves for Bahrain on December 3 for a fortnight to test and develop the new 2010 Porsche GT3 Cup car with Lechner Racing and Porsche AG.

The testing will coincide with pre-season testing for the new Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East, which is also being run and operated by Lechner Racing. Lester will join teammate Stefan Rosina driving all 18 of the 2010 cars doing preliminary mileage and setup development for cars being used in the Middle East series. They will also be on hand to coach any number of Middle Eastern drivers who want to avail themselves of the Porsche drivers' expertise.

One of the cars will be converted to Porsche Supercup spec (carbon ceramic brakes etc) and used specifically for serious testing by Lester and Rosina in preparation for the Supercup series in 2010. These two will be the first drivers to get a taste of the new 2010 spec cars and the series begins in Bahrain next year with two races.

Walter Lechner Snr has a history with New Zealand motorsport after bringing Alex Wurz here in 1991 in Formula Ford, and his son Robert in Formula Holden a few years later. He struck up a relationship with Lester's father Richard when he was running Greg Murphy and then Ashley Stichbury in the Shell Scholarship Formula Fords. Stichbury did his motorsport OE with Lechner Racing by spending an extended period of time with the team in Europe. Lechner then sold four of his European Formula Fords to Richard Lester Motorsport in the late 1990s that were used in New Zealand as Van Diemen RF92s.

Lechner recently offered Lester the opportunity to test with him in July at the Hungaroring, Hungary, where he spent two days behind the wheel of Damien Faulkner's Porsche GT3 Cup car around the 4.4km circuit.

"My time behind the wheel of a Supercup car was an amazing experience, as was the atmosphere of the European circuits, and both the professionalism and hospitality I experienced as part of the Lechner Racing team," said Lester. "Walter Lechner is not only a highly accomplished driver in his own right, but he went out of his way to make sure I got the most out of my time with the team, and I have come away far better for it."

In addition to the Supercup, Lechner is working on a Le Mans project for 2011 that involves Lester as a driver. His dream in motorsport is to race at Le Mans in the iconic 24-hour race.

Lester is not racing in the New Zealand series this year so that all his energy can be directed to the 2010 Supercup series.

"I want to focus all my time on getting ready for the Supercup rather than split my focus on two race series," he said. "I'm looking forward to doing a full season with the Lechner team in the Supercup cars starting in Bahrain next year. The testing is going to be invaluable for me in the lead up to what is going to be a really exciting year for me in Supercup."