In association with Pace Innovations, Marc Cars Australia ran the prototype all-new Marc GT at Queensland Raceway last Thursday with V8 Supercar driver Brodie Kostecki at the wheel in an extensive test program.
But, delays in the delivery of the front bonnet from its Melbourne composite manufacturing company looked to derail the test before it even got underway. Pace Innovations, famed design engineer Paul Ceprnich, was eager to press on with the program to get Kostecki familiar with the car until the front bonnet showed up.
Kostecki quickly showed the car’s potential on its standard wheel and tyre package -which utilizes the current 290x680x18 Dunlop V8 Supercar tyres on 11×18″ Koya wheel’s-lapping in 71 seconds on used rubber; without the additional downforce, the missing bonnet would generate. To put that time into context, the lap record for the Marc1 V8 Ford focus is 1:11.4 seconds, some 2 seconds faster than a TA2 car and some 3 seconds slower than a V8 Supercar.
Meanwhile, the rear wing angle was reduced to achieve a better aero balance, and Kostecki wasted no time dropping into 10s. Happy with the aero-balance, Ceprnich was keen to fit the optional wider rear 12″ Koya forged wheel and Michelin tyre package and sent Kostecki out for one more run before the front bonnet was due to arrive.
The grins on the faces of Geoff Taunton, Marc Cars MD, and Ceprenich told the story without the need for words; such was their excitement, Brodie had cracked the 1 minute 10-second lap, minus the front bonnet!
The bonnet duly arrived, along with lunch, and the Pace boys wasted no time devising a temporary measure to secure the bonnet as quickly as possible. Bolts, cable ties, and “Gaffa” tape were all employed to ensure no embarrassing loss of the bonnet on track.
Lunch over, Kostecki was dispatched to gauge the effect of the expected change aero in-balance. It only took one lap before he was back in pit lane, saying the front splitter was bottoming out. After several turns of increased front ride height adjustment, Kostecki returned to the track, and it wasn’t long before jubilation in the team erupted again, with a high eight creating high-fives all-round.
More set-up change followed, and as the day drew to a close, a planned long run had to be aborted when a track watering pipe burst, at turn one, nearly spelt disaster, with Kostecki saying, “Man, that was an O’shit scary moment”. Once the track staff had shut down the problem water pipe, the test day resumed with Kostecki having to tip-toe through the still wet Turn One.
With only minutes left before track closure and turn one finally dry, Kostecki was sent out on a mission to break a 1.8. He did just that, recording a best lap of 67.4 seconds in near-perfect conditions, warm dry track and cool ambient temperatures.
Kostecki said “It’s an incredible piece of kit. Pace has done an incredible job with this car; that’s the fastest I have ever been around Queensland Raceway”!
“It feels very nice to drive more like a GT car, except it is a little quicker than a GT3 car; it’s a bloody cool thing to drive,
It’s very different to a V8 Supercar, as it’s got a lot more front-end downforce. It’s also got ABS, paddle shift, traction control, ‘all the fruit’, absolutely awesome car, no doubt about it. I can’t wait to do the next two planned test days when it will have the complete body, rear diffuser, etc.”
The Marc GT’s 67.4 lap time also proved marginally faster than the latest-spec GT3 machinery managed during qualifying when GT World Challenge Australia raced at the venue days earlier.
“I am absolutely wrapped, said Marc Cars Geoff Taunton; we know there is more to come when the rear trunk lid is on the car. The base Marc GT, on V8 Supercar spec 290x680x18” Dunlops tyres, is already as quick as the new generation Porsche 992 Cup Car, at nearly half the price! The car is built here in Australia, as are both the Marc1, [now discontinued] and our flagship Marc2 V8 Mustang-inspired car, which has recently been upgraded with the 670 BHP 5.4-litre Coyote engine and revised underfloor aero package.
Paul Ceprnich said that he was happy with the car’s performance and that it ticked all the boxes as far as Pace Innovations were concerned. “We can now set up to produce these cars in volume, with the first customer car delivered early next year. Once we gear up, we should be able to build one new turn-key Marc GT a month”.
The base Marc GT retails in Australia for A$265K; however, most buyers will tick the optional Bosch Mk5 ABS and traction control box, which adds a further A$10K. The forged seven-spoke wheel package with its one-inch wider 12″ rear wheel adds A$6K, but given the significant increase in performance, it’s a comparatively cheap way to reduce lap times.
The Marc GT features a 560 BHP, dry sumped, GM LS3 engine, with an aftermarket intake manifold and custom equal length exhaust headers. Power is transferred directly from the crankshaft via a solid steel prop shaft to the rear six-speed Holinger Transaxle, which houses a 5.5″ triple plate Tilton Clutch and starter motor. The 150 Amp Alternator sits on a bracket above the bell housing and is driven by a multi-grove pulley mounted on the input shaft. The front to rear weight distribution is said to be an ideal 50/50 with 30 litres of fuel in the rear-mounted fuel cell.
Marc Cars are distributed in New Zealand by Racer Products Ltd, www.racerproducts.co.nz
