South Australian racer Michael Almond will begin his maiden Carrera Cup Championship season in front of his home crowd at the season-opening Clipsal 500.

Almond will debut in one of the fresh Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991) cars in the one-make series on the Adelaide street circuit from February 27-March 2.

Porsche Cars Australia will conduct an official pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park from January 13-16 in an official hand-over to Carrera Cup competitors for the new machines.

“I couldn’t think of a better place to start the season. I grew up watching my father race at the Adelaide Street Circuit, so to race there myself in Carrera Cup is a dream,” Almond said.

Almond has been a regular in the second-tier Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Australia series for the past two seasons, placing third in the 2013 standings with three race wins.

He was scheduled to run in the final three rounds of the 2013 Carrera Cup Championship ahead of his full-time campaign next year but the plans were curtailed.

“I’ve now completed two seasons in GT3 Cup Challenge and also raced in the Touring Car Masters, V8 Utes and the Australian GT Championship.

“I am quite a late-comer to motorsport so making sure I’ve had enough seat time is crucial to bring me up to speed in terms of outright pace and racecraft.”

Almond has only one start in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship to his name when he competed in the 2012 season finale at Sydney Olympic Park.

The 2014 Carrera Cup will feature eight rounds, all run on the same program as the V8 Supercars with the exception of round 3 which will run at the Shannons Nationals event at Phillip Island from May 23-25.

The second round of the Porsche series will be held at the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne from March 13-16 where the V8 Supercars again feature in the traditional non-championship races.