James Burgmuller will make a return to top level motorsport next year after a four-year hiatus.

The Victorian will compete in the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup, driving a brand-new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machine.

Burgmuller’s Porsche will be maintained at his Porsche dealership in Brighton, while Steve Richards Motorsport will offer track support to the new team.

The brand-new Porsche was delivered recently to Burgmuller, who competed with Greg Murphy Racing in the 2008 Development Series driver.

He will get his first laps of the car at Winton tomorrow.

Burgmuller says that he hopes to be running consistently inside the top five by the end of next year’s championship.

“I’ve been out for four years, so I’ll need some time to get the race craft back up to scratch and get my guys to learn how to maintain them,” Burgmuller told Speedcafe.com.

“It’s a learning year, and the following year, we’ll be in the new model and we expect to be very competitive by then.

“It’s certainly not a one or two year project – it’s a five year thing, and we’re hoping to be consistently in the top five next year.”

Meanwhile, Richards hopes that this will be the first step towards an expanded team outfit, indicating that he is willing to take another car full-time under his wing.

“I don’t want to become a sweatshop for Porsche customers – my attention has to remain on my own car – but I do feel that there’s room to run one other car from my workshop, as well as providing the track support for James,” Richards told Speedcafe.com.

“I wouldn’t considering running any more cars than that. There’s plenty of interest in Career Cup at the moment. I’ve had enquires from people who are looking to steep up from GT3 Cup or move from other categories.”