The runner up from last year, Jake Santalucia along with Conor Somers, will spearhead the Sonic assault on the second tier Porsche which begins this weekend at Phillip Island.

On his way to second in the National Formula Ford Series in his rookie year, Santalucia had a breakthrough round win at Symmons Plains before scored another at The Bend at the final round.

“Going Porsche racing opens up opportunities all over the world and is something I want to do as I eventually want to compete against the best GT drivers in the world. Sonic has what I’m looking for in my progression and it was a simple choice to stay,” said Santalucia.

Somers began his Formula Ford season as a privateer before he joined Sonic at the beginning of last year. He finished sixth overall in the points and as part of the Sonic organisation, worked as part of the crew on the Porsche cars.

“I’m prepping the Sonic Porsches in the workshop. I’ve been learning about how these cars work the best through listening to the mechanics and engineers. This will help me when I jump into the driver’s seat because I’ll know a little bit more about how they all go together and what makes them tick,” said Somers.

They completed testing in preparation for the season ahead, and aspire to follow the likes of Marcos Flack who won on debut in Carrera Cup following his ascendancy from Sprint Challenge.

Sonic won the inaugural series with Sven Burchartz in 2008, the first of another four titles in a row which made the team the most success in Australian Porsche Motorsport history.

“It’s great to see two of our Formula Ford drivers from last year step up for the Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge in 2024,” said Sonic Motor Racing Services team owner, Michael Ritter.

“We’ve seen many of our Formula Ford drivers do this, and many with great success. We have every confidence that Jake and Conor will be perform very well in this class.

“Our career development pathways that we have at Sonic are something that we are very proud of and we are hoping, like last year in Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge, we will be fighting for race wins every race weekend.”