Porsche forces teams into rival series.

Germany?s new V8STAR series has received some unexpected help from Porsche, as team owner Harald Grohs felt so let down by the Stuttgart racing department that he became the first customer to buy two V8STAR machines.

Once one of the strongest supporters of the national Porsche Carrera Cup, former long-time racer Grohs reacted swiftly and bought the first two cars from the organisers as soon as the new V8STAR series for silhouette touring cars appeared on the German racing scene, giving them a hugely popular name they could use as an additional advertisement for their new series.

Grohs' support doesn?t come instead of an assault on the Porsche Carrera Cup, however, but, even though the 52 year-old will enter two cars in the Porsche series, the one-make championship is the reason for him turning to V8STAR.

Grohs and other team owners feel let down by Herbert Ampferer, the head of Porsche?s racing department. Ampferer has used his influence on sponsor HP to the dislike of the long-serving Porsche teams. After HP split with the team of Harry Valier, Ampferer is rumoured to have made contact between the sponsor and Opel DTM team Phoenix Racing, which is believed to have a strong interest in joining the Carrera Cup as a second battlefield in addition to its DTM programme.

The team's link with Porsche is not new - Dirk Theimann and Ernst Moser had already entered the winning Porsche 911 GT3-R at this year?s Nurburgring 24 hour race. The Porsche, driven by Uwe Alzen, Altfrid Heger, Bernd Maylander and Michael Bartels, was a hidden factory project, with Porsche?s own engineer Roland Kussmaul working on the car and parts of Porsche?s evolution model 911 GT3-RS already mounted to and tested at the new GT3-R.

Because of Phoenix?s DTM deal with Opel, the team?s name should not appear in the Porsche documents, and the new team is believed to be either named after the new sponsor - or carry the name of big Porsche dealer Porsche Zentrum Koblenz (PZK), a partner with the team of Wolfgang Land for the past three seasons. Phoenix?s deals with both HP and PZK have caused anger among the traditional Porsche teams.

"We have stood loyal with Porsche and the series when they only had 12 or 13 cars," Grohs explained, "and, now that the series has gone through the hard times and has gotten back on track, Porsche thanks us for our support by financing an all-new team. I don?t envy Phoenix - but I strongly believe that any of us long serving teams would have deserved to be brought together with that sponsor."

Land wondered 'how long Porsche wants us privateer teams to make up the numbers in a Porsche Carrera Cup that turns into a full factory sport' - because the new outfit has not only gotten the factory sponsor and the new partner but is also likely to be teaming up with two factory drivers.

Alexander Davison, a former Formula Ford driver from Australia, is linked with the money from HP and gets such strong support from Porsche Australia that many consider him as a factory driver. German Christian Menzel, who drove for Opel Team Irmscher in the 2000 DTM season, is currently talking to Porsche about a full factory drive - but denies that everything is already wrapped up.

"I'm working on various projects, and I also haven?t given up on another year in DTM," Menzel insisted.

A Porsche contract seems to be the most likely option - which then would annoy the Eichin team that had planned a Carrera Cup season around Menzel as well.

The discussion surrounding Ampferer ironically aid his successor in Porsche?s chair. Max Welti is now in charge of the new V8STAR series, and was lucky enough that Grohs signed in as its first team.

"To have a name like him is a big boost with the other teams," the tall Swiss admitted, "Many will think about our championship more seriously when a man like Grohs has committed himself to it."

Grohs' move has indeed kicked things off, with almost every team owner from the Carrera Cup having spoken to V8STAR in the meantime, and Land?s plans are particularly well detailed already.

They are not as precise as Grohs', however, as he has already signed German hotshot Patrick Simon to race for his team in both the Carrera Cup and V8STAR.

The arrival of Simon, a qualified architect, is a clear message to the rest of the field. The 24-year-old from Wiesbaden is known as the most aggressive and fastest German youngster of rear-wheel-driven touring cars that has emerged through the rankings in recent years, and Simon and Grohs must be considered clear favourites in V8-STAR?s maiden season.