The new season will see David Wall step out of V8 Supercars and back into sportscars, starting the racing year with the Bathurst 12 Hour and onto the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia.
The choice to do Bathurst was simple, not only was there a desire to return to the Mountain, the former Class winner had a raft of connections who were keen to race.
“Paul Tressider, who we run, he asked me if I would run with him in the Bathurst 12 Hour. He is a great bloke, I have known him for many, many years and he’s been a customer for at least 10 of those.”
“When the opportunity came to do the race, in a Porsche, it was definitely an opportunity to get in the rhythm and an opportunity to get 7 hours of seat time at Bathurst.
“Daniel Bilski, he is doing a lot of racing overseas in Asia. He is also a good friend of Paul’s. It was pretty easy in that regard to hook this all up. We hope to do well in Class B, in an earlier evolution of the GT3 car (Porsche Cup S). it is still very quick and if we get it together we can surprise some people.”
The twice Australian GT Champion sees his return to sportscars as a homecoming, seeing the Porsches as a great car to drive but also as place to measure yourself against the best young talent coming through in Australian motorsport in the Carrera Cup.
“The Porsche is a very rewarding car to drive, the harder you drive it, the more it gives. That suits me. I drove one a couple weeks ago for the first time in 12 months and it felt just like home.”
“We definitely want to go in and do well. Where we will go in and pop out again we will wait and see but we have these young guys, Nick Foster, who won it last year is quick. Matty Campbell is very quick.
“There will be plenty of competition and it grows every year. Then you have the guys that have been there and are always there or thereabouts, Steven Richards and Craig Baird, definitely know how to put a Championship together and do well at it.”
What is important through about both the Carrera Cup and Bathurst 12 Hour efforts is that it is being run out of his own stable, Wall Racing.
A team originally set up by his father, Des Wall, who ran it to great affect, it is a team that has grown and blossomed greatly over the previous few seasons.
“We’re a team that is growing and one that is growing pretty quickly. We like that aspect as well. We’d like to think of ourselves as a one stop shop, we do restoration of cars, be it road cars or historic race cars. We’d like to think we can do almost anything.”
“Our goal is to be one of the best GT orientated teams in the country.”
That was evidenced in 2015 with Wall Racing taking two class titles in the Australian GT Championship with the Trophy Class taken by an Audi R8 LMS and the Challenge Class with a Porsche 997. This was done in conjunction with state based racing, historic racing and competing in the V8 Supercars with Volvo.
“I went to as many meetings as I could. Some I was racing and the team was there as well.”
“I have a lot of good people that are involved with us and make the team what it is., particularly David Fyfe. He is a good friend of mine and helps run the team. When I am not there he is the man. It gives me a lot of pride to have a great bunch of guys and customers.”
“The business is growing and these things get more customers and they enjoy their motor racing.”
Wall Racing’s 2016 Australian GT plans are not finalised as yet but if an opportunity presents itself he will jump at the chance, both as a team owner and a driver. Something he would look at internationally as well, should the opportunity present itself.
