Team Parker Racing is very happy to confirm that Kurt Leimer will make his modern racing debut with the team in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB. The youngster has previously competed in a historic hillclimb in Switzerland but will make the switch to circuit racing for 2021.

The 22-year-old, with a Swiss/Hong Kong background, has been a fan of classic Porsches for much of his life and, with a family that enjoys restoring and driving glorious old machinery, naturally wanted to move into competition.

After taking part in the picturesque, Alpine-based Bernina Gran Turismo in a 911 SR which had previously been entered in the Rally Monte Carlo and later purchased and restored by his family, Kurt turned his attention to racing modern Porsche machinery, with a friend directing him to speak to Stuart Parker.

Despite the obvious challenges of being a novice race driver, he has modest ambitions for the coming year, but has already taken part in a handful of test and official sessions, including at Brands Hatch and Thruxton. However, beyond 2021 he has his eye on a longer-term plan to step into endurance competition, with the knowledge that Team Parker Racing’s unique proposition in racing across much of Porsche’s pyramid of motorsport a big selling point.

His place on the grid will certainly stand out from the pack, with an eye-catching livery, which reflects Kurt’s heritage, based around the traditional Chinese Lion Dance which is said to bring good luck and fortune. Kurt races in support of Race Against Dementia a global charity, founded by Sir Jackie Stewart, to fund pioneering research into the prevention and cure of dementia. He also competes in part, thanks to the support of Schwunk, a Swiss alcoholic tea beverage with tones of citrus and bergamot, and Enstar Capital, a London-based visionary development and investment company.

Kurt Leimer

“I have been a fan of motorsport since I was a little kid, and my love of classic cars is installed by my father and my family in general. We have rarely bought a new car, so when I was little, my Dad would read Classic Driver magazine to me in bed. I bought them to school with me and my parents were called in and told they had to read ‘normal’ books to me!

“I have no experience competing on any of the circuits that we will be racing on, so it’s a bit of a shot in the dark, but we’ll see how it goes. My main aspiration for this year is to finish the first race, so I am starting my expectations low and will then build them up as we go on. I will be able to learn from the more experienced drivers in the team and I am already doing that by looking at video, and it is nice to make some new friends as well.

“For me it really is about the competitiveness and trying to do well. However, it is my first season, so I am looking to improve my driving on my own terms rather than focussing on where I am compared to everyone else.”

The Porsche Sprint Challenge GB opens the 2021 season at Thruxton, in Hampshire, over the weekend of May 8-9, alongside the British Touring Car Championship, with live coverage of at least one of the two races that weekend broadcast live on ITV4 in the United Kingdom.

Photos by Jakob Ebrey Photography and Dan Bathie