Celebrating 75 Years at the Porsche Pavilion
The multi-storey Porsche Pavilion was the home of luxury trackside action, hosting more than 800 guests from Thursday to Sunday who soaked up the racing atmosphere from the circuit’s ideal vantage point, which gave perfect views between the end of the main straight through to the exit of turn two.
This year, the Porsche Pavilion was styled to reflect the brand’s Australian 75-year celebrations, with layers of colours, materials and textures inspired by Australia’s natural flora and fauna. The blend of warm tans, greens and neutrals were assembled in the style of modern Australian architecture, creating the welcoming feeling of a luxury home.
Porsche designed the ground-floor entry foyer as a stylistically elevated garage to showcase its two newest high-performance models.
The new top-of-the-range Porsche 911 Turbo S made its Australian public debut at the Porsche Pavilion, offering guests the first in-person glimpse of the most powerful production 911 to date, which develops up to 523 kW (711 PS*) of power and 800 Nm of torque thanks to its innovative T-Hybrid system. The new 911 Turbo S is scheduled to be released in Australia later this year and is expected to reset the benchmark for sports cars with its combination of performance, long-distance comfort, exclusivity and everyday usability.
The new Cayenne Turbo Electric, which will also be released locally later in 2026, turned as many heads with its styling and performance figures. The first all-electric Porsche Cayenne Turbo delivers up to 850 kW of overboost power, making it the most powerful series-production Porsche ever built and a member of the exclusive more-than-1,000 horsepower club inside Porsche, usually reserved for the company’s fastest racing cars.
Upstairs, the interior of the pavilion’s spacious lounge extended the elevated luxury theme with its furnishings, sofas and full-length bar. The super-screen under the large champagne blond PORSCHE wordmark ensured everyone enjoyed the on-track action, which had its best view from the custom outdoor stadium seating designed to give all 216 outdoor guests an uninterrupted view of the circuit.
Various Porsche friends joined the weekend party, including Australian music sensation Angus Stone, who wowed gusts on Thursday evening with his band, Dope Lemon, who were also joined by singer Sarsha Simone.
"Celebrating 75 years of Porsche in Australia is a milestone that reflects our deep connection with this country and its remarkable landscape." Daniel Schmollinger, Managing Director and CEO of Porsche Cars Australia
Other guests included Porsche Brand Ambassador and Formula 1® Grand Prix race-winner Mark Webber, who captivated guests with his racing insights, and award-winning Australian artist Vincent Fantauzzo, whose one-off painting, “Sundown – Red Centre”, which was displayed inside the Porsche Pavilion, captivated guests with its vibrant detail.
Make-A-Wish Australia and the art of 911
To help celebrate 75 years of Porsche in Australia, Vincent Fantuazzo created a one-of-a-kind artwork on the bonnet of a Porsche 911 Carrera, which was unveiled inside the Porsche Pavilion on Thursday and displayed for the duration of this year’s Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix. Titled “Sundown- Red Centre”, this 3D-like creation was inspired by the vivid shifting colours of an Uluru sunset which the artist experienced during an unforgettable trip to Australia’s red centre.
“With this painting, I want to connect with people who are passionate about art and cars." Vincent Fantauzzo
The bespoke artwork was created specifically to support Make‑A‑Wish Australia, the national charity dedicated to granting life‑changing wishes for children with critical illness. “Sundown – Red Centre” was sold via an online auction which commenced on Thursday. Its sale raised AU $33,000 to support the vital work of this important children’s charity.
“With this painting, I want to connect with people who are passionate about art and cars, and I am grateful to have the opportunity to do something special for Make-A Wish Australia,” Fantauzzo said.
75 Years of Porsche Downunder
Race-goers and sports car fans explored the 75-year Australian story of Porsche inside a vast curated display within the busy Melbourne Junction precinct at Albert Park.
Finding the spectacular box enclosure was simple thanks to its bright Australian colour scheme and endless queue of fascinated fans keen to enter.
Inside, this exhibition opened with a silver Porsche 356 sports car under a series of suspended banners, each containing a milestone in the sport car maker’s local journey since 1951 when the first two examples of the famous Porsche model arrived in Melbourne.
Turning right transitioned this black-and-white experience into a world of vibrant colour inside a large room, which showcased four special commemorative Porsche cars positioned in a north-south-east-west layout.
Porsche has created these four models as part of the brand’s 75-year Australian celebrations. Car car’s styling and specification inspiration has been drawn from the world-famous natural settings found in Australia’s North, South, East and West.
“These four special cars symbolise the legacy and future of Porsche across Australia,“ said Daniel Schmollinger, CEO and Managing Director of Porsche Cars Australia, speaking at their official unveiling.
“These four special cars symbolise the legacy and future of Porsche across Australia." Daniel Schmollinger, Managing Director and CEO of Porsche Cars Australia
GO NORTH is a stunning Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid finished in Paint to Sample Emerald Green that has been inspired by the rainforests of Queensland and the Northen Territory.
GO EAST is a vibrant Ipanema Blue Metallic Taycan 4S Cross Turismo inspired by Australia’s crystal blue eastern coastline.
GO SOUTH is a Gold Bronze Metallic Porsche Macan 4S inspired by the dolomite sea columns in the southern Tasman Peninsula.
GO WEST is a Porsche Cayenne S finished in Paint to Sample Ipanema Brown that reflects the 4.4-billion-year-old landscape of Australia’s vast west.
Before leaving the exhibition, a special digital experience allowed guests to customise their own personal Porsche 911 as a memento.
Porsche High Flier Grand Prix Experience
Porsche added an extra element of excitement to the weekend with the Porsche High Flyer Grand Prix Experience.
Guests who craved some extra speed and adrenaline over the weekend booked themselves the opportunity to fly by helicopter from the Melbourne City Helipad to the world-famous Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit to sample the new 375 kW Porsche 911 GT3.
The Friday and Saturday track-driving-sessions offered ‘Performance’ level in-car driver coaching with Porsche certified driving instructors, which included a new ‘Introduction to Performance’ program for guests new to driving Porsche sports cars.
After an action-packed on-track driving session, guests were ferried by helicopter from the Phillip Island rack to the Albert park Grand Prix Circuit and the Porsche Pavilion.
Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia
Round one of this year’s Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia was another blockbuster season-opener.
Australia’s most popular one-make championship began its 21st year with 28 cars on the grid at the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit. Its drivers included the two current champions from both Carrera Cup and Porsche Michelin Sprint Challenge Australia, the reigning Carrera Cup Pro-Am class champion and the top three outright from both championships last season. Nine rookies joined them for this opening round.
Clay Osborne launched his championship campaign with his first career win in race one on Thursday, powering his TekworkX Motorsport entry to the chequered flag after landing his first pole position.
Osborne beat defending champion Dylan O’Keete to the flag, with Harri Jones third in his 100th Carrera Cup race.
Race two saw Marcus Amand storm through the field to beat a trio of champions for the win, his second in this Australian one-make series. The TekworkX driver sliced his way to the front with a series of passes after reaching third place by the end of lap one.
Race three saw double series champion Harri Jones fend off hard-chargers Dylan O’Keefe and Marcus Amand for a stunning victory, making it three different winners from three races. It was Jones’ tenth career round win following his 100th series race start.
The end of round one sees Jones leading O’Keefe and Amand in the championship, all of them separated by only four points.
The Porsche Equity-One Carrera Cup Australia championship will move to Darwin’s Hidden Valley Raceway in June for round two.
