Mark Robert "Didley" Porter (2 October 1974 – 8 October 2006) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

racing driver who competed in the Fujitsu

V8 Supercar The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition that uses race-prepared touring cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move a ...

series in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. His V8 Supercar series debut was in a

Ford Falcon The Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate by Ford Motor Company, Ford that applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford ...

at Wakefield Park in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, and he debuted in the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

the same year.

Racing death

In the

2006 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series The 2006 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series was an Australian motor racing series for V8 Supercars. It was the seventh annual V8 Supercar Development Series. It began on 24 March 2006 at Adelaide Street Circuit and finished on 10 December at Phillip Isl ...

, Porter drove a Hyundai/Hydraulink sponsored

Holden VZ Commodore The Holden Commodore (VZ) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 2004 to 2006 as a sedan and to 2007 as a wagon and Coupé utility, Ute sold alongside the new Holden Commodore (VE), VE series. It was the fourth and final iteration ...

for the M-Sport team. Porter was third in the championship point standings after 14 races of the 18 race season, when the competition moved to the

Mount Panorama Circuit Mount Panorama Circuit, officially Mount Panorama/Wahluu via dual naming, is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race ...

Bathurst, New South Wales Bathurst () is a city in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. Bathurst is about 200 kilometres (120 mi) west-northwest of Sydney and is the seat of the Bathurst Region, Bathurst Regional Council. Founded in 1815, Bathurst is ...

for a weekend of races in the Fujitsu and other series. During the race on Friday 6 October 2006, Porter clipped a wall, causing him to lose control of his car in a curve, coming to a stop sideways on the track, with his driver's side facing the oncoming cars. A number of cars evaded Porter's stalled vehicle before Chris Alajajian's car connected with the tail of Porter's. Driver David Clark approached the scene at then slid his own car sideways, with his front right side crumpling the driver's side of Porter's passenger compartment. Both Porter and Clark were unconscious and critically injured when the safety marshals arrived. The race was cancelled and all other racing events were suspended for two hours. Porter was taken by ambulance to Bathurst Base Hospital and later that day airlifted to

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a large teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

with serious head and chest injuries. Porter died in the late afternoon of Sunday 8 October 2006. He was survived by his wife Adrienne and his (then) two-year-old son Flynn.

Tributes and legacy

Porter had been hired by

Brad Jones Racing Brad Jones Racing is an Australian motor racing team owned by Brad Jones based in Albury. The team competes in the Supercars Championship and the Super2 Series. Recently they have also returned to Australian Formula Ford where Brad and Kim be ...

to co-drive one of their entries in the 8 October 2006

endurance race, the main event at the

that weekend. When driver Michael Caruso took on Porter's duties, the team added Caruso's name to the car rather than just replacing Porter's. The team also added Porter's Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series number, #111, beside his name on the Bathurst 1000 car. After his death, good friend and team owner Paul Cruikshank ran Porter's #111 at the next V8 Supercar round at Surfers Paradise. #111 was used as a memorial to Porter on the

Paul Cruickshank Racing Paul Cruickshank Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in several Sports Car and Touring Car categories. History While new to the championship in 2006, Cruickshank has run several cars in the Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series, De ...

Falcon up until the team folded in 2009. The Mark Porter trophy was awarded to winners of the

Hamilton 400 The Hamilton 400 was a V8 Supercar motor racing event held on the Hamilton Street Circuit, Hamilton, New Zealand. The event was held from 2008 to 2012, and is one of only three New Zealand circuits to host a championship round of V8 Supercars. ...

street race until the demise of the event in 2012. Mark's brother Andrew, a former truck racer, contested the 2007/08 NZV8 series in the Hydraulink #111 Ford BF Falcon. New Zealand team Super Black Racing entered the

Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

series in 2014, using #111 as a tribute to countryman Porter.

Results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

‡ Porter was killed in a support race prior to the event. He was replaced with Caruso.

References

External links

V8 Supercars – Media statement from Mark Porter's family
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Mark 1974 births 2006 deaths Supercars Championship drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Filmed deaths in motorsport New Zealand racing drivers Sportspeople from Hamilton, New Zealand Sport deaths in Australia Accidental deaths in New South Wales