The late Mark Porter will be remembered for as long as the new Hamilton street race remains on the V8 Supercar calendar after a trophy was inaugurated in his honour ahead of this weekend's first edition.
Kiwi Porter lost his life in the Fujitsu support race at Bathurst in 2006, but his memory will live on via the Mark Porter Trophy, which will be awarded to the winner of the Hamilton race from this year on. The trophy, which was unveiled by the driver's wife, Adrienne, on the eve of race one, is carved from the green stone, pounamu, found only on New Zealand's South Island and adorned with wood sourced locally from Waikato. Engravings include the national fern leaf symbol and two hammerhead sharks.
The two hammerheads represent strength and power and they will fight to the very end - a representation of the battle between Ford and Holden, creator Tai Meuli told the official V8 Supercar website.
While Adrienne Porter naturally hopes that she will be presenting the trophy to another Kiwi on Sunday, she admits that simply remembering her husband via the trophy is a special feeling.
It is truly amazing and so humbling, she said, It truly represents all that Mark stood for in his racing and it is something that will last for a really long time. Maybe, one day, our son, Flynn, might even hope to drive for it.
It means a lot to me, as we don't have a headstone for Mark at the moment, but I think this is even better. It really is quite significant.
