Baird to double up in Porsche at Sandown.

V8 Supercar driver Craig Baird will join the Australian Porsche Carrera Cup field for the remaining three rounds of the 2004 series starting with next weekend's round at the Betta Electrical Sandown 500.

Baird is having a solid season in his Team Kiwi Holden Commodore in the V8 Supercar Championship Series, taking pole position at the recent round in Winton. The New Zealander will replace James Cressey in the number two Team VIP Petfoods Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

He will join three other Carrera Cup drivers to do the V8 Supercar-Carrera Cup double at the next two rounds at Sandown and Bathurst.

Baird is no stranger to Porsche racing having picked up a number of race wins in the Porsche Trans Tasman GT3 Cup series in New Zealand.

"I love driving Porsches," he said. "When the opportunity came up, I was delighted to give it a go and do the double with the V8 Supercars. Especially at places like Bathurst, the more miles you do in a car, the quicker you go, so hopefully it will be beneficial for me in both categories.

"It's my first time racing in a 2004 Porsche as I raced a 2002 car in the Trans Tasman series, so I'm looking forward to getting in the new model. Tony (Quinn) runs a good ship at Team VIP Petfoods, evidenced by their past success. I can see no reason why we can't run at the pointy end of the field for the remainder of the season."

The largest Carrera Cup field to line up in a championship round in Australia this year will feature a great top-end tussle between the four 'doubling-up' drivers.

Jim Richards (Jim Richards Racing / OAMPS Insurance Brokers), Alex Davison (Greg Murphy Racing / Glenfords Tool Centre), Fabian Coulthard (Greg Murphy Racing / Team Braun) and Baird will all double up at Sandown, completing the Porsche race before heading into the Betta Electrical 500.