Team Eagle’s Martin Ragginger rounded off a perfect weekend at the 2013 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX by taking his third successive victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. His trio of wins, and perfect record of pole positions, gives him a strong lead at the top of the championship points table but series newcomer, Earl Bamber of Craft Nexus Racing, continued his impressive debut with his second runner-up finish of the weekend. Third across the line was Macau’s Rodolfo Avila of Team Jebsen, who made a scorching getaway off the grid and powered his way to a podium finish.
In Class B, it was Mentos Racing’s Egidio Perfetti who took the toughest victory of his career so far, simultaneously attacking and defending in what was a frenzied – but fair – 12 laps on the 5.4km Shanghai International Circuit. Perfetti took the Class B win and eighth overall, with Dorr McElrea Racing’s Yuey Tan second in the category and OpenRoad Racing’s Christian Chia taking the final podium spot.
Ragginger now has a ten point lead over closest challenger Bamber on the championship leaderboard, with LKM Racing Team’s Keita Sawa in third, two points clear of Avila. In the chase for Class B honours, Perfetti is 14 points ahead of Tan, who jumps to second after the Shanghai double header, with Malaysian newcomer Alif Hamdan third.
Although Bamber had to settle for second again, he knows victory is well within grasp: “The start was absolutely fantastic, and a really great battle for the first couple of laps. Today I didn’t quite have the pace and knew it would be tough as we’re on older tyres. We’re moving forward, with two second places, so maybe we’ll get a win in Zhuhai.”
As he had in Round 2, Bamber shot off the start like a rocket, grabbing the lead from pole-man Ragginger. Sawa also got away well and was challenging the Austrian for second when Avila saw his chance and dived past. Basetex Racing’s Zhang Da Sheng was on the tail of Avila chased by Budweiser Kamlung Racing’s Tung Ho-Pin who was sandwiched between him and Team Carrera Cup Asia’s Darryl O’Young. In the high-speed battle, the three were so close that contact between Zhang and Tung set of a chain reaction which saw O’Young and Zhang Da Sheng spin, with the Hong Kong driver retiring. Zhang Da Sheng made an impressive recovery to fight back through the field, eventually crossing the line in seventh.
Back at the head of the field, Ragginger was pilling the pressure on to his rival, with Bamber once again defending superbly. At the end of the opening lap though, Ragginger remained glued to this bumper, making his move on Lap 2 and seizing the lead. The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia truly shone at China’s most prestigious motorsport weekend, treating the crowds to an unforgettable weekend of thrilling GT competition from its talented international field. The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will be back in action next month at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China’s Pearl River Delta, for Rounds 4 and 5.
2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
Round 3 – Results
Pos
No
Driver/Nationality
Cls
Entrant/Nationality
Time
1
86
Martin RAGGINGER (AUT)
Team Eagle (CHN)
26:16.999
2
7
Earl BAMBER (NZL)
Craft Nexus Racing (MAS)
+5.202
3
20
Rodolfo AVILA (MAC)
Team Jebsen (HKG)
+7.886
4
38
Keita SAWA (JPN)
LKM Racing Team (HKG)
+14.955
5
58
TUNG Ho-Pin (CHN)
Budweiser Kamlung Racing (CHN)
+18.689
6
8
Benjamin ROUGET (FRA)
Team Yongda Dongfang (CHN)
+25.257
7
78
ZHANG Da Sheng (CHN)
Basetex Racing (CHN)
+27.681
8
88
Egidio PERFETTI (SIN)
B
Mentos Racing (SIN)
+36.162
9
68
Peter LI Zhi Cong (CHN)
Kamlung Racing (HKG)
+37.012
10
11
Ringo CHONG (SIN)
Team Kangshun (CHN)
+37.939
11
16
Wayne SHEN (HKG)
Modena Motorsports (HKG)
+53.547
12
5
Yuey TAN (SIN)
B
Dorr McElrea Racing (SIN)
+54.478
13
99
Natasha SEATTER (MAS)
PICC Team StarChase (CHN)
+54.975
14
25
Christian CHIA (CAN)
B
OpenRoad Racing (HKG)
+61.775
15
66
Jason ZHANG Zhiqiang (CHN)
Team C&D (CHN)
+67.242
16
72
Alif HAMDAN (MAS)
B
Nexus Racing (MAS)
+70.588
17
28
John SHEN (HKG)
B
Modena Motorsports (HKG)
+71.152
18
33
Samson CHAN (HKG)
B
Samson Chan (HKG)
+75.362
19
96
LI Chao (CHN)
B
Asia Racing Team (CHN)
+75.407
20
83
MA Chi Min (HKG)
B
Dr. Ma Chi Min (HKG)
+77.659
21
27
Adrian Henry D’SILVA (MAS)
B
Nexus Racing (MAS)
+97.456
22
22
SIU Yuk Lung (HKG)
B
LKM Racing Team (HKG)
+111.014
NC
21
*Benny LIM (HKG)
B
OpenRoad Racing (HKG)
DNF
NC
9
WANG Jian Wei (CHN)
Team Betterlife (CHN)
DNF
NC
3
*Darryl O’YOUNG (HKG)
Team Carrera Cup Asia (CHN)
DNF
*Non-series registered
Fastest Lap: Martin Ragginger/Team Eagle/2:10.110/Lap 4/150.823kph
Points after Round 3
Overall
Pos
Comp No
Driver
Entrant
Points
1
86
Martin RAGGINGER
Team Eagle
62
2
7
Earl BAMBER
Nexus Racing
52
3
38
Keita SAWA
LKM Racing Team
44
4
20
Rodolfo AVILA
Team Jebsen
42
5
8
Benjamin ROUGET
Team Yongda Dongfang
28
Class B
Pos
Comp No
Driver
Entrant
Points
1
88
Egidio PERFETTI
Team Mentos
62
2
5
Yuey TAN
Dorr McElrea Racing
48
3
72
Alif HAMDAN
Nexus Racing
44
4
28
John SHEN
Modena Motorsports
34
96
Christian Chia
OpenRoad Racing
Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2013
Provisional Race Calendar
Date
Circuit, Country
Event
Round(s)
March 02 – 03
Sepang Intl. Circuit, Malaysia
Test Days
–
March 22 – 24
Sepang Intl. Circuit, Malaysia
Formula 1 Support Race
Round 1
April 12 – 14
Shanghai Intl. Circuit, China
Formula 1 Support Race
Round 2 & 3
May 03 – 05
Zhuhai Intl. Circuit, China
China Touring Car Championship*
Round 4 & 5
July 05 – 07
Ordos Intl. Circuit, China
China Touring Car Championship*
Round 6 & 7
August 02 – 04
Autopia Intl. Circuit, Korea
China Touring Car Championship*
Round 8 & 9
September 20 – 22
Marina Bay Circuit, Singapore
Formula 1 Support Race
Round 10
October 25 – 27
Shanghai Intl. Circuit, China
Shanghai Sportscar Champions Festival*
Round 11 & 12
November 09 – 10
Guia Circuit, Macau SAR
Macau Grand Prix
Invitational
