Young sportscar sensation Earl Bamber of New Zealand took victory from pole position in the Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore 2013 after a brilliant performance in a short but dramatic race on the Marina Bay street circuit. Crossing the line second, having pressured the 23-year-old Nexus Racing star throughout the 12-lap race, was fellow countryman Craig Baird of SC Global Racing, with Bamber’s 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championship rival Martin Ragginger of Team Eagle in third.
Said an emotional Bamber, after receiving his winner’s trophy atop the FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX podium: “It’s an incredible feeling, especially for the team. It’s our first time in Singapore and the team provided me with a fantastic car. We had a good tussle at the start and then a great fight before the long Safety Car period. I knew the restart would be important and I managed to jump him and maintain the gap. It’s more than what we expected this weekend. It’s been great to race against Craig, he’s a fantastic competitor and we had a really good battle out there.”
While Baird didn’t take home the trophy this time, he was full of praise for his fellow countryman: “We didn’t get the best start. Earl is a deserving winner, he had good speed. We broke away a bit but then the Safety Car bunched everyone up. I think it would have been difficult to get by Earl. I always enjoy coming back here, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia is so professional.”
In Class B it was Francis Tjia of OpenRoad Racing who took his second victory of the season so far ahead of category pole-sitter Egidio Perfetti of Mentos Racing. However second place for Perfetti – who has won eight of the ten races so far this year – was enough to seal the championship title with two races to go. Third in the category was Bamber’s Nexus Racing team mate, Adrian Henry D’Silva of Malaysia.
Bamber now leads the race for the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia overall title with a 16 point advantage over Ragginger, with Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila 37 points behind the leader. With 41 points on offer in the last two races of the season, this means the championship will go right down to the wire at the Sports Car Champions Festival in Shanghai next month, promising a thrilling climax to the series 11th season.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia is back in action next month at the Sports Car Champions Festival in Shanghai from October 25-27.
Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore 2013
Porsche Carrera Cup Asia – Round 10
Results
| Pos | No | Driver/Nationality | Class | Entrant/Nationality | Time |
| 1 | 7 | Earl BAMBER (NZL) | Nexus Racing (MAS) | 31:54.965 | |
| 2 | 3 | *Craig BAIRD (NZL) | SC Global Racing (SIN) | +1.159 | |
| 3 | 86 | Martin RAGGINGER (AUT) | Team Eagle (CHN) | +4.120 | |
| 4 | 8 | Benjamin ROUGET (FRA) | Team Yongda Dongfang (CHN) | +10.988 | |
| 5 | 9 | *Mario FARNBACHER (GER) | Team Betterlife (CHN) | +14.255 | |
| 6 | 20 | Rodolfo AVILA (MAC) | Team Jebsen (HKG) | +15.276 | |
| 7 | 21 | Francis TJIA (HKG) | B | OpenRoad Racing (HKG) | +17.843 |
| 8 | 88 | Egidio PERFETTI (SIN) | B | Mentos Racing (SIN) | +18.049 |
| 9 | 27 | Adrian Henry D’SILVA (MAS) | B | Nexus Racing (MAS) | +31.729 |
| 10 | 38 | **Keita SAWA (JPN) | LKM Racing Team (HKG) | +36.028 |
*Non-series registered
**30 Second time penalty – all four wheels off track
*** Excluded – Driving standards
Fastest Lap: Earl Bamber/Nexus Racing/2:20.997/Lap 2/129.321kph
