Nexus Racing’s Earl Bamber strengthened his lead in the chase for the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title today with a dominant victory on the challenging and unpredictable Ordos International Circuit. The New Zealander, who is making a storming debut in the region’s premier sportscar championship this season, maximized the advantage of his first series pole position, but had to fend off a determined Martin Ragginger for much of the race. The Team Eagle driver fought hard to catch the young pretender, but was unable to snatch victory from him.
Taking the final podium place was Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila who had managed to secure third on the grid after just one quick lap in qualifying before a technical problem ended his session prematurely. The Macau driver also came under pressure for much of this race from Budweiser Kamlung Racing’s Tung Ho-Pin of China, who eventually crossed the line in fourth.
Reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion Alex Imperatori of PICC Team StarChase lost a position to Tung at the start, and was not able to regain any ground over the race, which was shortened to 12 laps after a delay while a drain cover was re-welded in the interests of safety.
FIA World Touring Car Championship regular Darryl O’Young, in the VIP car for Porsche Centre Ordos this weekend, crossed the line in sixth, having fended off a hard-charging Benjamin Rouget of Team Yongda Dongfang for much of the race, while Team Basetex’ Zhang Da Sheng of China was eighth.
Mentos Racing’s Egidio Perfetti also strengthened his impressive lead in the Class B standings with his fifth victory in six races. Asia Racing Team’s Li Chao drove a spectacular race to finish second in the class, with OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia in third after benefiting from spins by Dorr McElrea Racing’s Yuey Tan and Nexus Racing’s Alif Hamdan.
After three consecutive wins, Bamber now has a seven point lead from Ragginger, with Avila a further 12 points behind the leader. Keita Sawa, 10th in Round 6, is fourth, followed by Rouget and Tung. Perfetti meanwhile has a comfortable 40 point advantage over Li, who jumps to second ahead of Tan in third.
A delighted Bamber was, as always, full of praise for his team and was keen to get out on track again to continue what is shaping up to be an intense and fascinating battle with Ragginger: “I didn’t get the best start, and Martin [Ragginger] was really fast at the beginning of the race. We had a ferocious fight at the beginning, but I managed to hold him off. I had to manage my tyres, and with the dust and everything, it felt more like rallying at times! I’m really stoked though. Bring on tomorrow!”
Off the grid, Bamber held his pole position advantage with rival Ragginger in hot pursuit and Avila in third. Meanwhile, Tung dived past Imperatori and began the charge to the Macau driver ahead. In Class B, Tan spun early on but managed to rejoin the race, crossing the line in 19th. Alif Hamdan had been running strongly behind Perfetti, but spun on lap 4 and later retired.
Tyre wear was an inevitable feature on the tight twists and rugged surface of the Inner Mongolian track, and guest driver and newcomer George Chou had to start from the back of the grid having had to put two new tyres on his car.
Bamber, who also set the fastest lap in Round 6, is on pole position for Round 7 with Ragginger again alongside, and Imperatori and O’Young making up the second row, and Avila and Tung behind.
While Bamber and Perfetti may be keen to continue the chase for the title, the unforgiving Ordos track is notorious for upsetting the form book. As is always true in motorsport, anything can happen when the 25-strong field of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racing cars line up for the start of Round 7.
2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
Round 6 – Results
Pos
No
Driver/Nationality
Class
Entrant/Nationality
Time
1
7
Earl BAMBER (NZL)
Nexus Racing (MAS)
21:12.787
2
86
Martin RAGGINGER (AUT)
Team Eagle (CHN)
+1.220
3
20
Rodolfo AVILA (MAC)
Team Jebsen (HKG)
+12.156
4
58
TUNG Ho-Pin (CHN)
Budweiser Kamlung Racing (MAS)
+15.025
5
99
Alexandre IMPERATORI (HKG)
PICC Team StarChase (HKG)
+16.776
6
3
*Darryl O’YOUNG(HKG)
Team Carrera Cup Asia (CHN)
+20.498
7
8
Benjamin ROUGET (FRA)
Team Yongda Dongfang (CHN)
+24.713
8
78
ZHANG Da Sheng (CHN)
Basetex Racing (CHN)
+25.602
9
66
Jason ZHANG Zhiqiang (CHN)
Team C&D (CHN)
+28.565
10
38
Keita SAWA (JPN)
LKM Racing Team (HKG)
+32.815
11
68
LI Zhi Cong (CHN)
Kamlung Racing (MAS)
+33.105
12
9
WANG Jian Wei (CHN)
Team Betterlife (CHN)
+35.889
13
88
Egidio PERFETTI (SIN)
B
Mentos Racing (SIN)
+42.869
14
96
LI Chao (CHN)
B
Asia Racing Team (CHN)
+49.209
15
16
Wayne SHEN (HKG)
Modena Motorsports (HKG)
+49.830
16
11
Ringo CHONG (SIN)
Team Kangshun (CHN)
+52.370
17
21
Francis TJIA (HKG)
B
OpenRoad Racing (HKG)
+54.337
18
28
John SHEN (HKG)
B
Modena Motorsports (HKG)
+1:08.608
19
5
Yuey TAN (SIN)
B
Dorr McElrea Racing (SIN)
+1:09.131
20
33
*George CHOU (TPE)
B
George CHOU (TPE)
+1:11.069
21
83
Dr. MA Chi Min (HKG)
B
Dr. Ma Chi Min (HKG)
+1:16.609
22
27
Adrian Henry D’SILVA (MAS)
B
Nexus Racing (MAS)
+1:17.064
23
18
Marcel TJIA (HKG)
B
OpenRoad Racing (HKG)
+1:28.845
DNF
72
Alif HAMDAN (MAS)
B
Nexus Racing (MAS)
–
DNF
22
*Adderly FONG(HKG)
B
LKM Racing Team (HKG)
–
*Non-series registered
Fastest Lap: Earl Bamber/Nexus Racing/1:45.249/127.314kph
Points after Round 6
Overall
Pos
Comp No
Driver
Entrant
Points
1
7
Earl BAMBER
Nexus Racing
113
2
86
Martin RAGGINGER
Team Eagle
106
3
20
Rodolfo AVILA
Team Jebsen
94
4
38
Keita SAWA
LKM Racing Team
77
5
8
Benjamin ROUGET
Team Yongda Dongfang
60
