Craft Nexus Racing ace Earl Bamber took his second Porsche Carrera Cup Asia victory yesterday to put him top of the championship leaderboard ahead of Team Eagle’s Martin Ragginger of Austria who finished third in Round 5 behind Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila of Macau, who took his second podium finish of the weekend. In Class B, points leader Egidio Perfetti took the win to strengthen his championship advantage, with Asia Racing Team’s Li Chao of China in second. OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia took the final podium place after Dorr McElrea Racing’s Yuey Tan dramatically spun out on the final lap.
Bamber now leads the race for the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia overall championship with a four point advantage over Ragginger, with Avila a further ten points adrift. In Class B, Perfetti has a comfortable lead of 36 points ahead of Tan, with Li Chao just a single point behind the Singaporean. Said Bamber following his second victory: “We’ve been good at starts this season, and we got a great jump off the line. I was hoping to get ahead of Martin, and then put in three or four hard laps, which we managed to do. The car was fantastic, and Craft Nexus gave me a very strong car. I’m just looking forward to the next race!”
Avila had it all to do in the race, keeping Bamber within striking distance but at the same time holding off an unrelenting Ragginger: “My main concern was Martin. He’s ahead of me in the championship, so that was the priority. Our pace was very good. At one point, near the beginning, I thought Martin could catch me, but then I saw the three of us stabilized our lap times. At the end of the day, it’s good for me, the team and our championship campaign – a good weekend all round.”
Ragginger admitted he never had a realistic chance of getting by Avila. Asked if there had been a window of opportunity, he was adamant: “Never!” he said. “It’s so tight. We had a good pace but it’s difficult to pass here.” Bamber stole the march on pole-sitter Ragginger as the lights went out, and didn’t put a wheel wrong for the entire 12-lap race. Avila and LKM Racing Team’s Keita Sawa also got by Ragginger at the start, while reigning champion, PICC Team StarChase driver Alexandre Imperatori, also dropped back down the order from his third row grid position. While Sawa had been running in third, first Ragginger got by and then a flying Zhang Da Sheng of Team Basetex passed him too, demoting the Japanese driver to fifth in the order ahead of Budweiser Kamlung Racing’s Tung Ho-Pin of China. At the end of Lap 2, Bamber had pulled out a margin of just over a second, with Ragginger closing in fast on Avila. Behind Zhang Da Sheng in fourth, Sawa, Tung and Team Yongda Dongfang’s Benjamin Rouget were tightly packed.
On Lap 8, Tung was desperately looking to find a way past Sawa and made his move with the Japanese ace defending his position. The move cost Tung dearly, dropping him down the order to eighth behind Imperatori. Bamber crossed the line 0.799 of a second ahead of Avila in second, with Ragginger taking a well-earned podium finish after a challenging weekend.
After a spectacular Zhuhai weekend, and with the competition for the championship titles heating up with every passing race, the stage is set for a thunderous return to the demanding Ordos circuit in Inner Mongolia from July 5 to 7.
2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
Round 5 Results
Pos
No
Driver/Nationality
Class
Entrant/Nationality
Time
1
7
Earl BAMBER (NZL)
Craft Nexus Racing (MAS)
19:43.331
2
20
Rodolfo AVILA (MAC)
Team Jebsen (HKG)
+0.799
3
86
Martin RAGGINGER (AUT)
Team Eagle (CHN)
+1.512
4
78
ZHANG Da Sheng (CHN)
Basetex Racing (CHN)
+7.586
5
38
Keita SAWA (JPN)
LKM Racing Team (HKG)
+13.929
6
8
Benjamin ROUGET (FRA)
Team Yongda Dongfang (CHN)
+15.623
7
99
Alexandre IMPERATORI (HKG)
PICC Team StarChase (HKG)
+16.306
8
58
TUNG Ho-Pin (CHN)
Budweiser Kamlung Racing (MAS)
+17.478
9
88
Egidio PERFETTI (SIN)
B
Mentos Racing (SIN)
+24.665
10
96
LI Chao (CHN)
B
Asia Racing Team (CHN)
+32.568
11
16
Wayne SHEN (HKG)
Modena Motorsports (HKG)
+33.276
12
21
Francis TJIA (HKG)
B
OpenRoad Racing (HKG)
+34.083
13
3
*Daniel BILSKI (HKG)
B
Team Carrera Cup Asia (CHN)
+38.390
14
11
Ringo CHONG (SIN)
Team Kangshun (CHN)
+38.962
15
66
Jason ZHANG Zhi Qiang (CHN)
Team C&D (CHN)
+46.873
16
28
John SHEN (HKG)
B
Modena Motorsports (HKG)
+1:02.904
17
27
Adrian Henry D’SILVA (MAS)
B
Nexus Racing (MAS)
+1:03.279
18
22
SIU Yuk Lung (HKG)
B
LKM Racing Team (HKG)
+1:04.066
19
18
Marcel TJIA (HKG)
B
OpenRoad Racing (HKG)
+1:21.179
–
5
Yuey TAN (SIN)
B
Dorr McElrea Racing (SIN)
DNF
–
68
Peter LI Zhi Cong (CHN)
Kamlung Racing (MAS)
DNF
–
83
Dr. MA Chi Min (HKG)
B
Dr. Ma Chi Min (HKG)
DNF
–
33
Samson CHAN (HKG)
B
Samson Chan (HKG)
DNF
–
72
Alif HAMDAN (MAS)
B
Nexus Racing (MAS)
DNF
–
9
WANG Jian Wei (CHN)
Team Betterlife (CHN)
DNS
*Non-series registered
Fastest Lap: Earl Bamber/Craft Nexus Racing/1:37.687/156.981
Points after Round 5
Overall
Pos
Comp No
Driver
Entrant
Points
1
7
Earl BAMBER
Craft Nexus Racing
92
2
86
Martin RAGGINGER
Team Eagle
88
3
20
Rodolfo AVILA
Team Jebsen
78
4
38
Keita SAWA
LKM Racing Team
70
5
8
Benjamin ROUGET
Team Yongda Dongfang
50
Class B
Pos
Comp No
Driver
Entrant
Points
1
88
Egidio PERFETTI
Team Mentos
100
2
5
Yuey TAN
Dorr McElrea Racing
64
3
96
LI Chao
Asia Racing Team
63
4
28
John SHEN
Modena Motorsports
55
21
Francis TJIA
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 GT 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
Asian Le Mans Series*
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
