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!”
Like Ragginger, Avila was less than satisfied with his result. Said Avila: “The pace was not as I had expected, and to be honest my head wasn’t there. I saw [Tung] Ho-Pin coming up, but the guys in front were just in another world. They’re ahead of me in the championship, so it’s obviously not great, but our hopes are still very much alive.”
For Li Chao, who also won the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia medal for the race for his achievements in climbing through the field, it was exciting to be on the podium in his home country: “As a Chinese driver, I’m very happy to be on the podium here in Ordos. I got a good start, and after one lap I was third in the class. After the others spun, I was up to P2.”
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.
