Austrian Martin Ragginger stormed to victory in the opening round of the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit today, successfully fending off unrelenting pressure from defending champion Alexandre Imperatori.
Ragginger, racing for Team Eagle, led from pole to chequered flag over the 10 lap race, but was never given the chance to pull clear of his closest rival, crossing the line just over three tenths of a second ahead of Imperatori. Series newcomer, 22-year-old Earl Bamber of Nexus Racing took the final podium place in an impressive debut.
Fourth across the line was LKM Racing Team’s Keita Sawa of Japan, ahead of Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila. Budweiser Kamlung Racing’s Tung Ho-Pin crossed the line in 6th, but was later excluded for a technical infringement.
In Class B it was category pole sitter Egidio Perfetti who took the win in his Mentos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, finishing 7th overall amongst an intensely competitive field. Second was OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia ahead of newcomer, Alif Hamdan. Hamdan was the top finishing of the three Malaysian drivers, Nexus Racing team mate Adrian Henry D’Silva going out early on in the race with a broken radiator, and Sime Darby Auto Performance guest driver, Fairuz Fauzy, succumbing to pressure from a hard-charging Avila. Fauzy rejoined the race, but was unable to climb back through the field before the flag.
Ragginger downplayed his late-race lock-up, and was rightly pleased with his season start: “We took 21 points this weekend, and now we must continue like this. Every time, P1! It’s a good season start and it’s what we wanted. At the start I pulled away for a bit and then around lap 4 or 5 I had a problem with the rear tyres and I thought they wouldn’t be good for the rest of the race, but after they recovered and I had OK pace. Alex was a little bit better than me (in the later laps), but we made it. Everyone was telling me about the lock-up, but actually, in the car, I felt it but not so much.”
Imperatori, racing with PICC Team StarChase, believed he needed just one more lap to clinch the win: “I tried to give as much pressure as possible to get him to make a mistake, but it didn’t happen. We’re so evenly matched. I think yesterday we lost the race with our problem in qualifying. I had a good fight with Earl. It was a really good battle. I could have lost a position or gained a position – we were side by side, and it was nice to watch, but I’m glad I came out ahead. Towards the end, I really tried to put more pressure on. I think one lap more and we would have got it as I don’t think (Ragginger’s) tyres would have lasted.”
Perfetti’s victory puts him top of the Class B championship race, but his race was not without its drama: “My start was not brilliant, but I managed to get through. I got by Ringo (Chong) and then there was a fight at Turns 5 and 6. I stayed with Ho-Pin and that helped me get through. From there it was managing the speed. I had pushed hard, maybe a bit too much at the beginning, so I needed to manage the pace throughout the rest of the race.”
As the lights went out and the season got underway as part of the 2013 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX Ragginger bolted off the grid, holding the lead into Turn 1. Behind him, Imperatori dived past Bamber and up to second, while Avila passed Tung on the outside. Tung went off at Turn 5 after a tangle with Team Yongda Dongfang’s Benjamin Rouget, before regaining his position.
Francis Tjia diced with Hamdan for Class B runner-up position, the pair putting on thrilling battle for the crowds. Tjia won the day this time, claiming second, but the stage is set for a thrilling season in the category.
But it was the fight for victory which had the crowds on their feet, with Imperatori piling on the pressure in a desperate bid to claim the psychologically-significant opening win. Ragginger held firm, despite the lock-up on the penultimate lap giving a clue as to the intensity of the fight.
After the enthralling season opener in Malaysia, where the entire 25-strong field put on a display of GT racing at its finest, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will be back in action next month, this time at the 2013 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX in Shanghai from April 12-14.
2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
Round 1 Results
| Pos | No | Driver/Nationality | Class | Entrant/Nationality | Time |
| 1 | 86 | Martin RAGGINGER (AUT) | A | Team Eagle (CHN) | 22:12.790 |
| 2 | 99 | Alexandre IMPERATORI (HKG) | A | PICC Team StarChase (CHN) | +0.308 |
| 3 | 7 | Earl BAMBER (NZL) | A | Nexus Racing (MAS) | +2.406 |
| 4 | 38 | Keita SAWA (JPN) | A | LKM Racing Team (HKG) | +7.909 |
| 5 | 20 | Rodolfo AVILA (MAC) | A | Team Jebsen (HKG) | +10.221 |
| 6 | 8 | Benjamin ROUGET (FRA) | A | Team Yongda Dongfang (CHN) | +20.900 |
| 7 | 88 | Egidio PERFETTI (SIN) | B | Mentos Racing (SIN) | +24.007 |
| 8 | 9 | WANG Jian Wei (CHN) | A | Team Betterlife (CHN) | +29.227 |
| 9 | 68 | Peter LI Zhi Cong | A | Kamlung Racing (HKG) | +30.149 |
| 10 | 11 | Ringo CHONG (SIN) | A | Team Kangshun (CHN) | +31.612 |
| 11 | 21 | Francis TJIA (HKG) | B | OpenRoad Racing (HKG) | +40.468 |
| 12 | 72 | Alif HAMDAN (MAS) | B | Nexus Racing (MAS) | +41.326 |
| 13 | 66 | Jason ZHANG Zhiqiang (CHN) | A | Team C&D (CHN) | +42.061 |
| 14 | 5 | Yuey TAN (SIN) | B | Dorr McElrea Racing (SIN) | +53.594 |
| 15 | 28 | John SHEN (HKG) | B | Modena Motorsports (HKG) | +58.029 |
| 16 | 96 | LI Chao (CHN) | B | Asia Racing Team (CHN) | +61.046 |
| 17 | 3 | *Fairuz FAUZY (MAS) | A | Sime Darby Auto Performance (MAS) | +66.269 |
| 18 | 83 | MA Chi Min (HKG) | B | Dr. Ma Chi Min (HKG) | +66.639 |
| 19 | 22 | SIU Yuk Lung (HKG) | B | LKM Racing Team (HKG) | +70.973 |
| 20 | 18 | Marcel TJIA (HKG) | B | OpenRoad Racing (HKG) | +1:01.826 |
| – | 33 | Samson CHAN (HKG) | B | Samson Chan (HKG) | DNF |
| – | 16 | Wayne SHEN (HKG) | A | Modena Motorsports (HKG) | DNF |
| – | 78 | ZHANG Da Sheng (CHN) | A | Basetex Racing (CHN) | DNF |
| – | 27 | Adrian Henry D’SILVA (MAS) | B | Nexus Racing (MAS) | DNF |
| – | 58 | TUNG Ho-Pin (CHN) | A | Budweiser Kamlung Racing (CHN) |
