The 20th anniversary season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia kicked things off with a brace of races at Sepang International Circuit. Round 1 saw the series’ first night race of the season, with the setting sun in the background providing a hauntingly beautiful backdrop to the action on the track.

A thrilling start to a very special season

The first race of the 20th anniversary season got off to a great start, before coming to an abrupt halt. With the sun going down, it was headlights on for the start of the race. Series newcomer Florian Latorre with Meidong Racing claimed pole with an impressive time of 2:06.687, nearly a whole second faster than second-place starter TORO Racing’s Luo Kailuo with his time of 2:07.592. Team Shanghai Yonda’s Chris van der Drift and Porsche Holding’s Martin Ragginger, two of our returning veterans this year, occupied the third and fourth spots respectively. Three-time Carrera Cup Asia Pro-Am champion Bao Jinlong began the race in Pro-Am pole and p6 overall with his time of 2:08.857, with Porsche Beijing Central & Goldenport’s Zhou Bihuang just behind him. Kiddy World Racing’s Eric K not only started the race in Am pole, but started in P9 overall, five spots ahead of second-place Am starter EBM Giga Racing’s Adrian D’Silva.

Both Florian Latorre and Luo Kailuo got off to a strong start, racing wheel to wheel until Luo Kailuo managed to pull ahead early in the lap, while Ragginger also managed to pull ahead of van der Drift to take p3. Back further down the grid, Bao Jinlong ran into some trouble on the first lap, spinning out and dropping several places before righting himself and re-joining the action. Having been overtaken by Team C&D’s Hong Shijie, Bao battled his way back up the grid to p8, two positions behind Hong. Am pole sitter Eric K also had a tough start to his race, dropping 10 places down to p19, leaving Adrian D’Silva leading the Am pack.

The safety car came out on lap 4 and the race was red-flagged on lap 5, after Shanghai Pudong & Waigaoqiao 69 Racing’s Jacky Wu spun out into the gravel. Jacky Wu’s car was unable to be removed, leading to a 10 minute hiatus in the race. As the stewards removed Jacky’s car, all other drivers waited on the starting line in single file behind the safety car. Florian Latorre was back in p1, however during the hiatus a 10-second post-race penalty was announced for Florian due to a jump start, meaning that he would have to find 10 seconds somewhere in the remaining laps in order to keep his position.

The action restarted with Florian determined to keep his position, despite robust attempts at overtaking from Luo Kailuo to his rear. Bao continued battling his way back up the grid, attacking Pro driver Team Jebsen’s Gao Yujia from the rear until he managed to overtake, putting Bao right behind class leader Hong Shijie. Florian Latorre crossed the finish line first, however his 10-second penalty dropped him down to a p4 finish. Luo Kailuo was over the line second, earning him the first race win of the season, with van der Drift coming in second and Ragginger occupying the third spot on the podium.

With both Bao Jinlong and Hong Shijie running into trouble during the final laps, the Pro-Am contest was won by Team Betterlife’s Li Chao, with Porsche Beijing Central & Goldenport’s Zhou Bihuang in second, and Eric Zang in third winning his first ever Carrera Cup Asia podium. All three Pro-Am drivers made it over the finish line within a second of each other.

R&B Racing’s Wu Jiaxin claimed the Am victory, followed by BD Group’s Yang Ruoyu in second, and Modena Motorsports’ John Shen in third.

An early championship contender emerges

Race two began with a very similar grid line up to the day before, with Florian Latorre the pole sitter, followed by Luo Kailuo, Chris van der Drift and Martin Ragginger. Bao Jinlong earned Pro-Am pole in p6 for Round 2, with TORO Racing’s Eric Zang three spots behind him in p9, and Trans-China Automotive Racing’s Francis Tjia starting in p10. Eric K once again scored a blindingly fast qualification time, with the Am pole sitter starting the race in p8, nestled amidst the Pro-Am drivers.

As the lights extinguished, Florian Latorre got off to a much cleaner start than in the previous race, however Luo Kailuo was already fired up from his first Round victory and managed to slip around the outside of Florian on turn 2 to take the lead. This began a battle for first place that saw Florian remain within a second of Luo Kailuo for almost the whole race. Chris van der Drift settled into p3, where he remained for the remainder of the race, while Ragginger was left in p4 battling Nazim Azman to his rear. Nazim spun out on lap 8 after attempting an outside overtake of Ragginger on turn 1 resulting in him losing a position, however he recovered relatively quickly, managing to slip past Team Jebsen’s Gao Yujia and hold onto p5.

Luo Kailuo had built up a 2 second lead by the final lap, and crossed the finish line in first place, earning his second win of the season. Florian Latorre finished in second, while Chris van der Drift occupied the final spot on the podium once again. With Luo Kailuo coming in second in last year’s championship, this solid start puts him on the right path to claiming victory this season.

Having started the race in Pro-Am pole, Bao Jinlong spent most of his track time battling against Gao Yujia ahead of him, with the two switching positions a number of times throughout the race before Gao Yujia ended out on top, with Bao nevertheless gaining the Pro-Am victory. Eric Zang and Zhou Bihuang had their own private battle, with Eric seeming like he was destined to come out on top, until the final lap saw Zhou slip ahead and take the second place on the podium, with Eric occupying the third spot.

Having earned a solid starting position, Eric K’s race didn’t begin as planned, with the Am driver dropping down a few spots on the very first lap. This left the field open for BD Group’s Yang Ruoyu to lead the Am pack in p11. Eric K heroically battled his way back up the grid throughout the race, however it wasn’t enough to claim the victory, and Eric K was second over the line behind Yang, with Z.Speed Motorsport’s Li Xuanyu coming in third.

Porsche Dealer Trophy returns with 12 dealer teams

The Porsche Dealer Trophy is back once again, with 12 teams and 13 entries vying for the title. The big winner from the first stop is undoubtedly TORO Racing, who top the table with 50 points thanks to a brace of wins from their driver Luo Kailuo. Team Shanghai Yongda are in second with 37 points, and Meidong Racing take the third spot with 34 points. It’s still early days yet, but TORO Racing’s early 13 point lead puts them in a solid position for the remainder of the season.