Rounds 7 and 8 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2023 season were held from 4 to 6 August, at Chang International Circuit in Thailand. This stop marked the series’ first return to Chang since 2016. As part of Porsche Thailand's celebrations for its 30-year anniversary, 50 Porsche sports car customers joined the series for a half-day track event, featuring a memorable hotlap experience in the 911 GT3 Cup (Type 992) for a few lucky customers after Round 7.

A fierce opening and a decisive final lap in Round 7

Round 7 opened with clear skies over Chang International Circuit and chaos out of the gate.

Current points-leader Meidong Racing’s Florian Latorre started the race in pole position, followed by Team Shanghai Yonda’s Chris van der Drift in second, and TORO Racing’s Luo Kailuo in p3. With van der Drift sandwiched between the two points-leaders on the starting grid, the Kiwi driver knew he had to make an early move if he was to avoid being stuck in the midst of the ongoing Luo Kailuo versus Latorre battle. Zheng Tong Auto’s Bao Jinlong started in Pro-Am pole in p6. BD Group’s Yang Ruoyu, the current Am points leader, led the Am pack at the start of the race once again, beginning with an impressive p7 start.

As soon as the lights extinguished however, the starting line-up was immediately shattered. Latorre had a terrible start, dropping down to p4 with van der Drift muscling his way into first. Sime Darby Racing Team’s guest driver Reid Harker was able to manoeuvre himself up into second place from his p5 start. Harker was able to hold on to his p2 spot on the track, however his early overtaking left him with a 5-second penalty hanging over his head for the remainder of the race. Latorre was able to steady himself slightly after his early mishap, and managed to slip past his season-rival Luo Kailuo on turn 3, placing himself back in podium contention.

Following a clash between EBM Giga Racing’s Adrian D’Silva and Shanghai Pudong & Waigaoqiao 69 Racing’s Jacky Wu, the safety car was brought out on lap 5, frustrating van der Drift’s lead.

Bao Jinlong had held on to his p6 position by the time the safety car came out, with Zhou Bihuang catching up to sit behind him in p7, and Hong Shijie in p8 having also caught up with the class leaders. Yang Ruoyu had dropped down two places to p9, a comfortable 5 spots ahead of nearest Am rival Z.SPEED Motorsport’s Li Xuanyu.

The action started up again as the safety car exited the track on lap 7, with van der Drift immediately beginning to build up his lead again. The rest of the drivers spent the final few laps starting at van der Drift’s brake lights, as the three-time Carrera Cup Asia champion finished the race in first, earning his first victory of the season. The last time van der Drift raced at Chang International Circuit with the Carrera Cup Asia in 2015 he took home a double victory, making this event three Carrera Cup Asia wins in a row on this circuit for van der Drift. Harker crossed the finish line second, however due to his post-race penalty, the final result was Latorre in second and Luo Kailuo in third.

For the Pro-Am and Am categories, the remainder of the race saw little movement until the final lap. Having held on to his p6 position for the whole race, Bao Jinlong was supplanted on the final corner of the final lap by Zhou Bihuang, who managed to slip past Bao with some slick driving to take the Pro-Am victory, with Trans-China Automotive Racing’s Francis Tjia coming in third.

Having led the Am class by a significant margin all race, following on from his impressive qualifying position, strong start, and strong re-start after the safety car, Yang Ruoyu ran into trouble on the final lap, spinning out and dropping all the way down to the bottom of the grid. This left Li Xuanyu clear to take the victory this Round, with Kiddyworld Racing’s Eric Kwong finishing two spots behind him in Am second, and R&B Racing’s Wu Jiaxin coming in third.

Luo Kailuo takes his fourth win of the season in Round 8

Latorre started on pole once again, with Luo Kailuo in second and van der Drift in third. Zhou Bihuang started in Pro-Am pole this race in p6, with Yang Ruoyu leading the Am pack in p8.

The lights extinguished and Latorre had another disastrous start, once again finding himself unable to hold onto pole position out of the gate, and being overtaken by both van der Drift and Luo Kailuo. Wasting no time, Luo Kailuo immediately began building up his lead, as van der Drift, Latorre, Harker and Porsche Holding’s Martin Ragginger found themselves bunched up tightly in a four-way battle. The p2-p5 tussle gave Luo Kailuo space to develop his lead, adding around 1 second of distance each lap.

Zhou Bihuang held on to his Pro-Am pole position despite frequent overtaking attempts by Bao Jinlong. Yang Ruoyu, meanwhile, was having trouble in the Am category. Having started the race on Am pole in p8, Yang Ruoyu dropped down to p16 by the end of the first lap, however he had managed to battle his way back up to p10 by the time the safety car came out.

The race was yellow flagged on lap 9. By that time, Luo Kailuo had developed an almost 7-second lead, making this a frustrating turn of event for him. The safety car was certainly good news for current points-leader Latorre, who had managed to slip past van der Drift to take p2 before the action slowed down.

The safety car came off in lap 14, leaving Latorre with 4 laps remaining to take the lead. However, despite Latorre putting in some of his personal best sector times, it wasn’t enough to catch up to Luo Kailuo, who finished the race in first, with Latorre in second and van der Drift in third.

Bao Jinlong managed to overtake Zhou Bihuang after the safety car left the track, with Pro driver Harker getting sandwiched between the two after a final-lap lock-up caused the Kiwi driver to lose a few positions. Bao Jinlong crossed the finish line first to take Pro-Am first place, with Zhou Bihuang finishing in second and Hong Shijie in third.

Having battled his way back up the field, Yang Ruoyu led the Am pack coming out of the safety car. Having made some impressive moves already this race, it looked like Eric Kwong was in a good spot to take second place, however a final-lap contretemps with Li Xuanyu saw both drivers drop out of contention, with the final Am podium spots being occupied by Wu Jiaxin in second and D’Silva in third.

Luo Kailuo heads to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup!

Currently second in the standings, Luo Kailuo has had an impressive season so far, winning four out of eight races. As the best performing member of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Talent Pool, Luo Kailuo has earned a place at the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup event in Monza from 1-3 September, where he will be representing Team Carrera Cup Asia. The news was announced by

Managing Director of Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Alexandre Gibot. “We keep a very close eye on young Chinese talent, and Luo Kailuo is someone we’ve watched develop over the last few years.” Said Gibot, following the conclusion of Round 8 where Luo Kailuo added another victory to his tally “And this year he has really come into his own. His results in the Carrera Cup Asia speak for themselves, and we’re thrilled to give him this opportunity to travel to Europe to race alongside some of the world’s best. Especially as he will be representing the Carrera Cup Asia, which we are all very proud of.”

Meidong Racing leading the Porsche Dealer Trophy by just 6 points

Meidong Racing remain at the top of the Porsche Dealer Trophy scoreboard by a slim margin of only 6 points after TORO Racing driver Luo Kailuo added another victory in Round 8. With Florian Latorre failing to take home a win for Meidong Racing this stop and settling for two second-place finishes, TORO are back in sight of the top of the table. Yet both teams clearly need to start worrying about Team Shanghai Yonda, who are now in third place, trailing Meidong Racing by 22 points, thanks to Yonda driver Chris van der Drift’s Round 7 victory.