Scorching temperatures greeted the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia on its return to Zhuhai for the series’ first set of races alongside the Porsche Sports Cup China. After a seven-year absence, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia put in a showstopping performance at Zhuhai with two tightly contested races held amidst a Porsche motorsport carnival.

Round 3 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2021 season kicked off under the scorching Zhuhai sun, with temperatures reaching a sweltering 41 degrees on the track. Team StarChase’s Yu Kuai claimed the first pole position of the weekend, thanks to his lap time of 1:36.593, followed closely by Porsche Holding’s Cui Yue and Team Jebsen’s Daniel Lu Wenlong. As the lights extinguished through the shimmering heat haze, Cui roared out of the grid, wasting no time in supplanting pole sitter Yu Kuai. A series of collisions around Zhuhai’s treacherous turn 4 – which had already caused trouble during the practice rounds, with nearly all drivers exceeding the track limits at this turn at least once – caused the safety car to come out on lap 2, which slowed proceedings down somewhat and ate into Cui’s lead. After the safety car came off on lap 5, Cui maintained his lead with some solid driving, never giving an opportunity for a rival to manoeuvre past him, and eventually earned himself what can essentially be considered a lights-to-flag victory. Meidong Racing’s Ling Kang leveraged his fourth place start into a second place finish, thanks to some clever driving that enabled him to slip past Daniel Lu, who himself claimed the third place on the podium. Post-race penalties however saw Ling Kang’s second-place-finish disqualified, leaving Yu Kuai to occupy the third spot on the podium.

The round 3 Pro-Am pack was lead by Team Shanghai Yonda’s Bao Jinlong, with Meidong Racing’s Zhou Bihuang slotted just behind him and. Some early misfortune saw Zhou forced into the pit lane, allowing space for Absolute Racing’s Bian Ye to move up and spend the rest of the race battling Bao for Pro-Am supremacy, with the two drivers switching places on a number of occasions. Bian Ye eventually came out on top, crossing the finish line first with Bao hot on his heels, and Horsepower’s Lin Yue coming in third.

KiddyWorld Racing’s Eric Kwong started out in front of the other Am drivers, and had a hard fought race that at various points saw the Am leader overtake Pro-Am and even Pro drivers. Triple Ace Racing’s Henry Kwong started just behind Eric, and for much of the race seemed glued to his rival. Eric Kwong eventually extended his Am points lead by claiming his second victory of the season, with Henry Kwong coming in second and Silver Rocket’s Li Jia claiming the third podium spot.

Having claimed a victory in the first race – and with it the top of the points table – Cui Yue continued his strong Zhuhai performance in round 4 by starting in pole position. The veteran Chinese Pro driver had a solid start to the race, getting away immediately and keeping his challengers penned in behind him. Starting in second place, Yu Kuai had a tough job ahead of him catching up with Cui’s lead, while also fending off attacks from Daniel Lu to his rear. The melee behind the pack leader turned into a five-way battle, with Leo Ye, Ling Kang and Yuan Bo joining in with Daniel and Yu Kuai, all vying for position. The safety car came out on lap 10, cutting Cui’s lead down somewhat. After three laps behind the safety car, Cui once again managed a strong restart to the race, and smoothly converted this into a lights-to-flag victory – locking out the weekend with a brace of wins. Leo Ye crossed the finish line second, with Ling Kang earning a hard-fought third place.

Meidong Racing’s Zhou Bihuang was the Pro-Am pole sitter for the second race of the weekend, while reigning two-time Pro-Am champion Bao Jinlong started in P2, determined to make his mark after a relatively disappointing season opener. Behind Bao was the previous day’s Pro-Am winner Bian Ye. Bao had a less-than-ideal start to the race, being swiftly overtaken by Bian Ye, with both drivers trailing Zhou. Following the removal of the safety car, Bao was able to slickly manoeuvre himself up to P1, claiming his second victory of the season. Bao was followed over the line by Zhou in second and Bian Ye in third.

The Am grid was led by Eric Kwong, who is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the Am competition. Buoyed by his victory the day before, Eric raced a stunning race, regularly being ahead of drivers from other classes, eventually securing a flawless lights-to-flag victory. With SilverRocket’s Li Jia coming in second, Shanghai Pudong & Waigaoqiao 69 Racing’s Jeffrey Zee claimed his first ever Porsche Carrera Cup Asia podium.

Dealer Trophy

With two victories and a second place finish under his bet, it’s no surprise that Cui Yue has claimed the top spot in the Dealer Trophy standings for his team Porsche Holding. Just eight points behind the leaders, newcomers BD Group continue their impressive performance in their maiden season by securing the second spot. Next up, we have a tie between current reiging Dealer Trophy Champions Team StarChase and long-term Porsche collaborators Team Jebsen. The two senior teams are currently sat on 63 points a piece, which is nine points ahead of Meidong Racing and 13 points behind the tied veteran teams.