Chris van der Drift and Florian Latorre took victories on their return to Porsche Carrera Cup Asia as the series visited Bangsaen Street Circuit in Thailand.

Filling in for Mathys Jaubert and Alessandro Ghiretti at TORO Racing and Team Jebsen respectively, the duo were instantly back up to speed and competing at the front of the field.

Unfortunately, championship challenger Dylan Pereira touched a wall in qualifying, damaging his chassis and forcing him to withdraw from the event, having gone fastest in the session.

2023 champion Latorre inherited pole for both races, but was jumped off the line on Saturday’s event by Porsche Holding’s Martin Ragginger. However, a pile-up in the mid-pack involving several cars saw the red flag come out.

Lining up again in the original order, this time it was van der Drift who got the best jump, snatching the lead with an excellent move into Turn 1. Following a Safety Car intervention when Cao Qikuan (Phantom Global Racing) stopped on track, the experienced New Zealander held off Latorre in the remaining laps to make a perfect return to the series.

Ragginger held onto third despite the attacks of Rodrigo Dias Almeida (R&B Racing), while Team Porsche New Zealand’s Marco Giltrap edged Dylan Yip (Team Luanzhou International Circuit) and Nazim Azman (Sime Darby Racing Team) to fifth.

Bao Jinlong returned to winning ways in the Pro-Am category for Phantom Global Racing, with series debutant Liu Kai Shun (R&B Racing) and Li Xuanyu (Z.SPEED Motorsport) joining him on the podium.

In the Am class, Eric Kwong (Bergwerk Motorsport) took his fifth win of the season in Race 1 after a post-race penalty dropped home hero Munkong Sathienthirakul (EBM Giga Racing to second. Max Yao completed the podium for R&B Racing.

In Race 2, a Safety Car start meant Latorre held the lead, with van der Drift close behind. Separate incidents for Adrian D’Silva (EBM) and Azman saw two further interventions, with the race ending while neutralised, giving Latorre victory ahead of van der Drift and Ragginger

Bao dominated again in Round 8, clinching fifth overall along with Pro-Am victory, ahead of Zhang Yaqi (Phantom Global Racing) and a second podium of the weekend for Kai Shun.

Sathienthirakul recovered from losing out on victory by securing his third win of the season in Race 2. The Thai driver was in complete control in the Am class, with Henry Kwong (Triple ACE Racing) and Qikuan also on the rostrum.

Florian Latorre, Team Jebsen: “The red flags in qualifying made it difficult, but I managed to get good laps in. We had really strong pace all weekend, the start was tough on Saturday. I pressed Chris all the way but it’s so difficult to overtake on this circuit so had to settle for second. Today, I didn’t have to worry about the launch thanks to the Safety Car start and I was able to show our pace. I had to be careful not to touch the wall, and I’m really happy to return to the championship and take a victory! Thanks to the team and to Porsche Carrera Cup Asia for having me back.”

Bao Jinlong, Phantom Global Racing: “There were lots of Safety Car interventions in Race 1, I was hoping to make further progress but didn’t get the chance. Today I was looking to fight closer to the front again, but my tyre pressures were too low, so it was difficult to follow cars and I had some understeer. I’m now looking forward to heading to Sepang, I had a good weekend there last year so I’m aiming for a repeat of that.”

Munkong Sathienthirakul, EBM Giga Racing: “A big thanks to the team, the car was amazing and I’m delighted to have taken two victories. Bangsaen is an incredible venue to race at, I get extra energy from all the Thai fans, it’s amazing to have so much support. Both races were strong, and now we’re at the halfway mark in the season, I’m hoping to continue improving and challenging for the title.”

Alexandre Imperatori, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Manager: “An awesome weekend at Bangsaen, with thousands of fans attending to experience the action on track. It was also great to have Florian and Chris return, in place of Alessandro and Mathys, who are competing in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. They saw some fantastic battles out there on track. It’s always difficult to overtake at Bangsaen and incidents are an unfortunate byproduct, but it was still a fantastic watch and I really enjoyed the event. We’re at the halfway stage of the season now, and I’m excited for more at Sepang in August.”