From 15-17 September, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2023 season made its long-awaited return to Marina Bay Street Circuit for the Singapore Grand Prix. As well as holding Rounds 11 and 12, the weekend also saw the announcement of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2024 season calendar, with President & CEO of Porsche China Mr. Michael Kirsch onsite to add some gravitas to the occasion.

Latorre extends his lead with another win in round 11

The series’ return to Singapore saw a familiar starting line-up. Maintaining his stunning, 100% record, Meidong Racing’s Florian Latorre once again snatched up pole position, meaning that in Round 11 of a 14-Round season the French driver has yet to start a race with another driver in front of him. Florian’s season rival, TORO Racing’s Luo Kailuo, started the race in p2, with Team Shanghai Yonda’s Chris van der Drift starting in p3.

Zhengtong Auto’s Bao Jinlong started the race in Pro-Am pole position from p7 Overall. BD Group’s Yang Ruoyu continued his domination of the Am category by once again starting in Am pole from p6 Overall, and once again beginning his race a number of grid positions ahead of his fellow Am competitors.

Despite his untouchable qualifying times, Latorre has had a run of bad luck when it comes to starting races, frequently losing his position right out of the gate. However, this wasn’t to be the case in Round 11, as Latorre made a very strong start, immediately putting a few car lengths between himself and Luo Kailuo behind him.

Bao Jinlong, however, had an unlucky start from his Pro-Am pole position. The three-time Carrera Cup Asia Pro-Am champion dropped down to p9 from his p7 start, leaving space for TORO Racing’s Eric Zang to take the lead.

A clash early on in the race led to the safety car coming out on lap 3. The race restarted, however disaster struck again with Porsche Beijing Central & Goldenport’s Zhou Bihuang exiting the track and Shanghai Pudong & Waigaoqiao 69 Racing’s Jacky Wu also running into trouble, leading to a second safety car coming out. Once the second safety car had left the field there were only seven minutes remaining on the clock.

Latorre once again had a strong restart. Luo Kailuo was nipping at his heels, however with the scant time remaining on the clock there just wasn’t enough room for him to overtake. Having seemed like he was on a comeback in the latter half of the season, van der Drift maintained his p3 position for the whole race until the penultimate lap, where a misjudged corner saw him careen into the barriers and drop down two positions. An experienced driver, van der Drift was able to recover, however his p3 position was swiftly taken up by Porsche Holding’s Martin Ragginger, with van der Drift eventually finishing the race in p4. Latorre took the win, with Luo Kailuo coming in second and Ragginger in third.

Bao Jinlong had spent the time between the safety cars battling to regain his position, eventually managing to pass Eric Zang and take the win, making that his seventh victory of the season, with Eric Zang finishing just behind him, and Trans-China Automotive Racing’s Francis Tjia coming in third.

Yang Ruoyu claimed another lights-to-flag Am victory, with KiddyWorld Racing’s Eric Kwong coming in second and Modena Motorsports’ John Shen coming in third.

Two season champions revealed!

Round 12 began with what is becoming a regular starting line-up. Latorre in pole, Luo Kailuo just behind him, and van der Drift starting in third. Bao Jinlong led the Pro-Am pack from his p6 starting position, while Yang Ruoyu once again led the Am pack from his p7 starting position.

After yesterday’s clean getaway, it was chaos out of the grid for Round 12. Latorre managed a smooth start, with Luo Kailuo in hot pursuit. Bao Jinlong’s start didn’t go to plan however, and he lost the lead to Eric Zang. Yang Ruoyu made a strong start, however things started to go wrong for the Am points-leader on lap 2, dropping all the way down to p16, where he would remain for the remainder of the race. Having achieved a podium finish in the previous Round, John Shen ran into trouble early on in the race, causing the safety car to come out on lap 3.

As the safety car left the track, Latorre made a clean getaway, instantly putting some distance between himself and the rest of the Pro drivers behind him. With Luo Kailuo being slowed down by having to fend off repeated attacks to his rear from van der Drift, Latorre had a smooth finish to his race, coming in first with a more than 7-second lead. Luo Kailuo finished in second, and van der Drift in third.

With Yang Ruoyu seemingly out of contention, the remaining Am competitors faced an intense battle for the win. Eric Kwong finished the race in first, after a nail-biting finish that saw Z.SPEED Motorsport’s Li Xuanyu finish in second just 0.7 seconds behind him. The third spot on the podium was occupied by R&B Racing’s Zhu Zhiyao. However, a post-race penalty shifted the standings somewhat, pushing Zhu Zhiyao down a position and giving the final podium spot to Yang Ruoyu. This podium finish seals the season for Yang Ruoyu, who becomes the Am category mathematical champion with two races in hand. Quite an impressive debut season for the BD Group driver.

The other big win this weekend belonged to Bao Jinlong. Having won yesterday’s race as well, Bao Jinlong crossed the finish line first again in Round 12, making him the Pro-Am mathematical season champion with two races in hand. This is Bao Jinlong’s fourth Carrera Cup Asia Pro-Am championship win, making him the most successful Pro-Am competitor in the series’ history. Having fought a valiant race, and having taken an early lead, Eric Zang finished the race in second, with Zhou Bihuang occupying the third podium spot.

Meidong Racing still on top in the Porsche Dealer Trophy

Meidong Racing have now stormed out ahead, leaving Singapore with a 15-point lead over nearest rivals TORO Racing. With Meidong driver Florian Latorre adding a further two wins to the team’s tally this weekend, TORO Racing – and their driver Luo Kailuo – are going to have to pull out all the stops if they hope to take the title in the two remaining races. Hot on the heels of the leading two teams is Team Shanghai Yonda, who are a mere 6 points behind TORO racing. With just 21 points separating the top three teams, there’s still room for a last-minute comeback. The Shanghai finale promises to be a dramatic end to the season.