Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Round 9 Report

Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia - Singapore 2012 Race Report: Round 9 Marina Bay Circuit, Singapore September 21 - 23, 2012 In This Issue: Television Listings Rounds 7&8 Preview Qualifying Qualifying Results Round 9 Round 9 Results 2012 Championship Standings General and Media Enquiries

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PCCA on TV If you missed the premiere of last night’s episode of ESPN Star Sports Engine Block, you can still catch Round 9 highlights this week on episode repeats.

Please check listings for details and updated information and stay tuned to the PCCA Weibo and Facebook pages for additional television coverage.

The start of Round 9 of the Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia 2012.

Preview : Porsche Stars Prepare for Lion City Thriller Shanghai/Singapore. The finest sportscar drivers in the region are revving their engines for a glittering highlight of their season this weekend, the Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore 2012. Part of the prestigious 2012 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX weekend, the drivers will be negotiating the same challengeable twists and fast straights as the biggest names in international motorsport.

Counting as Round 9 of the 11-race 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season, the weekend will be the second time the series has supported the FIA Formula World Championship this year, and the drivers will need to master the unforgiving Marina Bay street circuit to further their quest for championship points. As a record 28, identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racing cars thunder off the grid prior to the start of the Grand Prix itself, all eyes will be on the thrilling field as they begin their conquest of the 5.073km track.

Heading the championship charge to the Lion City is Swiss ace Alexandre Imperatori of PICC Team StarChase who holds a 34 point lead in the title chase from reigning champion, Japan’s Keita

Sawa of the LKM Racing Team. While Imperatori has notched up a near-perfect record of six wins, one podium and three pole positions in eight rounds, the defending champion has doggedly kept the 25-year-old in his sights. Imperatori will be making his debut on the Singapore circuit, having missed last year’s race due to other racing commitments, so Sawa will have the edge when it comes to track knowledge.

An impressive third on the leaderboard in his sportscar and Porsche competition debut season is China’s Tung HoPin with Budweiser Team StarChase, tied with Macau youngster Rodolfo Avila of Team Jebsen. Just a single point adrift of the pair is Austrian Martin Ragginger with Team Eagle – Jiejun & Junbaojie.

Out to grab victory for the race title sponsor, Craig Baird will be at the wheel of the SC Global Racing Porsche. Baird won both races in Singapore in 2010, while last year the New Zealander was continued on page 2

continued from page 1 twice runner-up for the team.

Modena Motorsports’ Wayne Shen leads the Class B title chase going in to the penultimate meeting of the season, having leapfrogged series newcomer Egidio Perfetti of Seminole Racing Team after an unlucky outing for the Swiss driver in Malaysia earlier this month. OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia has fought back from an early-season setback to stay in title contention, as has series newcomer, China’s Huang Chu Han of Asia Racing Team.

Flying the flag for Singapore this weekend will be hugely-experienced

competitor Ringo Chong of Team Kangshun and Dorr McElrea Racing’s Yuey Tan. Chong was struck down since he arrived in Malaysia, but both he and Tan, currently 7th in Class B after a superb debut class victory in Inner Mongolia in July, will be determined to uphold Singapore honour on the race track.

Luxury Singapore property developer SC Global Developments has been a loyal partner of the series since the debut of the modern-day Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. With the company’s commitment to excellence mirrored in its on-track success, SC Global Racing has become a popular ‘home’ team with local residents during the Grand Prix weekend. Involving the community directly in its race programme, the SC Global Racing Art Car Design Competition is now in its

second year. A competition between the Nanyang Polytechnic, the School of the Arts (SOTA), and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), a new Porsche 911 will be liveried in the winning design and displayed at the Marina Bay Sands.The series’ championship for non-professional racing drivers, who compete wheel-towheel with some of the most world’s talented and experienced full-time drivers, is just as fiercely fought as the battle for the overall title. As the superstar of a varied and challenging season, and with the race for two championship titles reaching fever pitch, the Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore 2012 is guaranteed to be nothing short of electrifying.

Martin Ragginger of Team Eagle - Jiejun & Junbaojie grabbed pole position for Round 9 of the Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia.

Qualifying : Ragginger Seizes Pole on Streets of Singapore Singapore. Team Eagle – Jiejun & Junbaojie driver Martin Ragginger continued his sparkling form on the 5.07km Marina Bay street circuit to seize pole position for Sunday’s 12-lap thriller, the Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore 2012.

Second fastest at the end of the red flag-interrupted session was SC Global Racing’s Craig Baird of New Zealand, the seasoned professional kicking himself for two errors on his quick lap. Equally frustrated was Budweiser Team StarChase driver Tung Ho-Pin, who had topped the time sheets during the session. Tung will start from the

second row alongside PICC Team StarChase driver and championship leader Alexandre Imperatori.

Ragginger’s point for pole position puts him joint third on the championship leaderboard, along with Tung and Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila, who qualified fifth fastest.

Fastest Class B driver was OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia, after a hard-fought battle with Seminole Racing Team’s Egidio Perfetti who held provisional pole for much of the session but had dropped to third by the flag. Singapore’s own Yuey Tan was second quickest at the end of the session, with a momentous effort from the talented Dorr McElrea Racing youngster.

Said Ragginger, who is new to the Marina Bay Circuit but is completely unfazed by it, topping Friday’s free practice: “I was confi-

dent from the beginning as I know I’m quick on tracks like this. We fitted four new dampers which helped a lot, and the car feels as it should now.”

Baird meanwhile was furious with himself for making two mistakes on his quick lap: “The car was good enough for pole, but I outbraked myself twice!

I love this championship and it’s great to be back with SC Global Racing, but I haven’t been in a Cup car for three months, so I think my driving was a bit panicky.”

Tung meanwhile was frustrated by traffic, as was Imperatori, but was already looking ahead to the race: “We have good pace, so hopefully I can regain a bit of what I lost today!” he said. continued on page 3

continued from page 2 As the session got underway under lights, Ragginger was immediately quick, but Tung was the first to lap in under 2:22, propelling him to the top of the times. The tricky street track caught some of the drivers out with several spinning, but it was defending champion Keita Sawa of LKM Racing Team who brought out the red flag a third of the way through the 30-minute session: “The car had more understeer than I thought. I lost it a little bit at the braking point, but locked up a lot. It was 100% my fault. Luckily I did a quick lap before the incident, and the damage to the car is small, so I’ll be racing tomorrow.”

With just seven minutes left on the clock at the restart, there was plenty of action to pack into the few remaining minutes. Ragginger was back on the charge, grabbing pole in the closing minutes, with Baird going quicker too, relegating a bitterly disappointed Tung to the second row of the grid.

Class B saw Francis Tjia leapfrog first Asia Racing Team’s Huang Chu Han and then Perfetti, and Tan’s last-minute burst for Singapore, which delighted the home crowd in a dramatic finale to the qualifying session.

Said Tjia: “I’m happy but I was also a little bit lucky. Before the red flag I had no clean laps but as the red flag came out I was just at pit entry, so I drove right up so that I was first out (at the restart). It’s my second pole of the year and my second in a row, so I’m just going to go out and enjoy it tomorrow.”

The Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore 2012 will be run over 12 laps of the Marina Bay Circuit just prior to the FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX.

All the highlights from Round 9 are available at carreracupasia.com.

Join us on Facebook at: /carreracupasia

OpenRoad Racing driver Francis Tjia was the fastest Class B driver in Round 9 Qualifying

Qualifying Results - Round 9 Pos No Name

Class Entrant

Time

1

86

Martin RAGGINGER (AUT)

Team Eagle – Jiejun & Junbaojie (CHN)

2:21.210

2

3

*Craig BAIRD (NZL)

SC Global Racing (SIN)

+0.482

3

98

TUNG Ho Pin (CHN)

Budweiser Team StarChase (CHN)

+0.711

4

99

Alexandre IMPERATORI (SUI)

PICC Team StarChase (CHN)

+1.145

5

20

Rodolfo AVILA (MAC)

Team Jebsen (HKG)

+1.471

6

8

Benjamin ROUGET (FRA)

Team Yongda Dongfang (CHN)

+1.652

7

1

Keita SAWA (JPN)

LKM Racing Team (HKG)

+1.948

8

37

Davide RIZZO (CHN)

BBT (CHN)

+3.006

9

6

*Massimiliano WISER (ITA)

BBT (CHN)

+3.351

10

21

Francis TJIA (HKG)

OpenRoad Racing (HKG)

+3.402

11

9

*Philippe DESCOMBES (HKG)

Team BetterLife (CHN)

+3.474

12

11

Ringo CHONG (SIN)

Team Kangshun (CHN)

+4.195

13

5

Yuey TAN (SIN)

B

Dorr McElrea Racing (SIN)

+4.523

14

88

Egidio PERFETTI (SUI)

B

Seminole Racing Team (USA)

+4.744

15

78

ZHANG Da Sheng (CHN)

Team Basetex (CHN)

+6.003

16

81

HUANG Chu Han (CHN)

B

Asia Racing Team (CHN)

+6.022

17

25

Christian CHIA (CAN)

B

OpenRoad By ART Motorsports (HKG)

+7.184

18

27

Adrian Henry D’SILVA (MAS)

B

Nexus Racing (MAS)

+7.587

19

83

Dr. MA Chi Min (HKG)

B

Dr. Ma Chi Min (HKG)

+8.117

20

28

John SHEN (HKG)

B

Modena Motorsports (HKG)

+8.139

21

16

Wayne SHEN (HKG)

B

Modena Motorsports (HKG)

+8.180

22

18

Marcel TJIA (HKG)

B

OpenRoad Racing by ART Motorsports (HKG)

+9.101

23

66

Rose TAN (CHN)

Team C&D (CHN)

+9.171

24

68

MAK Hing Tak (HKG)

B

OMAK (HKG)

+9.455

25

96

LI Chao (CHN)

B

Asia Racing Team (CHN)

+9.697

26

55

*Marc CINI (AUS)

B

PS Racing (FIN)

+10.889

27

23

Paul TRESIDDER (AUS)

B

Hewlett Motorsport (AUS)

+11.113

28

31

*Shim CHING (CAN)

B

PS Racing (FIN)

+11.302

* indicates non-series registered

B

Craig Baird of SC Global Racing grabs his third win in the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Round 9 : Baird Takes Emphatic Win for SC Global Racing Singapore. New Zealand’s Craig Baird took victory today in the 12-lap Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore 2012 on the Marina Bay street circuit.

Second across the line, taking full championship points for the win, was Martin Ragginger of Team Eagle – Jiejun & Junbaojie, while championship leader Alexandre Imperatori of PICC Team StarChase was third.

Class B winner was Seminole Racing Team’s Egidio Perfetti, his fourth class victory this season, with OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia second, and Singapore racer Yuey Tan taking the final podium position for his Dorr McElrea Racing team.

Imperatori now has a 40-point lead from defending champion Keita Sawa of LKM Racing Team, who kept his title aspirations alive by taking points for fifth in the race having started from seventh on the grid after crashing in qualifying.

Imperatori may be so close to the title he can taste it, but there will be no letup whatsoever from the 25-year-old and his team as they head to the season finale in November.

Baird was surprised to have made such a strong getaway, but thrilled to be back on the top step of the podium: “I knew the car was a lot better than how I drove it yesterday and then it just came down to the start. I was dive bombed by a white and red car, but he let me back past him and then it was a very clean race. The car was absolutely fantastic, and it’s great to be back with SC Global. We won a couple of races here in 2010, and then we were second here in 2011, but it’s very rare that you turn it on with a new car that you haven’t run before. Everything just clicked.

There’s a little bit of luck in that as well but I really enjoyed my weekend.”

For Ragginger it was a strong finish to an impressive Singapore debut, having topped the times in free practice before earning an extra championship point for pole: “Craig did a good job. I was quick in qualifying and in first practice too, but I struggled a little bit in the first four or five laps, I miscalculated my start and had a lot of wheel spin. The first four laps he had amazing pace and my tyres didn’t come in. When my tyres came in, I saw Craig was ahead and I was trying to push. I was quick the whole weekend, but even if I caught him at the end, it’s difficult to overtake, so compliments to him.”

In Class B, Perfetti was glad to be back after a disappointing outing in Malaysia earlier this month: “I think it was a very good weekend. It was my first time here in Singapore, it was a learning experience,

and even though I didn’t have the best qualifying, I learned every time we were out there and in the race it worked out pretty well. I had a good start and then I managed to find my way through a couple of cars in the first few turns and that put me in a comfortable position. I am ready for Shanghai and I hope the bad luck is over and then we’ll see.”

Baird, making a guest appearance for race title sponsor SC Global Developments, took his third victory on the challenging street circuit after a superb start from second on the grid, setting the fastest lap of the race for good measure. Pole-sitter Ragginger grappled with wheelspin before running wide and rejoining in the lead, but wisely handed the place back to Baird.

From there, Baird was on a charge but Ragginger never let up, closing the gap lap-by-lap. Imperatori was running a strong third, but behind him the fight was on between Team Yongda Dongfang’s Benjamin Rouget in fourth, chased by Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila and Sawa.

Budweiser Team StarChase driver Tung Ho-Pin got a bad start, dropping down the order from the second row of the grid. continued on page 5

continued from page 4 Lap 2 saw Sawa get by Avila, and the pair had the crowds on their feet with some thrilling wheel-to-wheel jousting, Tung poised behind and ready to pounce. Avila reclaimed fifth on Lap 3 and began closing in on Rouget ahead, while Sawa came under attack from Tung, closing the gap to less than three tenths of a second. Tung executed a wheel-perfect pass on Lap 5 to take Sawa, and thundered towards Avila ahead, whose first attempt to pass Rouget almost ended in tears before

finally making it stick, with Tung following him through and in to fifth. Rouget forfeit another place when Sawa got by, eventually crossing the line in seventh.

Baird was leading the pack out in front, having built an impressive margin of 4.7 seconds from Ragginger by the end of Lap 7, with Imperatori comfortably ahead of the battling pack behind. But the race was not done, and by the end of Lap 9, Ragginger had closed the gap to Baird to 3.3 seconds and Tung, running in fifth, was right on the limit, kissing the barriers in his efforts to get close enough to pass Avila.

The charge to the flag was interrupted, however, when John Shen ran into the barrier and, despite a valiant effort to move his car

(Top down) • (Left to Right) Round 9 Podium: Martin Ragginger, Craig Baird and Alexandre Imperatori • (Left to Right) Round 9 Class B Podium: Yuey Tan, Edigio Perfetti and Francis Tjia

to a safe position, the Safety Car was called out on Lap 11 and the field crossed the line a lap later.

Despite the unforgiving nature of the Marina Bay street track, coupled with unrelentingly fierce competition right the way through the field, 24 of the 28-strong field finished the race, testament to the skill and talent of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia drivers.

The 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championship titles, for both overall and Class B, will be decided at the season grand finale in Shanghai from November 9-11, at the inaugural Shanghai Sportscar Festival.

Results - Round 9 Pos

No

Name

1

3

2

86

3

Entrant

Time

*Craig BAIRD (NZL)

SC Global Racing (SIN)

29:51.627

Martin RAGGINGER (AUT)

Team Eagle – Jiejun & Junbaojie (CHN)

+0.685

99

Alexandre IMPERATORI (SUI)

PICC Team StarChase (CHN)

+1.404

4

20

Rodolfo AVILA (MAC)

Team Jebsen (HKG)

+1.622

5

98

TUNG Ho Pin (CHN)

Budweiser Team StarChase (HKG)

+2.701

6

1

Keita SAWA (JPN)

LKM Racing Team (HKG)

+2.862

7

8

Benjamin ROUGET (FRA)

Team Yongda Dongfang (CHN)

+3.427

8

37

Davide RIZZO (CHN)

BBT (CHN)

+3.927

9

6

*Massimiliano WISER (ITA)

BBT (CHN)

+4.240

10

9

*Philippe DESCOMBES (HKG)

Asia Racing Team (MAC)

+4.753

11

88

Egidio PERFETTI (SUI)

Seminole Racing Team (USA)

+5.212

12

78

ZHANG Da Sheng (CHN)

Team Basetex (CHN)

+8.236

13

21

Francis TJIA (HKG)

B

OpenRoad Racing (HKG)

+9.652

14

5

Yuey TAN (SIN)

B

Dorr McElrea Racing (SIN)

+10.584

15

16

Wayne SHEN (HKG)

B

Modena Motorsports (HKG)

+12.263

16

11

Ringo CHONG (SIN)

Team Kangshun (CHN)

+13.007

17

25

Christian CHIA (CAN)

B

OpenRoad By ART Motorsports (HKG)

+29.593

18

83

Dr. MA Chi Min (HKG)

B

Dr. Ma Chi Min (HKG)

+43.877

19

18

Marcel TJIA (HKG)

B

OpenRoad Racing by ART Motorsports (HKG)

+51.353

20

81

HUANG Chu Han (CHN)

B

Asia Racing Team (MAC)

+51.645

21

27

Adrian Henry D’SILVA (MAS)

B

Nexus Racing (MAS)

+52.132

22

55

*Marc CINI (AUS)

B

PS Racing (FIN)

+95.574

23

23

Paul TRESIDDER (AUS)

B

Hewlett Motorsport (NZL)

+96.875

24

68

MAK Hing Tak (HKG)

B

OMAK (HKG)

+97.284

-

96

LI Chao (CHN)

B

Asia Racing Team (MAC)

DNF

-

28

John SHEN (HKG)

B

Modena Motorsports (HKG)

DNF

-

66

Rose TAN (CHN)

Team C&D (CHN)

DNF

-

31

*Shim CHING (CAN)

PS Racing (FIN)

DNF

* indicates non-series registered

Class

B

B

(Top down) • Drivers battle at the start • Tung Ho- Pin of Budweiser Team StarChase • Keita Sawa of LKM Racing Team and Rodolfo Avila of Team Jebsen battle throughout the race

Overall Standings after Round 9 Pos

Comp Driver

Entrant

Points

1

99

Alexandre IMPERATORI

PICC Team StarChase

165

2

1

Keita SAWA

LKM Racing Team

125

3

86

Martin RAGGINGER

Team Eagle – Jiejun & Junbaojie

108

4

20

Rodolfo AVILA

Team Jebsen

104

5

98

Tung Ho-Pin

Budweiser Team StarChase

102

6

8

Benjamin ROUGET

Team Yongda Dongfang

93

7

37

Davide RIZZO

BBT

69

8

9

WANG Jian Wei

Team BetterLife

64

9

88

Egidio PERFETTI

Seminole Racing Team

55

10

78

ZHANG Da Sheng

Team Basetex

52

11

11

Ringo CHONG

Team Kangshun

51

12

16

Wayne SHEN

Modena Motorsports

48

13

21

Francis TJIA

OpenRoad Racing

31

14

81

HUANG Chu Han

Asia Racing Team

29

15

31

Pekka SAARINEN

PS Racing

21

16

37

Anthony LIU Xu

BBT

20

17

6

ZHENG Ting

BBT

17

18

5

Yuey TAN

Dorr McElrea Racing

15

19

68

Adderly FONG

OMAK

9

20

27

Adrian Henry D’SILVA

Nexus Racing

7

28

John SHEN

Modena Motorsports

7

25

Christian CHIA

OpenRoad By ART Motorsports

7

23

96

LI Chao

Asia Racing Team

6

24

68

MAK Hing Tak

OMAK

4

23

Paul TRESIDDER

Hewlett Motorsport

4

26

55

Marc CINI

PS Racing

3

27

31

Patrice BONZOM

PS Racing

2

28

83

Dr. MA Chi Min

Dr. MA Chi Min

1

55

Sean HE

PS Racing

1

66

Rose TAN

Team C&D

0

18

Marcel TJIA

OpenRoad Racing By ART Motorsports

0

31

Peter OLSON

PS Racing

0

31

Eric LO

PS Racing

0

55

REN Wei

PS Racing

0

87

SUN Zheng

PS Racing

0

• Rodolfo Avila of Team Jebsen

95

Kevin CHEN

Asia Racing Team

0

• Zhang Da Sheng of Team Basetex leads Ringo Chong of Team Kangshun

30

(From top down) • Rodolfo Avila sticks to the back of PICC Team StarChase’s Alexandre Imperatori • Benjamin Rouget of Team Yongda Dongfang

Class B Standings after Round 9 Pos

Comp

Driver

Entrant

Points

1

16

Wayne SHEN

Modena Motorsports

152

2

88

Egidio PERFETTI

Seminole Racing Team

126

3

21

Francis TJIA

OpenRoad Racing

116

4

81

HUANG Chu Han

Asia Racing Team

103

5

6

ZHENG Ting

BBT

78

6

5

Yuey TAN

Dorr McElrea Racing

77

7

25

Christian CHIA

OpenRoad By ART Motorsports

67

8

28

John SHEN

Modena Motorsports

66

9

96

LI Chao

Team BetterLife

60

10

23

Paul TRESIDDER

Hewlett Motorsport

55

11

27

Adrian Henry D’SILVA

Nexus Racing

53

12

83

Dr. MA Chi Min

Dr. MA Chi Min

44

13

37

Anthony LIU Xu

BBT

39

14

68

MAK Hing Tak

OMAK

36

15

18

Marcel TJIA

OpenRoad Racing By ART Motorsports

20

16

55

Marc CINI

PS Racing

18

17

31

Patrice BONZOM

PS Racing

16

18

55

Sean HE

PS Racing

10

19

31

Pete OLSON

PS Racing

0

31

Eric LO

PS Racing

0

55

REN Wei

PS Racing

0

(Right From top down) • Edigio Perfetti gets his championship back on track with a Round 9 win • Asia Racing Team’s Huang Chu Han • Francis Tjia finishes second in Class B and is currently third in the Class B standings

Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia quote of the weekend:

“I knew the car was a lot better than how I drove it yesterday and then it just came down to the start. I was dive bombed by a white and red car, but he let me back past him and then it was a very clean race. The car was absolutely fantastic, and it’s great to be back with SC Global.

We won a couple of races here in 2010, and then we were second here in 2011, but it’s very rare that you turn it on with a new car that you haven’t run before. Everything just clicked. There’s a little bit of luck in that as well but I really enjoyed my weekend.”

- Craig Baird

Behind the Scenes at the Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia Catch Porsche Speed Show (极速保时捷), the new online show exclusively about the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

Watch out for Episode 6 coming soon at www.carreracupasia.com!

We want to hear from you!

General Enquiries: Oliver Schwab Motorsport Manager, Porsche China oliver.schwab@porsche.cn Tel: +86 21 – 6156 5830 Media Enquiries: Nikki Kemp Director, PR Plus Limited nikki@prplus.com.hk Tel: +852 - 25756995

(From top down) •An aerial view of the Marina Bay Circuit • Paul Tresidder from Hewlett Motorsport • Zhang Da Sheng of Team Basetex

(From top down) • Craig Baird and Mr. Simon Cheong, Chairman & CEO of SC Global Developments on the grid • Keita Sawa (left) and Mak Hing Tak • Rose Tan from Team C&D

Check out our new revamped website at: www.carreracupasia.com