Porsche Carrera Cup Asia began its 21st season of competition in style at the Shanghai International Circuit, with battles throughout the categories across both rounds.
Supporting the Chinese Grand Prix as the event returned for the first time since 2019, 27 cars took on the 5.451-kilometre circuit, which saw newcomer Dylan Pereira clocking in the fastest time during qualifying, earning him pole position for both races.
He was joined on the front row on Saturday by Team Jebsen’s Alessandro Ghiretti. Fellow PCCA Talent Pool members Mathys Jaubert of TORO Racing and Rodrigo Dias Almeida of R&B Racing locked out the second row. Phantom Global Racing’s Bao Jinlong was on Pro-Am pole, while Munkong Sathienthirakul started first in the Am category on his PCCA debut.
Pereira made a strong start to the race, holding the lead off the line. The 30-minute event featured two Safety Car interruptions, the first for an incident involving Li Chao and Hendrik Jaya Soewatdy, and the second when Sathienthirakul tangled with Hu Bo.
Pereira survived the first Safety Car restart expertly, fending off Jaubert and Ghiretti, while the race ended under the second, with 12 of the 13 scheduled laps completed, with the contest running to time.
Four-time Pro-Am champion Jinlong took eighth overall and a dominant win in the Pro-Am category as he looks to defend his title. Eric Zang was second for TORO Racing, while Li Xuanyu clinched third for Z.SPEED Motorsport.
And in the Am category, 2021 champion Eric Kwong secured victory for Bergwerk Motorsport, narrowly ahead of brother and 2022 title winner Henry Kwong, driving for Triple ACE Racing. Lu Zhiwei crossed the line third in class in the #777 R&B Racing car.
Rounding off the top-10 are Ling Kang (R&B Racing), Martin Ragginger (Porsche Holding), Oscar Targett (EBM Giga Racing), Almeida (R&B Racing), Jinlong (Phantom Global Racing), Nazim Azman (Sime Darby Racing Team) and Dylan Yip (Luanzhou International Circuit).
Pereira lined up on pole again on Sunday, but it was Ghiretti who made the best getaway from third. The 2024 Porsche Junior quickly passed the slow-starting Almeida, and originally looked to the outside of the winding Turn 1, before catching Pereira off guard with a quick switch to the inside, grabbing the lead.
Pereira’s victory challenge would soon come to an end, being tagged and spun around by Kang at Turn 1. Contact and subsequent stop for Angelo Negro in the OpenRoad Racing car brought out the Safety Car.
Ghiretti made an excellent restart, with Kang going long into the first turn, allowing Jaubert (TORO Racing) who began down in eight through into second place. He closed in on his fellow Frenchman, looking for a move in the final laps, but was unable to get alongside, with Ghiretti taking his first win in the series followed by Jaubert – making it a French pair for the top 2 spots that set an impressive pace.
Kang meanwhile had to retire with a puncture following his incident with Peirera.
Jinlong, who also won the Pro-Am class again, was 10 seconds behind the leading pair. The Chinese driver held off attacks from Almeida and Targett, with Team Porsche New Zealand’s Zac Stichbury sixth. Ragginger was seventh, one place ahead of Azman, while Pereira recovered to score points in ninth. Li Xuanyu rounded off the points scorers, also taking second in the Pro-Am category, while Li Chao joined him on the podium in third.
Finally, Eric Kwong made it two race wins in the Am class with an impressive drive, with Henry Kwong again second, ahead of Phantom Global Racing’s Cao Qikuan.
Alexandre Imperatori, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Manager: “We’re delighted with how the weekend went, the season started in amazing style in support of the Chinese Grand Prix. To have 27 cars on the grid was incredible, and with great racing in all three classes, we put on a good show for the fans, who I hope enjoyed watching us on track! Congratulations to our winners, and I’m looking forward to getting to Suzuka for the next round of the championship.”
Porsche Carrera Cup Asia soon travels to Japan for Rounds 3 and 4, tackling Suzuka International Racing Course on 10-12 May. Keep track with the latest PCCA news: