July 16, 2018 No. 08/18

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2018 Round 4 and 5

Van der Drift captures lead after two heated rounds on the sweltering streets of Bangsaen

- Bangsaen Street Circuit tests technical abilities of Carrera Cup Asia drivers - Chris van der Drift takes mid-season lead in Overall after Philip Hamprecht forced to retire from Round 4 - Double podiums for Francis Tjia delivers a commanding lead for Pro-Am - 919 Hybrid joins Earl Bamber and Jacky Ickx to celebrate Porsche’s 70-year anniversary

Shanghai/Bangsaen. It was an intense weekend of high-powered racing for Cup Asia as drivers struggled against the ruthless Bagnsaen Street Circuit during a mercurial Round 4 and 5 in Thailand.

The street circuit’s narrow track and treacherous Porsche Hairpin tested the series’ 26 drivers as they piloted the powerful GT3 Cup (Type 991 II) during two highly dramatic rounds that saw several drivers take on one of the most difficult circuits on the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia’s calendar.

Van der Drift takes championship lead in Round 4, Hamprecht redeemed in Round 5

Scorching temperatures greeted drivers as they took to the grid for Round 4, with Team Formax’s Chris van der Drift in

P1 after clocking a 1:35.070 lap time during the qualifiers earlier in the day. But van der Drift’s lead position was short- lived after barreling starts from Team Starchase’s Philip Hamprecht in P2 and Will Bamber of Earl Bamber Motorsport in P3 saw the two drivers overtake van der Drift on Turn 1.

The unforgiving nature of Bangsaen Street Circuit soon became clear however, as Hamprecht, looking to further his first place lead in the tables, clipped the wall and was sent spinning from his first place position, forcing the young driver to retire from the race and dissolving his championship lead. Hamprecht’s misfortune cleared the way for Will Bamber to take the front position as the safety car was ushered out. Bamber held the lead solidly for several laps until a sudden mechanical problem saw his car overheat and he was forced into the pits. Van der Drift then successfully managed to evade the seemingly cursed lead position, finishing out the race in first, followed closely by Team ’s

Martin Ragginger in second and Maxime Jousse of AAS Motorsport by Absolute Racing in third.

Hamprecht’s misfortune did not deter the young driver as he started Round 5 in P1 with renewed spirit, relentlessly defending his front position from van der Drift, who started in P2. The pace of the race was then slowed by two safety cars as drivers continued falling victim to the merciless street circuit. Hamprecht carried his pole start to victory after facing minimal pressure from Van der Drift, who showed a cautious strategy knowing a second place win would secure his lead in the tables. Meanwhile, Will Bamber, starting in P3, kept a close watch for an opportunity to pass van der Drift that never materialized, resulting in a solid third place finish.

“Yesterday was not the greatest day for me I would say. I was leading quite comfortably like today, but I just made a mistake, I was pushing way too hard. But a small mistake has a big cost here. To come back and win now is a great feeling, it’s a great end to the weekend,” Philip Hamprecht said in the Press conference after the race.

Fierce fights highlight unyielding Pro-Am competition

Tensions were ratcheted up in Pro-Am as OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia started out front for Round 4 after a 1:40.512 lap during qualifiers, ahead of Zheng Tong Auto’s Bao Jinlong in P2. It was then a full on battle as soon as the lights turned green, with Bao Jinlong showing a champions hunger as he relentlessly sought to overtake Tjia. Tjia managed to repel multiple attacks from Bao, slamming the door on each of his attempts to overtake. In the end Tjia successfully clinched the lights-to-flag victory, narrowly taking first place and the lead in the championship table with a dramatic bumper-to-bumper finish just one-tenth of a second ahead of Bao, while Modena Motorsports’ Wayne Shen continued an impressive season performance to finish in third.

The roles were then reversed in Round 5 as Bao Jinlong started in P1 ahead of Tjia. Once again the two drivers went head to head, this time with Tjia looking for any opening possible to overtake Bao. With two safety cars limiting the window of opportunity for passing, Bao successfully sealed his first place win, with Tjia in second and Wayne Shen once again in third.

“It’s been a very good weekend, I’m very happy with it. I finally kind of caught up to the leaders of the Championship and things are now very close between myself, Wayne and Bao, so it looks like it’s going to be a very exciting season,”

Francis Tjia said in the Press Conference after the race.

Team StarChase takes Dealer Trophy lead

The back and forth fight for the Dealer Trophy intensified over the weekend as Team Jebsen, backing Cui Yue, briefly took the lead ahead of Team StarChase following Hamprecht’s retirement from Round 4. Team StarChase retook the point lead with a first place victory in Round 5, earning a thin lead in the dealer trophy competition with 78 points to

Team Jebsen’s 64.

Iconic 919 Hybrid highlights weekend of Porsche celebrations

Building the weekend’s already electric atmosphere was a rare appearance of the . In Thailand to help celebrate Porsche’s 70 year anniversary during a ‘Sportscar Together’ day in Bangkok, the 919 Hybrid took to

Bangsaen Street Circuit for the first time as part of its global ‘Tribute Tour’.

The 919 Hybrid led a procession of iconic Porsche cars that included the 918 Spyder Hybrid, driven by legendary driver and Porsche ambassador Jacky Ickx, and the 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991 II) driven by two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans and

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion Earl Bamber as part of the Porsche Parade to commemorate the anniversary.

-End-

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia – Official Round 4 Results

Pos No Driver Class Entrant Time 1 1 Chris VAN DER DRIFT Team Formax 29:46.561 2 86 Martin RAGGINGER Team Porsche Holding 29:48.215 3 66 Maxime JOUSSE AAS MOTOTSPORT by 29:51.210 4 68 Jordan PEPPER Kamlung Racing 29:51.391 5 77 CUI Yue Team Jebsen 29:52.568 6 21 Francis TJIA PA OpenRoad Racing 30:03.855 7 55 BAO Jinlong PA Zheng Tong Auto 30:03.958 8 16 Wayne SHEN PA Modena Motorsports 30:04.580 9 3 Michael S. PA OpenRoad Racing 30:04.931 10 9 LI Chao PA Porsche Beijing Central 30:05.447

11 33 Antares AU PA Modena Motorsports 30:06.146 12 23 Paul TRESIDDER PA Paul TRESSIDDER 30:06.355 13 98 Eric KWONG PA KiddyWorld Racing 30:07.014 14 62 Ahmad F. ALAM Presido Jakarta Ban Racing 30:08.088 15 59 Daniel LU Wenlong Porsche China Junior Team 30:10.436 16 7 LI Jiaqi PA JR-M 30:03.875 17 78 Suttiluck BUNCHAROEN PA True Visions Motorsports 30:07.669 18 17 FUNG Yui Sum PA Arrows Racing 30:16.547 19 11 Jeffrey CHIANG PA Earl Bamber Motorsport 31:27.834 DNF 15 Tanart SATHIENTHIRAKUL est cola PTT 19:00.577 DNF 2 Kenneth LAU PA Prince Racing 19:19.416 DNF 12 Will BAMBER Earl Bamber Motorsport 12:21.750 DNF 99 Philip HAMPRECHT Team StarChase 9:07.082 DNF 22 SIU Yuk Lung PA LKM Racing 5:04.531 88 YUAN Bo Porsche Shanghai Waigaoqiao & 0.000 DNS Pudong DNS 28 John SHEN PA Modena Motorsports 0.000

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia – Official Round 5 Results

Pos No Driver Class Entrant Time 1 99 Philip HAMPRECHT Team StarChase 31:26.425 2 1 Chris VAN DER DRIFT Team Formax 31:26.876 3 12 Will BAMBER Earl Bamber Motorsport 31:28.758 4 66 Maxime JOUSSE AAS MOTOTSPORT by Absol 31:39.566 5 15 Tanart SATHIENTHIRAKUL est cola PTT 31:42.692 6 88 YUAN Bo Porsche Shanghai Waigaoqiao 31:50.125 7 55 BAO Jinlong PA Zheng Ton g Auto 31:51.977 8 21 Francis TJIA PA OpenRoad Racing 31:53.420 9 16 Wayne SHEN PA Modena Motorspor ts 31:55.851 10 59 Daniel LU Wenlong Porsche China Junior Team 31:56.091 11 3 Mich ael S. PA OpenRoad Racing 31:56.627 12 28 John SHEN PA Modena Motorspor ts 32:06.250 13 78 Suttilu ck BUNCHAROEN True Visions Motorsports Thailand 32:07.590 14 33 Antares AU PA Modena Motorspor ts 32:11.348 15 23 Paul TRESIDDER PA Paul TRESSIDDER 32:14.710 16 98 Eric KWONG PA KiddyWorl d Racing 32:24.862 17 11 Jeffrey CHIANG PA Earl Bamber Motorsport 32:25.021

18 17 FUNG Yui Sum PA Arrows Racing 32:47.333 19 2 Kenneth LAU PA Princ e Racing 32:52.433 20 7 LI Jiaqi PA JR-M 32:35.113 DNF 77 CUI Yue Team Jebsen 29:58.402 DNF 86 Martin RAGGINGER Team Porsche Holding 29:59.015 DNF 9 LI Chao PA Porsche Beijing Central & Goldenport 15:09.212 DNF 62 Ahmad F. ALAM Presido Jakarta Ban Racing 15:10.964 DNF 68 Jordan PEPPER Kamlung Racing 3:21.752 DNF 22 SIU Yuk Lung PA LKM Racing 0.000

Overall points – After Round 5 (top 5)

Pos Comp No Driver Entrant Points

1 1 Chris VAN DER DRIFT Team Formax 107

2 99 Philip HAMPRECHT Team StarChase 88

3 12 Will BAMBER Earl Bamber Motorsport 64

4 86 Martin RAGGINGER Team Porsche Holding 59

5 66 Maxime JOUSSE AAS MOTORSPORT by Absolute Racing 58

Pro-Am points – After Round 5 (top 5)

Pos Comp No Driver Entrant Points

1 21 Francis TJIA OpenRoad Racing 98

2 16 Wayne SHEN Modena Motorsports 92

3 55 BAO Jinlong Zheng Tong Auto 87

4 78 Suttiluck BUNCHAROEN True Visions Motorsports Thailand 76

5 9 LI Chao Porsche Beijing Central & Goldenport 65

Dealer Trophy – After Round 5 (top 5)

Pos Comp No Entrant Driver Points

1 99 Team StarChase Philip HAMPRECHT 78

2 77 Team Jebsen CUI Yue 64

3 86 Team Porsche Holding Martin RAGGINGER 56

4 55 Zheng Tong Auto BAO Jinlong 54

5 68 Kamlung Racing Jordan PEPPER 48

Series Partners

Supporting the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia are two of the most recognised names in international motorsport, Mobil

1 and Michelin. Mobil 1 and Porsche have been partners since 1996. Close co-operation in research and

development has led to every new Porsche engine being filled with Mobil 1 high-performance lubricant. Porsche

Carrera Cup Asia drivers also have the advantage of racing on cutting-edge tyres supplied by series partner Michelin.

The consistent performance and leading technology of Michelin tyres constantly improve the performance of many

teams in international motorsport. The partnership between Michelin and the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia has

emerged from a worldwide agreement signed between Porsche AG and the Michelin group. The Porsche Carrera

Cup Asia is organised and promoted by Malaysian-based Motorsport Asia Ltd.

About Porsche Carrera Cup Asia

Preparing for its 16th season in 2018, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia blasted off the starting grid in 2003 and has

never looked back. Joining the family of hugely successful Porsche “one make” series, it is now firmly established

as the Number One racing series in Asia.

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia offers sporting competition at the highest level across the region and is truly

international, with competitors from all over Asia as well as Europe and the Pacific. The field is made up of a

combination of professional racing drivers and ambitious and talented gentlemen drivers.

About Porsche China

Porsche was founded by Prof. in , Germany in 1931 and was then transformed into a

sports car manufacturer by in 1948. Porsche has been known as one of the most prestigious

automobile brands in the world for decades. Under the guiding credo of “Intelligent Performance”, Porsche leads the

way in providing a new generation of sports cars that prove performance and efficiency can be perfectly combined.

Since entering the Chinese market in 2001, Porsche China has been dedicated to bringing the sporty genes and

innovative spirit of the marque to Porsche enthusiasts in this dynamic market. In Porsche’s network in China,

customers can experience the unlimited appeal of Porsche’s iconic sports cars: the legendary 911 series, the

renowned 718 Boxster and 718 Cayman mid-engine sports cars, the luxurious Cayenne premium SUV, the dynamic

and pioneering Macan SUV, the luxurious four-door Panamera with pure sports gene. Each demonstrates excellence

in performance, exquisite design, and consistent commitment to perfect quality that Porsche embodies. Across

Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, there are now 106 Porsche sales sites, ensuring that Porsche customers

across the country receive the hallmark personalised care that sets Porsche apart around the world.

In 2017, China was once again the strongest individual market with a total 71,508 vehicles delivered across Mainland

China, Hong Kong and Macau. Therefore, China has become the largest single market for Porsche worldwide. Porsche

China expects an equally promising 2018 as it continues the marque’s achievements with more future-oriented

offerings.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Social Media

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For further enquiries, please contact: Rachel Ye Manager, Social PR and Motorsport Porsche China Tel: (86-21) 6156 5911 Fax: (86-21) 5058 4200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.carreracupasia.com