Porsche Carrera Cup 2010 attracts record entry
The 11-round season of the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will kick off on 16-18 Apr as a support race of the Shanghai F1 GP. This year’s entries, consisting of Asian and Euro GT professionals mixed with keen amateur drivers, will pit their skills against each other in brand new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, which are themselves based on the road legal 911 GT3 RS.
Sold for €140,250 each, the 911 GT3 Cup is not available for commercial sale, and is only sold to drivers participating in this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup season. Tipping the scales at 1,200kg, the GT3 Cup has 450hp at its disposal, produced at 8,500rpm from the aft-mounted 3.8-litre flat-six, and sent to the rear wheels by a six-speed sequential manual transmission.
For the first time since the series was launched in 2003, the organizers have opened registrations to private teams as well, a decision which probably accounted for the record-breaking number of entries.
The drivers were at the Sepang International Circuit on 13-14 March 2010 for the official pre-season testing runs. After Shanghai, the series moves on to Beijing and Zhuhai before heading out of China to Jeonnam, South Korea and then Singapore. The season then signs off back in China at Guangdong on 22-24 October 2010.
Leading the pack this year is defending champion Christian Menzel of Germany, who represents Chinese Team StarChase. Joining him in the Class A category for professional drivers is youngster Rodolfo Avila of Macau, who was recently unveiled by Team Jebsen as their new driver. Avila had a stunning debut season last year, when he finished 4th in the overall standings.
Darryl O’Young, former driver of the aforementioned Team Jebsen, winning the 2006 and 2008 titles for them, will represent LKM Racing this year in selected races, alternating with Alan Siu Yuk Lung, and Siu Tit Lung, who will be taking the wheel in Shanghai.
Former Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion New Zealander Craig Baird, completes his migration to the Asian series after finishing runners-up in Singapore last year. He will be competing for the full-season in this region, representing Triple X Motorsport.
Returning to the fray after a year-long hiatus is Marchy Lee of Hong Kong, who finished fifth in his first full season in sports car racing in 2008. Meanwhile, Jeffrey Lee from Chinese Taipei competes in Class A of the series for the third successive season. In his first two seasons, Jeffrey finished 16th, then 9th in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
In the Class B field of non-professional racers, veteran Philip Ma of Jacob & Co Racing continues his run of participating in every season of the series since its inception in 2003. Also in Class B is Singaporean youngster Yuey Tan of Wimobilize McElrea Racing Team.
Other participants in Class B include Ringo Chong (Team Kangshun), Mok Weng Sun (Team Porsche Club Singapore), Mak Hing Tak (OMAK Team), and Philip Briandet. They are joined by newcomers such as Kenneth Lau and Michael Choi, both of Dyna Ten Motorsport.
Commenting on the sterling line-up, Series Manager Ian Geekie, a motorsport veteran of more than two decades, said: “This is by far the most exciting and talented field ever assembled in Asia. We have the irresistible combination of international professionals, up-and-coming youngsters, and newcomers. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car is nothing short of spectacular, and a great way to mark the true coming of age of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.”
Pictures: Official Porsche release from 2009 season
