Porsche Stars Prepare for Lion City Thriller
Shanghai/Singapore. The Carrera Cup drivers will be revving their engines for yet another glittering highlight of their season this weekend, the Porsche SC Global Carrera Cup Asia – Singapore 2012. As a support race for the 2012 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX weekend, the drivers will be negotiating the same tricky twists and fast straights as the biggest names in international motorsport.
Designated 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. Twenty eight identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racing cars will thunder off the grid prior to the start of the Grand Prix itself, and all eyes will be on the thrilling field as they begin their conquest of the 5.073km track.
Leading 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 Porsche is China’s Tung Ho-Pin in his debut season 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 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 highly-experienced competitor Ringo Chong of Team Kangshun and Dorr McElrea Racing’s Yuey Tan. Chong suffered ill health in Malaysia, which affected his performance there, but both he and Tan, currently 7th in Class B after a superb class victory in Inner Mongolia in July, will be determined to uphold Singapore’s 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-to-wheel 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.
Round 9 – Provisional Entry List
No.1/Keita SAWA (JPN)/LKM Racing Team
No. 3/*Craig BAIRD (NZL)/SC Global Racing
No. 5/Yuey TAN (SIN)/B/Dorr McElrea Racing
No. 6/*Massimiliano WISER (ITA)/BBT
No. 8/Benjamin ROUGET (FRA)/Team Yongda Dongfang
No. 9/WANG Jian Wei (CHN)/Team Betterlife
No. 11/Ringo CHONG (SIN)/Team Kangshun
No. 16/Wayne SHEN (HKG)/B/Modena Motorsports
No. 18/Marcel TJIA (HKG)/B/OpenRoad by ART Motorsports
No. 20/Rodolfo AVILA (MAC)/Team Jebsen
No. 21/Francis TJIA (HKG)/B/OpenRoad Racing
No. 23/Paul TRESIDDER (AUS)/B/Hewlett Motorsport
No. 25/Christian CHIA (CAN)/B/OpenRoad by ART Motorsports
No. 27/Adrian Henry D’SILVA (MAS)/B/Nexus Racing
No. 28/John SHEN (HKG)/B/Modena Motorsports
No. 31/*Shim CHING (CAN)/B/PS Racing
No. 37/Davide RIZZO (ITA)/BBT
No. 55/*Marc CINI (AUS)/B/PS Racing
No. 66/Rose TAN (CHN)/Team C&D
No. 68/MAK Hing Tak (HKG)/B/OMAK
No. 78/ZHANG Da Sheng (CHN)/Team Basetex
No. 81/HUANG Chu Han (CHN)/B/Asia Racing Team
No. 83/Dr. MA Chi Min (HKG)/B/Dr. Ma Chi Min
No. 86/Martin RAGGINGER (AUT)/Team Eagle – Jiejun & Junbaojie
No. 88/Egidio PERFETTI (SUI)/B/Seminole Racing Team
No. 96/LI Chao (CHN)/B/Asia Racing Team
No. 98/Ho-Pin TUNG (CHN)/Budweiser Team StarChase
No. 99/Alexandre IMPERATORI (HKG)/PICC Team StarChase
