Imperatori does another double at Zhuhai!
Photos: PR Plus
Defending Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Champions Team StarChase strengthened their lead at the top of the points table after 24-year-old driver Alexandre Imperatori repeated his Shanghai double at the Zhuhai International Circuit.
In Round 3, starting alongside pole-sitter Darryl O’Young of LKM Racing, Imperatori charged into the lead off the start and never looked back. Second across the line was Japan’s Keita Sawa after his team mate O’Young picked up a puncture on lap ten while running in second. Celebrating his third podium finish in a row was Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila of Macau. In Class B it was Team BetterLife’s Wang Jian Wei who took victory, his second successive class win and strengthening his lead at the top of the points table. Second was OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia who continued his superb weekend, with Team Kangshun’s Ringo Chong of Singapore taking third.
In Round 4, Alexandre Imperatori took his fourth successive series victory in as many races at the Zhuhai International Circuit, while LKM Racing Team’s Keita Sawa was second, with Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila earning his fourth podium finish in as many races, putting him just 14 points adrift of the series leader with seven races still to go. In Class B, Chinese driver Wang Jian Wei gave the enthusiastic spectators plenty to cheer about as he collected his third successive victory, beating the on-form Francis Tjia of OpenRoad Racing while Team Kangshun’s Ringo Chong of Singapore finished third.
Right from the start, it was a relatively trouble-free run from pole to chequered flag for Imperatori, with the exception of a hairy moment when the race leader caught up with back markers in the latter stages of the 12-lap race. However behind him, it was a repeat of Round 3's white-knuckle battle between Sawa and Avila. Avila got away well from the second row and, as Sawa challenged Imperatori for the lead off the line, the Macau racer was able to charge round the outside and into second, albeit briefly. The Japanese ace reclaimed the position by turn four, and from there Avila relentlessly piled on the pressure. The trio were nose to tail in the early stages before the lightning-quick Imperatori pulled out a modest gap.
As for Class B, the action was fast and furious, with Tjia closing in on Wang in the early stages. Although unable to catch the Team BetterLife driver this time, the rivalry between the pair is set to run all season. The experienced Chong wasn’t letting the pair run away either and Singapore’s Yuey Tan was a man on a mission, with the Wimobilize McElrea Racing driver starting from 12th on the grid and crossing the line ninth ahead of Hong Kong’s Alain Li. Singapore’s Philip Briandet was an early casualty after a coming together with competition newcomer Davide Rizzo which saw both drivers retire, but 21 of the 26-strong field crossed the line, evidence of the increasingly high standard of racing in the region’s premier sports car series.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia is back in action at the new Ordos International Circuit in Inner Mongolia in July, where the technical, demanding circuit will provide a whole new set of challenges for the talented and highly-competitive field.
