Shanghai: Team Eagle’s Martin Ragginger rounded off a perfect weekend at the 2013 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX by taking his third successive victory in Round 3 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. His trio of wins, and perfect record of pole positions, gives him a strong lead at the top of the championship points table but series newcomer, Earl Bamber of Craft Nexus Racing, continued his impressive debut with his second runner-up finish of the weekend. Third across the line was Macau’s Rodolfo Avila of Team Jebsen, who made a scorching getaway off the grid and powered his way to his first podium finish of the season.
In Class B, it was Mentos Racing’s Egidio Perfetti who took the toughest victory of his career so far, simultaneously attacking and defending in what was a frenzied – but fair – 12 laps on the 5.4km Shanghai International Circuit. Perfetti took the Class B win and eighth overall, with Dorr McElrea Racing’s Yuey Tan second in the category and OpenRoad Racing’s Christian Chia taking the final podium spot.
Round 2 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia on Saturday saw Team Eagle’s Martin Ragginger took his second victory of the season after an epic battle with series newcomer Earl Bamber of Craft Nexus Racing. Third across the line was LKM Racing Team’s Keita Sawa of Japan, ahead of Team Carrera Cup Asia guest driver Darryl O’Young, entered by Porsche Centre Shanghai Pudong, who defended well from a hard-charging Rodolfo Avila of Team Jebsen in what was a thrilling climax to the race.
In Class B, Mentos Racing’s Egidio Perfetti converted his pole position into an impressive victory, crossing the line 10th overall and increasing his points lead at the top of the category leaderboard. Second in the class was OpenRoad Racing’s Christian Chia, followed by Dorr McElrea Racing’s Yuey Tan.
Ragginger now has a ten point lead over closest challenger Bamber on the championship leaderboard, with LKM Racing Team’s Keita Sawa in third, two points clear of Avila. In the chase for Class B honours, Perfetti is 14 points ahead of Tan, who jumps to second after the Shanghai double header, with Malaysian newcomer Alif Hamdan third.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will be back in action next month at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China’s Pearl River Delta, for Rounds 4 and 5.
