Craig Baird and Tung Ho-Pin have shared honours in the latest rounds of the Carrera Cup Asia series at the Marina Bay street track in Singapore.
Driving the Clearwater Racing Porsche, Baird took a lights-to-flag victory ahead over Budweiser Team Absolute Racing’s Ho-Pin in Round 11.
The 17-year-old rookie Nico Menzel claimed the final podium spot.
Class B was won by Spark Motorsports driver Egidio Perfetti.
“I’ve had a really good car since the moment I got here. From first practice I’ve been really happy with it and we really haven’t changed the car at all,” Baird said.
“Usually I’m changing things and making excuses, but my Clearwater Racing engineer has really been working hard. I just put my head down and got moving.”
In Round 12, Ho-Ping reversed the result of the previous day, scoring a 2.8s win over Baird.
Kiwi Chris van der Drift (Kamlung Racing) was third in the 12-lap affair.
Perfetti continued his way winnings by again taking Class B ahead of OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia while Team Jebsen’s Yuey Tan was third.
van der Drift will take a reduced 8-point lead over Baird going the closing rounds of Carrera Cup Asia at Shanghai next month.
Asian Formula Renault Series
A pair of second places at the penultimate round of the Asian Formula Renault Series have consolidated Garnet Patterson’s second position in the points.
Patterson qualified fourth at the Zuhai International Circuit in China, but he recovered quickly in the first race to be within striking distance of the leader.
While the 21-year-old, from northern New South Wales, finished second, he had to start from fourth again in the second race.
A protracted skirmish over third place prevented him from getting close to the leaders, but he was promoted to second place in the results after the driver ahead was disqualified.
“I made a mistake on my best lap in qualifying, which probably cost me pole because I was only two tenths away,” Patterson said.
“In race 1 I got a good start, and passed the drivers in third and second.
“I challenged for the lead at mid-race, but I couldn’t make it stick and had to settle for second.
“In race 2 I battled to get past the guy in third, but by the time I’d done that the two in front were gone up the road.
“As things turned out I was lucky to get second, but I’ll take it anyway.”
Patterson remains a chance of winning the Asian Formula Renault title at the final round scheduled for the Shanghai International Circuit on October 9-11.
Formula Masters China Series
Australian Jake Parsons claimed a hard earned podium during a frustrating weekend at Zhuhai International Circuit for rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the Formula Masters China Series.
The Meritus.GP driver was challenged by gearbox issues throughout the first race after qualifying fourth, but consistent driving helped him overcome the difficulties and bring the car home in third position.
In race two, the Sydney driver was running strongly when gremlins struck again, causing him to retire while battling for second place.
“I had to retire after an awesome opening lap as the car stopped being able to downshift during my pass into second,” Parsons said.
Although starting 6th for the final race, 20-year-old Parsons started solidly however he was taken out midway through the opening lap.
“It’s been one of those weekends really; however I’ve still learned a lot,” the 2014 AsiaCup champion said.
The Formula Masters China Series finale featuring rounds 16, 17 and 18 is scheduled for Shanghai from October 16-18.
Japan Super GT Series
Naoki Yamamoto and Takuya Izawa have claimed the maiden triumph for the Honda Raybrig NSX Concept following the latest round at Sugo.
The victory saw them move into second place in the championship which continues to be led by Nissan GT-R drivers Hironobu Yasuda and J.P. de Oliveira who could only manage 11th.
Satoshi Motoyama and Masataka took second place after 81 laps while fellow Nissan GT-R drivers Daiki Sasaki and Michael Krumm were third.
Fourth was taken out by Kazuya Oshima and Yuji Kunimoto in the two-litre Lexus turbocharged RC F coupe.
Lexus teams remain in contention for the title with only eight points separating the top six driver pairings with two rounds remaining.
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