Look back in history Sunday: van der Drift wins in Thailand

2015 saw Kiwi driver Chris van der Drift win the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Championship. It was a title fight with fellow Kiwi Craig Baird that went down to the final 14th race of the season. Third home was 17 year-old Nico Menzel.

Earl Bamber had won the previous two Carrera Cup Asia titles and with van der Drift and Baird fighting over 14 races across six different countries it was always going to be a third Kiwi title holder. Here’s the race report from round 7 held at Chang International Circuit in Thailand….

Victory for van der Drift

Kamlung Racing’s Chris van der Drift claimed his fifth consecutive Porsche Carrera Cup Asia win from pole to take victory in Round 7, as the series made its thunderous return to Thailand at the Chang International Circuit. Second across the line and taking his maiden Porsche Carrera Cup Asia podium finish was 17-year-old Nico Menzel of PICC Team StarChase, followed by Clearwater Racing’s Craig Baird.

Van der Drift’s win sees him extend his points lead at the top of the overall classification to nine points from Baird, with Team Porsche Holding’s Martin Ragginger in third. In Class B, a fifth place finish for Team Jebsen’s Yuey Tan sees him retain his place at the top of the leaderboard, but Tjia has closed the gap to just five points. Third in Class B mid-way through the season is Modena Motorsports’ Wayne Shen of Hong Kong.

The eventful 13-lap race was twice interrupted by Safety Car periods, meaning van der Drift had to power clear of the field three times: “My first start was amazing, probably the best so far this season. I just gripped up and took off. When the Safety Car came out for the first time, I thought ‘there goes my gap’, but I got a good start again. There weren’t many laps at speed, but the car felt great from the beginning. My congratulations to Nico as well on his first podium!”

With the new Thai circuit representing a level playing field, for the first time this season series rookie Menzel is not handicapped by lack of track knowledge, and was clearly thrilled to have shown his true potential:

“It’s fantastic to take my first podium! The goal was to finish on the podium, so I’m very happy. My thanks to the team who did a great job. Usually all the drivers already know the track and it’s always my first time. I only have 30 or 40 minutes in which to learn the circuit, but this time we were all in the same situation.”

Round 7 was an action-packed affair. As the lights went out, the 28-strong field stormed off the grid with van der Drift away like lightning and immediately pulling a gap from Menzel. Behind the German, Baird found his way past Budweiser Team Absolute Racing’s Tung Ho-Pin, who fought back before getting boxed it by the hard-charging pack and dropping down to seventh.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Alif Hamdan was flying, climbing from seventh on the grid and ploughing past Baird to go third before the Safety Car was called out for the first time. That saw van der Drift’s 6.99 second lead evaporate and closed up the field, with Nico in second from Hamdan, Baird, Ragginger and Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila.

At the restart, while van der Drift got away cleanly for the second time with Menzel in pursuit, behind the pair Hamdan defended well from Baird until the seasoned New Zealand driver managed to get by. As Ragginger and Avila were locked in battle behind, they closed up to Hamdan, sandwiching him between them. Inevitably, the trio clashed, with Ragginger pulling clear, Avila hurtling into the barrier, and Hamdan hit from both sides. Both Hamdan and Avila were uninjured after the incident, while Ragginger went on to cross the line fourth ahead of Tung. The Austrian was subsequently handed a one race suspension and a reprimand for causing a collision.

The incident called saw the Safety Car deployed for the second time, pulling away just three laps from the flag. Again, van der Drift charged away, winning with a 1.077 second margin from Menzel.

After the drama of Round 7, which left the field frustrated by the lack of racing laps on a track all the drivers are enjoying enormously, Round 8 promises to be packed with plenty of high-speed thrills. When the battle for the overall and Class B titles resumes in the Land of Smiles, van der Drift will once again be joined on the front row of the grid by Menzel, with Tung and Ragginger behind.

Round 7 Results

      *Non series registered

Car No. 3: 30 second penalty for causing a collision

Fastest Lap: Chris van der Drift/Kamlung Racing/1:38.484/Lap 12