Bitter sweet Zhuhai weekend!
Rounds 4 & 5 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series, saw a race weekend of ups and downs for Singaporean driver, Yuey Tan with a Race 1 comeback from last to 3rd in category, to a last corner last lap mishap that saw him retire in Race 2.
Practice went according to plan for Tan, trying different setups and finding good balance in the car early on in the practice sessions. His early form in practice was carried on into qualifying, with both Egidio Perfetti and Francis Tjia putting in fantastic laps to out qualify Tan in category.
“Qualifying was satisfying enough for us,” said 31 year old Tan. “The car worked well and our position is good in preparation for the race!” Though for the number five PCCA runner, the weekend that lay ahead was just getting started!
Race 1 saw a clean start by the Carrera Cup runners, though a safety car was called out and caught the field between T10 and T11 while T10 were displaying green flags. This caused Tan to see the safety car late and spear off into the grass, recovering in last place at the beginning of lap 2. By lap 4, Tan was 2nd to last and the green flags were out. Throughout the race, the Dorr sponsored driver fought hard, passing several cars as well as profiting from others misfortunes including Alif Hamdan and Li Chao, both making mistakes during the race. Tan crossed the line in 3rd place in category, taking a podium finish to his surprise.
“To be honest, I didn’t know we finished in 3rd. I remember going across the finish line with everyone going nuts on the pit wall and I was wondering why everyone was so happy. It’s only when I drove into the podium did I realise what had happened. That was pretty cool!”
Race 2 however didn’t see the same happy ending, though Tan got close. After a below par start off the line, Tan spent much of the race trying to pass Li Chao. Throughout the race, the cars touched at least on five occasions, though the racing was extremely close and clean. Due to slight contact, the radiator pipes of Tan’s cup car started to give way, finally dumping water on the left front tyre one corner from the chequered flag putting the car out of control. “As soon as I hit the brake, the car speared off. It was a really tough ending to a fantastic racing. We were running in 3rd and in retrospect, I’d rather bring the car home for points. Nevermind, we’ll see what happens. It’s a long season and we are not half way through it yet Though I must mention that Li Chao drove a fantastic race and took his first career podium in the process so congratulations to him. We are friends off the circuit and he drove awesome!”
Yuey Tan currently sits 2nd in category standings, behind Italian Egidio Perfetti.
#Zhuhai #YueyTan #PorscheCarreraCupAsia #McElreaRacing #Dorr
