Tan secures PCCA Championship runner up in Shanghai!
31 year old Singaporean race driver, Yuey Tan stormed to 2nd place in category on Sunday, to secure his place as runner up in the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Class B Championship.
“It’s been a great year in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia,” said a happy Tan. “Our target was a top 3 finish in the championship this year! We managed to secure 2nd this weekend so we are very pleased. Just want to say a special thank you to the Dorr McElrea Racing Team, my race engineer Minal, our fantastic mechanics Charlie, Christie and Noel, my family, and of course my girlfriend Claire. I also want to thank sponsors including The Dorr Group and PPP Laser Clinic, our supporters and the fans that have made all of this possible. It’s been a fantastic season!”
2013 started as a positive year for Tan, scoring podium finishes at the Shanghai Formula 1 round and stayed firmly second in the championship till round 5 where he retired on the final corner of the Zhuhai GP after making contact with Li Chao. From the contact, Tan’s car sustained damaged that forced him out of the race. His retirement closed the gap between the two drivers, in round 6 down to a single point. Round 6 saw the two drivers make contact once again in Ordos, Li Chao coming out better of the two as he drove to his second successive podium finish of the season. Since then, Tan has been trailing Li Chao in the championship points table by as much as 10 points, though Tan has managed to close the gap to Li to a single point going into the 2013 season finale.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season finale took place at the Shanghai Audi International Circuit, where Tan arrived with a firm objective in mind; to overhaul Chinese drive Li Chao and take his spot on the table over the weekend. Tan arrived in Shanghai with a strategy that comprised of pushing hard in qualifying ensuring that he was well in front of Li Chao, and then keeping risk at a minimum throughout the two races over the weekend.
Tan started the weekend competitive in the first two practice sessions, finishing 3rd quickest in category during both sessions though the team suffered a few setbacks. Practice 1 saw a slow leak in the left rear tyre, slowing progress for the Dorr McElrea team. Due to a lack of usable data from the session, practice 2 saw the car slightly over pressured in the tyres though this set the team up to learn what they needed for qualifying.
“The practice sessions didn’t go too bad at all! We didn’t get a great run but it definitely helped us learn what we shouldn’t do, making it easier to get things right.”
Saturday morning saw the PCCA field out on circuit with Tan 4th quickest on his first set of tyres. After making his pit stop after four flying laps, the Singaporean changed for a newer set and did another two laps, improving his time by 1.2 seconds and qualifying 2nd in category, also out-qualifying Mentos Racing’s Egidio Perfetti for the first time this season. “We had the best qualifying of the season, with the second set working really well with the car. It sure wasn’t easy but I knew where we had to be. Our first set was a good banker set of laps but when I came in for fresh rubber, I was informed that we were still a little bit off the pace. I needed to lift and there wasn’t any time like today to make it happen! We did exactly that and put the car where it needed to be. I was happy!”
Race 1 saw the Singaporean drive a measured race, only needing to stay ahead of Li Chao to overhaul him in the points tally as the Chinese driver had to start from the pit lane, due to a penalty earlier in the day. Tan finished in 4th place in category. Race 2 saw an improved result as he finished 2nd only behind Alif Hamdan as Egidio Perfetti retired for the first time in 2013.
“After qualifying, the strategy was simple. We wanted to get ahead of Li Chao in race 1, put a little pressure on him and get a numerical advantage in the championship table. This is what happened and all of a sudden, we were 7 points ahead of Li Chao. After this, race 2 would be all about consolidating the result and finishing ahead to secure the runner-up spot in the 2013 Championship which was what happened once again. I couldn’t have written a better script myself!”
“The last few laps of the race was something to think about,” said Tan. “I was in 4th when Francis made a mistake which allowed me to overtake him as I slotted into 3rd. After this Egidio also made a mistake that cost him a punctured tyre so things were a little bit of a gift today. We couldn’t see Li Chao anyway in sight though he started off the back and finished 4th. A masterful display from a fantastic competitor and more importantly, a good friend. It has been a real pleasure racing with the guys!”
Yuey Tan will be ending his 2013 racing season on the legendary Guia circuit of the 60th Macau GP, for the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Invitational where 9-time FIA WRC Champion, Sebestien Loeb will be competing for the first time in the Asian edition of Porsche’s one-make series.
