Chris van der Drift won two Porsche Carrera Cup Asia races at Sepang over the weekend to move to second in the championship with just two events remaining.
Having qualified on the front row for Race 1, van der Drift pulled clear off the line as pole-sitter and championship leader Florian Latorre got off to a slow start. Latorre was forced to hold off a challenge from season-long rival Luo Kailuo at Turn 1 and into Turn 2, seeing the duo come together and run off into the gravel.
Van der Drift, meanwhile, extended his lead with the two championship leaders out of contention, cruising to a seven-second victory over Martin Ragginger. Latorre recovered from 16th to finish 6th, while Kailuo was 4th, resulting in a good swing of points for the Kiwi.
Latorre would again get a slow start off pole in Race 2, resulting in van der Drift taking the lead off the front row. Kailuo would slot in behind the pole-sitter while Ragginger joined the pack, and the front four pulled clear.
Latorre would pressure for the lead throughout the race but was also forced to defend from the challenge behind. A Lap 11 Safety Car saw the field finish under caution, resulting in van der Drift taking his second win of the weekend. Latorre finished second, ahead of Kailuo and Ragginger, respectively.
Van der Drift now moves to second in the standings and sits just 15 points behind Latorre, having been as many as 37 points in arrears two events ago. Kailuo drops to third, four points behind the Kiwi.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia returns for its penultimate race weekend, supporting the Singapore Grand Prix on September 15-17. The final round of the 2023 campaign is at Shanghai on October 20-22.
Images: Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
