Marco Giltrap’s Porsche Carrera Cup Enduro at Sepang came to an early end after contact from behind sent him into the barriers.
Giltrap had done well to take sixth off Rodrigo Dias Almeida in tricky conditions early in proceedings, only for his rival to hit him entering Turn 15 with 27 minutes remaining in the 42-minute timed race.
The contact on the rear of the Team Porsche New Zealand entry turned it left and nose-first into the barriers before it slid down the track, through the corner and stranded in the gravel.
Almeida received a drive-through penalty for causing the incident.
It was an unfortunate end to a strong weekend for Giltrap, who had featured on the podium in Race 1 and charged from ninth to fifth in Race 2.
Championship leader Alessandro Ghiretti extended his advantage over French compatriot Mathys Jaubert with a convincing victory.
Jaubert was forced to settle for second, ahead of local Nazim Azman, who took the final podium place off Martin Ragginger on the final lap.
Challenging conditions at Sepang saw the Enduro start behind the Safety Car, with Jaubert leading the queue ahead of Ghiretti. Giltrap began the race in seventh, behind Azman.
Ghiretti hit the front on Lap 2 when Jaubert made a mistake and ran wide. Dylan Pereira also threatened to follow through but ran out of time to complete the move.
The front seven, with Giltrap at the rear, put a gap on the field over the opening laps, with the Kiwi applying immense pressure to Almeida over the opening ten minutes.
The 2023 Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Champion took the position 14 minutes in with a good exit from Turn 14. Almeida slotted in behind him on the run down the straight but made contact with his rear as he pulled out to cut across to the right, entering the left-turn hairpin.
Giltrap ended up in the gravel, with noticeable damage to the Porsche’s nose, which brought out the Safety Car.
Ghiretti had extended his advantage to over four seconds before the incident.
The Frenchman remained at the front, pulled clear off the restart, and had a healthy buffer over Jaubert before another intervention was required when Yaqi Zhang spun and stranded in the gravel.
Ragginger had climbed to third before the intervention but came under pressure from Azman over the final laps after the restart, with the hometown driver taking the position on the final tour.
Ghiretti, meanwhile, was unheeded on the run to the chequered flag and took a seven-second win over Jaubert.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia returns on September 20-22, racing on the Marina Bay Street Circuit to support the Singapore Grand Prix.
Header Image: Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific
