Marco Giltrap has taken the lead of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championship after a strong weekend at Sepang International Circuit, winning two of the three races and finishing on the podium in the other.
The Team Porsche New Zealand driver arrived in Malaysia second in the standings on 108.5 points, 70.5 behind championship leader Marcus Amand.
With Amand absent from the Sepang triple-header, Giltrap had an opportunity to make up significant ground in the title fight.
His weekend got off to the perfect start in qualifying, where a strong flying lap earned him his first Porsche Carrera Cup Asia pole position. Naquib Azlan joined the Kiwi on the front row for the opening race under lights.
Giltrap made a clean getaway when Race 1 began, holding off Azlan to lead into the opening corners.
A safety car midway through the 13-lap race closed the field back up, but Giltrap kept his place at the front after the restart and went on to lead every lap on his way to victory.
The result cut Amand’s championship advantage to 42.5 points heading into the remaining two races.
Giltrap was back on pole for Race 2, with defending series champion Dylan Pereira alongside him on the front row.
Pereira immediately put Giltrap under pressure and found a way past within the opening few corners. By the end of the second lap, he had already opened a 3.3-second advantage.
Giltrap then came under attack from Rodrigo Dias Almeida, who eventually made the pass for second and dropped the New Zealander to third.
Pereira went on to win ahead of Almeida, while Giltrap brought the car home in third to add another podium to his weekend.
That result reduced the championship gap further, leaving Giltrap just 22.5 points behind Amand with one race remaining at Sepang.
Another pole position put Giltrap at the front for the third and final race of the weekend, a 45-minute enduro, alongside Maceo Capietto.
Giltrap and Capietto went side-by-side through Turn 1, with Giltrap managing to hold the lead as Capietto settled in behind.
The pair remained close through the first half of the race, with Capietto generally sitting around one to 1.5 seconds behind.
As the race moved into its second half, Giltrap began to edge away. The gap grew to 2.8 seconds before stretching further in the closing stages as the Kiwi controlled the race from the front.
Giltrap crossed the line 4.5 seconds clear of Capietto to claim his second win of the weekend, with Azlan completing the podium in third.
The results have completely changed the championship picture heading into the final round.
After arriving at Sepang 70.5 points behind, Giltrap leaves Malaysia as the championship leader on 182.5 points. Amand sits second on 179, giving the Kiwi a narrow 3.5-point advantage.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title will now be decided at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore from October 9-11, with Giltrap taking the championship lead into the season finale.
Header Image: Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
