Chris van der Drift leaves Suzuka in third in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia standings following a mixed round which saw a controversial drive through penalty take away what was looking likely as a race win.
The Kiwi had started the weekend well and showed great pace through practice, topping three of the four sessions before qualifying fourth for Race 1.
After dropping back on a dramatic opening lap, along with series leader Florian Lattore, van der Drift charged forward, remaining on the rear of his rival to take his position on Lap 6. He would then take the lead on Lap 10, remaining there for two laps until he was ordered to serve a drive through penalty with two laps to run.
This dropped him to sixth overall, but third of the Pro-Am drivers. Race organisers have since admitted the penalty was unjust. Lattore would go on to win the round.
Starting fourth for Race 2, van der Drift bogged down off the line and was swallowed by the trailing field. He managed to fight back to sit seventh by the end of Lap 1, before charging to finish fourth after 13 laps.
Lattore was again the winner, while Kailuo Luo was second.
The results of the two rounds at Fuji see Lattore extend his championship lead of Luo to 21 points, while van der Drift is a further 16 points behind in third.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia returns for Rounds 7 and 8 at Chang International Circuit in Buriram on August 4-6.
