Chris van der Drift returned to the podium in the weekend’s final Porsche Carrera Cup race at Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, finishing third behind championship leaders Florian Latorre and Luo Kailuo.
The result, combined with yesterday’s victory, sees the Kiwi retain third in the standings, only 16 points off second spot and 38 behind the championship-leading Latorre.
Reid Harker, who was filling in for Nazim Azman in the Sime Darby Racing Team #17 Porsche, dropped from third to sixth at the start of the final lap, having resiliently held on to third until then despite running with a slow puncture picked up ten laps earlier on Lap 5.
Van der Drift started well off the second row, immediately jumping Latorre, who got a poor start off the pole. Harker also got a great launch and slotted in ahead of his compatriot into Turn 1, only to be passed by van der Drift and Latorre over the following turns to settle back into fourth.
By the end of Lap 1, Kailuo had built a gap of two seconds over the field, while van der Drift came under increasing pressure from Latorre. As van der Drift defended, Harker also joined onto the back of the battle, which lasted until Lap 6, when both Latorre and Harker managed to get past van der Drift who was on older rubber.
Kailuo’s lead had extended to over six seconds by this point. However, clear air worked wonders for Latorre, who began hunting him down.
A Safety Car was called for on Lap 9 when Gao Yujia was spun and left stranded on the infield, bringing the field together and eliminating the gaps.
Kailuo held off a fierce challenge from Latorre off the Lap 13 restart, while van der Drift applied the pressure on Harker but also found himself defending from fifth-placed Martin Ragginger.
A lockup for Harker on the final turn of Lap 15, caused by his puncture, saw his compatriot, Ragginger and Bao Jinlong pass him as he ran wide, dropping from third to sixth over one corner.
Kailuo came home to the chequered flag two seconds clear of Latorre, with van der Drift finishing third a further five seconds down the road. Harker held on to finish sixth.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia returns on August 25-27 at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
Header Image: Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (Supplied)
