A double victory earns Imperatori an early championship lead!

Photos: PR Plus

Shanghai-based driver Alexandre Imperatori of Switzerland completed his near-perfect debut with reigning champions Team StarChase by winning both rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2011.

 

In Round 1, the 23-year-old Shanghai-based Swiss driver beat pole-sitter Keita Sawa of LKM Racing with a margin of three seconds at the end of the 12-lap race. Third was Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila of Macau. Team Kangshun’s Ringo Chong took the Class B win, ahead of Chinese drivers Anthony Liu and Wang Jian Wei, both making their series debut.

Alexandre Imperatori completed his near-perfect debut with reigning champions Team StarChase by winning Round 2 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia from pole at the Shanghai International Circuit to cap off an exciting start to the season. Second across the line after the 12-lap race was Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila of Macau, followed by American Brian Wong of Absolute Racing who also made his debut with the series. In Class B, it was China’s Wang Jian Wei of Team BetterLife who took his maiden series victory, followed by OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia and Wayne Shen of Modena Motorsport, who finished ahead of his brother John.

Off the blocks, a dramatic start saw Imperatori get away cleanly from pole with the trio of Keita Sawa, team mate Darryl O’Young and Avila snapping at his heels. The resulting struggle for position saw both the LKM Racing Team drivers pick up punctures, forcing them to pit. Both returned to the track, with O’Young setting the fastest lap of the race and making it up to 14th by the flag, and Sawa two places behind. Imperatori set about pulling away in front, but Avila fought to keep him in his sights, but without risking valuable championship points. The Team StarChase ace had build up a gap of more than six seconds by the flag.

Brian Wong on the other hand had it all to do this weekend, and was rewarded with a well-deserved podium finish. Racing for the first time in the series, and having never been to the 5.5 km Shanghai track, the 22-year-old was surprised and delighted to have excelled amongst such stiff competition, having started the second race from eighth on the grid.

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2011 will be back in action at the Pearl River Delta’s Zhuhai International Circuit next month.