The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia has made a highly successful return to Thailand after a ten year hiatus, the prestigious one make race championship joining the Thailand Super Series (TSS) programme for our second trip of the year to Buriram’s Chang International Circuit.
The dazzling racecars and highly capable mix of ‘pro’ and fast gentlemen drivers that characterise PCCA neatly slotted into our series and added their own values to the glamorous show while also promoting established international standards and plenty of professionalism to the bustling paddock.
At the front of the two races there was no change as PCCA’s man of the moment, Khun Chris van der Drift, claimed both wins to make it six on the trot this year. However the tall New Zealander didn’t have it easy at all; he was chased to the flag in both encounters by a hungry pack that was led out by 17-year-old ‘wunderkid’ Khun Nico Menzel.
The real story for Thai fans though was the presence on the PCCA grid of our three heroes, Khun Sontaya Kunplome, Khun Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak and Khun Suttiluck Buncharoen. When PCCA last visited Thailand, rolling into Bira Circuit in 2005, the former two names were on the grid. Now exactly 10 years later they were back in the series and in fighting form as the dots of motorsport history neatly joined up once more.
TSS is all about strength in depth. From the dazzling FIA GT3 racecars at the top of the pyramid right down to the tiny 1.2-litre semi-standard ‘Super Eco’ cars, close racing is always guaranteed whatever the category.
That was exactly the same story in Buriram and Super 1500 and Super Production, two of the key categories on the ‘ladder, provided plenty of drama and much excitement. And at the halfway point in the season it couldn’t be closer and there is everything to play for in both championships.
PCCA dazzles on highly anticipated return to Thailand
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia is one of the continent’s most enduring and prestigious motor racing championships while it’s also a recognisable name to ‘local’ fans as it used to visit Bira Circuit for some enthralling encounters.
However Porsche’s sophisticated breed of ‘911’ shape racecars and the growing mix of professional and capable gentlemen drivers behind the wheel simply became too fast for Bira Circuit and the last visit here is now becoming a distant memory, in fact it took place back in 2005. In the meantime the professional standards of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, more simply known to fans by its acronym ‘PCCA’, has continued to climb and climb while a return trip to Thailand just wasn’t a possibility – until now.
Exactly a decade on from the last time it rocked up at Bira Circuit, PCCA has made a very welcome return to Thailand and that’s thanks to the rapid rise in stature of TSS and the arrival on the motorsport landscape of Chang International Circuit. The state-of-the-art racetrack in Buriram, built to such high standards that it needs little more than a nod in safety terms to be able to hold a Formula 1 Grand Prix, has brought with it a revolution to circuits here.
More dots were joined up this year as Thai representation on the PCCA grid, for so many years wholly absent, came back with a bang as three of our leading drivers lined up for a full season in the series, which takes in Asia’s top racetracks including Sepang (Malaysia), Fuji (Japan) and Shanghai (China) as well as Singapore’s Formula 1 hosting temporary street track.
Two of those drivers are well established names in PCCA, Khun Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak and TSS President Sontaya Kunplome have been flying the flag for Thailand for many years now both nationally and internationally. The pair raced at Bira Circuit when the series last came here in 2005 and so there was plenty of symmetry as they were back on the grid at Chang International Circuit for the much-anticipated return visit last month. In motorsport the sweeping hand of history is never very far away and just by turning up these two seasoned battlers made sure that there were more footnotes to be written into the record books.
This time though there were actually three Thai drivers on the grid as another of our leading names, Khun Suttiluck Buncharoen, has also joined PCCA this year for the first time. It meant that with Khun Vutthikorn, Khun Sontaya and Khun Suttiluck on the entry list as part of a 28-strong line-up of the latest-generation Porsche 991 GT3 Cup racecars Thai interest was sky-high.
The return of PCCA here didn’t disappoint one bit either and, as soon as the cars poured out of the pitlane and onto the 4.554-km, 12-turn circuit for their first free practice session on the Friday morning, there was plenty of drama as the drivers started to learn the track and test the braking zones to the limit. Virtually none of the international cast of drivers, and it really was international as the countries represented included New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Holland, Australia, Macau, Canada, France, Norway, Austria and Germany, had seen the track before, apart from, of course, the trio of Thais.
In the run up to the Thai round, ‘PCCA 2015’ has been all about one man, Khun Chris van der Drift. The tall New Zealander of Dutch descent, who has a long and successful single-seater background, arrived in Buriram having won the last four races of the season on the trot and he proceeded to leave Thailand having made it six consecutive wins, and that’s out of just eight races held so far this year.
He took to Chang International Circuit like a duck to water and although he had to fight hard for both the wins there was really the presence of a man who is determinedly stamping his mark on this year’s edition and certainly he isn’t planning to loosen the one hand he already has closing in on the championship trophy.
Khun Chris said afterward that he enjoyed the circuit and the challenge it provided, particularly he noted it suited the unique characteristics of the rear-engine Porsche. “The track was fantastic and the facilities around the circuit were also great, it really is a top notch venue of European standard,” he said. “It was very enjoyable to drive the Porsche there, my favourite corner was number four, the fast left hander.”
In the end PCCA slotted very neatly into the TSS programme but one of the questions in the build up to the event was just how would a highly professional international race series like PCCA fit with Thailand’s top racing championship? No one better to ask about this than Khun Chris. “I managed to watch a few sessions of TSS and it was great to see the vast differences of cars running which made some great racing I thought,” he said.
The New Zealander was also impressed by some of the smaller details of TSS, especially off the racetrack. “The pitlane also looked great above the pit boxes with pictures of the drivers and what team they were with,” he added.
So with two wins out of two from his first time at Chang International Circuit, in fact it was his first ever visit to Thailand, the PCCA points’ leader was very happy with the outcome. “For me personally it was great because we were able to win both races and make some more points for the championship,” he added. Certainly he celebrated the wins on the podium in true racer style.
The trio of Thai drivers didn’t disappoint their fanbase either, and as one would expect from the top domestic star of the last decade, Khun Vutthikorn elbowed his way onto the Class B podium in both races. This is a driver who responds to a challenge and strapped into a high powered ‘One Make’ sportscar and he’s always going to thrive. Two runners up spots, both of them bumper-to-bumper with the car in P1 further cemented Khun Vutthikorn’s long-standing reputation as a Thai driver who can deliver against the best.
Khun Vutthikorn in fact raced in PCCA from 2003-2006 and he’s returned to the series this year, so he’s well placed to offer an insight into how this championship has changed since it last visited Thailand back in 2005. “Then, years ago, there were mostly Asian [competitors], only a few Europeans came then, so we [were] quite competitive,” he says. “But in the past few years the professionals [started] coming in because of the China market and that’s why they started Class A and Class B, and Class A is very competitive now.”
Hugely popular with Thai fans who respect a driver that gives absolutely everything he has on the racetrack, Khun Vutthikorn was pleased that he was able to race on ‘home soil’ this year. “After 10 years it’s good to be back to Thailand as we have Chang International Circuit which is FIA Grade 1 so I think, no doubt about it, it’s good to be back,” he said. “It’s good [also] as in terms of sponsors from Thailand, the sponsors will be seen more.”
The driver for the Est Racing Team, who was competing at the North East venue for just the second time (after contesting the track-inaugurating Japanese Super GT round here late last year as a ‘wildcard’ entry) noted that Class B is highly competitive and that meant concentration had to be 100% all the time. “For me I have only raced here once before so in Class B first, second or third place, they’re not far off, they’re only one tenth off,” said Khun Vutthikorn. “In Class B it’s quite competitive so I can’t make a big mistake, I have to really concentrate on the driving.”
Khun Vutthikorn also reckons that the Porsche 991 GT3 Cup, the new racecar that has underpinned PCCA ever since the start of last season, offers much to the driver to improve their all round skills, the old adage that if you can master the ‘911’ then you can drive anything clearly still rings true. “Compared to other one make [racecars] I think the Porsche is the most challenging, they have no Traction Control [and] no ABS, so it’s very much on the driver’s side to be able to control the car.” Control it he certainly did, as did Khun Sontaya and Khun Bobby, the trio putting on a cracking show in both races for the ‘local’ fans.
The strength in depth provided by PCCA included Khun Craig Baird who has earned the reputation as being the most winning driver ever in the big world in Porsche racing, that’s some accolade from a brand that is utterly synonymous with motorsport and arguable wrote the rule book on ‘customer’ racing. The vastly experienced New Zealander isn’t letting up with the champagne spraying either, he took a trip to the podium in the first race and followed that up with fourth place in the second to keep himself in the championship points runners up spot behind Khun Chris.
At the other end of the age scale Khun Nico Menzel really stood out in Buriram; the 17-year-old German driver, the youngest ever competitor in PCCA history, chased Khun Chris to the line in both races to take two runners up spots and clearly he’s going to be a star of the future.
For the record Khun Chris won the first PCCA race back in Thailand after the decade hiatus, Race 1 of the weekend held on Saturday afternoon, overall, the Kiwi coming home ahead of Khun Nico, Khun Craig, Porsche factory driver Khun Martin Ragginger (who is already a familiar name to Thai fans as he tutored our own Khun Sak Nana last year in Super Car Class 1-GT3), with Khun Ho-Pin Tung wrapping up the top five overall finishers. Class B saw victory go to Khun Evan Chen with Khun Vutthikorn second and Khun Francis Tija third; those three were next up overall in fact, finishing P6, P7 and P8 overall, respectively.
Race 2 saw the same top two overall as Khun Chris led home Khun Nico, this time though Khun Ho-Pin improved to third overall with the top five completed by Khun Craig and Khun Ro Charlz Skyangel. Class B saw a similar story to Race 1 as Khun Evan, Khun Vutthikorn and Khun Francis bagged the podium steps and they also finished in the same overall positions as the day before, P6, P7 and P8, respectively.
Race report: Super 1500
The arrival of Khun Kajornsak Na Songkhla in Super 1500 has shaken proceedings up, the former Super Production champion adapting very quickly to the new category – in fact he arrived in Buriram as the championship leader following an excellent weekend at the season opener.
However after a good qualifying session at the start of the first race it was the green-and-black Hondas of Khun Nuttapong Lertlumprasertkul and his brother Khun Komkrit that got the jump on the Ford Fiesta driver on the run to Turn 1 although Khun Kajornsak grabbed second place back as the pack charged into Turn 5.
Khun Nuttapong quickly opened up a gap at the front as his teammate Khun Komkrit had a go at Khun Kajornsak but he just couldn’t make a pass stick. The race settled down for a few minutes with the Fiesta locked into a green Honda sandwich. Khun Kajornsak however closed in on the leader after 3 laps and tried his hardest to pass but Khun Nuttapong was able to make retain control.
Then, sensationally in terms of the championship, Khun Kajornsak started to drop his pace as he hit issues, quickly slipping away. Crucially though for his title chances he kept the Fiesta ticking along, albeit 2m15s back at the checkered flag and that allowed him to collect valuable points. With clear space ahead of him Khun Komkrit closed in on his teammate and passed him but that advantage quickly swung back to Khun Nuttapong who claimed first place, 1.7-seconds ahead of his teammate, when Khun Komkrit lost fifth gear over the final laps. The pair also took 1-2 in Class B. It allowed Khun Nuttapong to edge into the lead of the unofficial championship standings overnight, by the slenderest of margins, just 2 points ahead of Khun Kajornsak.
Third place went to Khun U-tain Pongprapas who was 6-seconds down the road, he also claimed Class C honours, while fourth went to Khun Issares Limthanetkul who took advantage of Khun Teerasak Sakphaet running wide to nip through into the place, the latter though stayed the course to wrap up the top five overall. Khun Kajornsak however hung on to finish in eighth place and importantly that allowed him to salvage three very useful championship points.
With the top five reversed for Sunday’s second race, Khun Isara made a great start from the inside of the front row to lead the pack away on a wet and slippery track, the Super 1500 runners first out on track for their 0900 race start after heavy overnight rain and light early morning drizzle had left Chang International Circuit very soggy indeed.
Khun U-tain, starting from the second row, had a good getaway and he made it up to P2 on the first lap, pushing his way through at Turn 3. The best start though came from Khun Kajornsak who had blasted up from the back, thanks to being classified last the previous day, and he had taken P2 away from Khun U-tain before the end of the first lap.
Khun Isara had a useful 2.8-second cushion at the front by the end of lap one but Khun Kajornsak is certainly one of the best drivers in Thailand in wet conditions, he lopped a full 2-seconds out of the leader on the second lap and then took control of the race as it went into the third lap, before quickly pulling out an advantage at the front.
Not enjoying the wet conditions one bit were the two green Civics of Khun Komkrit and Khun Nuttapong, they were the big losers from the reverse grid and the conditions ran a solid P4 and P6 as the race started to unfold.
Khun Kajornsak made up for the disappointment of the previous day to win the second race of the weekend, that’s his second victory of the year and with four points scoring finishes so far he continues to lead the championship. He had narrowly lost the championship points lead overnight to Khun Nuttapong, but that emphatic win saw him open out a cushion of 8 points in the unofficial standings as the series reaches the halfway point.
Second place went to Khun Isara, who also won Class B, while in third place Khun U-tain made it two wins out of two in Class C and that moves him up into the championship contention after he suffered a costly DNF at the season opener back in May.
The top five was wrapped up by Khun Nuttapong, who regretted afterwards his tyre choice, which had worked against him as the track conditions changed, and Khun Teerasak. Khun Komkrit was one of the bigger names to retire though and he exited the race after 5 laps with a broken final drive, a result that now realistically leaves him as an outsider in the title race.
Despite hitting problems during the first race Khun Kajornsak bounced back with a maximum score in the second race and that meant he left Buriram on Sunday evening with an unmatched 58 points in the unofficial standings.
Khun Nuttapong picked up points in both races to move up to 50 points while Khun Teerasak, who had a less promising weekend than at the first event of the year, and Khun Isara, are next up, equal on 40 points. Then comes Khun U-tain with 34 points and Khun Komkrit a further 4 adrift.
Race report: Super Production
The Tein Racing Team had a superb first race in Buriram after Khun Yotsarun Sansuk (Honda City) emerged as the winner ahead of his teammate Khun Thanasit Bhunyatharanonth (Honda Jazz). The gap was in fact almost 9 seconds at the flag with Vattana Motorsport’s Khun Settasit Boonyakiat fighting up to take third place and he was just a tenth of a second back.
11 laps earlier, when the green lights it had been Khun Thomas Raldorf who had controlled the race from the front with Khun Yotsarun locking in behind him, Khun Thanasit was next up while Khun Anusorn Asiralertsiri slotted into fourth right in front of Khun Settasit, Khun Chattraphol Jiemvijid and Khun Nattanid Leewattanavaragul who went through Turn 1 three abreast.
Khun Thomas and Khun Yotsarun engaged in some hard fought racing at the front and swapped positions before the Dane gradually asserted himself as the race wore on to open up a gap of a couple of seconds by the time the checkered flag was waved. However Khun Thomas would be dropped from the final classification and that handed Khun Yotsarun his first Super Production victory as well as Class B honours.
There was a big gap back to Khun Thanasit who had fended off the close attentions of Khun Settasit for much of the race and, try as he might, the #93 Vattana Motorsport Jazz just couldn’t find a way past the similar car in front.
Locking onto that back of that battle for P2 over the closing laps was Khun Nattanid. She drove an excellent race in her new Jazz GK to claim P4 overall as well as Class C victory. In her first full year in Super Production she’s starting to look like one of the finds of the year and now has made her first trip to the top step of the podium. Quite simply she left her Class C rivals reeling and the next car in the class home was a massive 18 seconds further down the road.
Fifth overall, ten seconds back from Khun Nattanid, after a neat and tidy drive, was Khun Anon Rodprasert in the #18 TT Motorsport Honda City. After a tough time during the season opening double header back in May on his switch from Super 1500 to Super Production it started to come together for Khun Anon on the return trip to the North East. That was his first visit to the podium of the year and crucially P5 gave him pole position for the second race of the weekend. He also claimed third place in Class B.
Sixth went to Khun Chattraphol while seventh was Khun Poomee Phromatham, the reigning Super Eco champion still struggling to get the setup of his new-generation Jazz GK where he wants it to be. Khun Poomee, who had battled up from the back, got involved in a big tussle during the race for the final positions with the RMI Racing Team Jazz of Khun Thanawat Wongnapachant. That battle was eventually decided in the favour of the former although the latter, the double Class C winner at the first event of the year, extended his class advantage as he claimed the runners up spot thanks to that result.
Khun Poomee is a driver that sets high standards for himself and he’s not happy with where he’s currently at in his rookie year in Super Production. “I started from seventeenth, thanks to the safety pin that I had left in place for the fire extinguisher,” he said afterwards. “I fought my way back and finished in eighth overall with my personal best [lap] record of 2:03, but it’s still not fast enough.”
Ninth overall went to the #45 City of Khun Pong Trakulthong, he had to make up lost ground after running wide at Turn 3 on the opening lap and dropping places but still claimed third place in Class C, while the top ten overall was rounded out by Toyota Vios of Khun Nattachak Hanjitkasem.
Eleventh and fourth in Class C went to Super Production debutant Khun Moh Tze Yang in the H-Drive City, one place ahead of Khun Tony Percy who had to recover after a clash with Khun Sirisak Manthugumphol into Turn 5, the latter driver, one of the stars of the opening event of the year in May, would eventually finish down in fifteenth place. Between these two in the final classification was Khun Ray MacDonald, once again driving TT Motorsport’s Vios, and RMI’s Khun Phongthep Wachirarungruang. Khun Ray however bagged the final podium step in Class C.
After driving one of last year’s petrol-powered Mazda2 racers at the opening round, for this race Khun Tachapan Vijittranon had swapped into the second of the new-generation diesel Mazda2s, this car having been built by Innovation Motorsport since the opening round in May. She followed her teammate Khun Michael Freeman home in the race as the red and black factory-supported cars finished in P18 and P19. There is certainly an awful lot of work to do to these little racecars before they can be amongst the leaders but that result was at least a sharp step up in race pace when compared to Khun Michael’s performance during the car’s debut at the first round of the year.
Sunday’s race turned into one of the fastest evolving Super Production encounters for a longtime. After overnight rain had lashed the track the race started in still damp but quickly drying conditions although there were still large and treacherous pools of water at different points around the circuit.
On the grid the front row comprised of Khun Anon and Khun Nattanid, thanks to the top five finishers from the previous day’s encounter being reversed for the second race, while Row 2 was made up of Khun Settasit and Khun Thanasit.
At the green lights the pack headed down the damp track to Turn 1 where there was still plenty of standing water. There was certainly a bit of tiptoeing involved and Khun Anon held onto P1 from Khun Nattanid with Khun Settasit slotting in behind. The big loser was a slowing starting Khun Thanasit who lost a few places and that let the first race winner, Khun Yotsarun make a place up to P4.
By the second lap Khun Anon had pulled out five car lengths over Khun Nattanid who had Khun Settasit swarming all over her rear bumper. Already one of the drives of the race was coming from Khun Thomas who had started from the back but had fought his way up to P7 by the end of the first lap.
As the race progressed Khun Settasit would depose Khun Nattanid from P2 as would Khun Yotsarun and Khun Thomas, the Danish driver working his way up to P2 before the drying track started to affect his pace. As the conditions began to shift a stunning three-way battle emerged between Khun Settasit, Khun Yotsarun and Khun Thomas with the places changing by the corner. Meanwhile Khun Chattraphol hung onto the back of them ready to capitalise.
Khun Yotsarun lost some ground as he ran wide out of Turn 5 but that battle eventually culminated in the trio running side by side on the fast run uphill out of Turn 11 and three cars abreast just wouldn’t fit. The loser was Khun Settasit who was on the outside, he got squeezed onto the wet kerbs, immediately spun but collected the car and resumed racing without loosing too much time.
At the front Khun Anon in the #18 City continued to make the most of the drying conditions as the race came further towards him and he simply ran away from everyone else. At the checkered flag he had a massive 20.514-seconds in hand over the next placed driver.
Khun Anon announced himself in no uncertain terms to the Super Production paddock with that win. A longtime front-runner in Super 1500 he looks like he’s going to make waves in his new category. “[I have] a good grid start on pole from the reverse grid [and] this is a chance for me to be the winner,” he said. “And the choice of tyre [for] me I think dry is 50% and wet 50%, because [the] rain stops but in track is wet. The decision [to use slicks] is thanks to the Khun Korphong, the Team Manager, he said use the dry slick tyre because when the race started up to four to five laps the track is dry. When I start I think wet slick is better but as the second place [car] used wet slicks and on lap time it’s not different and that makes me confident to be the winner.”
Team Owner Khun Chayut Yangpichit was also very pleased with both their setup choice and Khun Anon’s return to a winning pace. “We thought the track [was] going to be dry [as the race progressed],” he said afterwards. “The team is very happy with the results [of] the race as we had problems with the car, it kept stalling and [it was] still happening on the practice day [while Khun Anon] got his old form back that was missing in the first round this year.” It really was a perfect race as Khun Anon claimed the Class B win as well as overall honours.
Second place went to Khun Yotsarun who also posted the fastest lap of the race. That runners up spot as well as his win the day before all added up to an impressive weekend and gets his points scoring for the season off to a great start, in fact he jumps to fifth place overall in the unofficial standings.
Third went to Khun Chattraphol who couldn’t quite get onto the front running pace but was superbly placed to move up as the race changed complexion. His third place means he moves into the joint championship lead in the unofficial standings after his main rival Khun Thanasit dropped a chunk of points in the final race.
Following Khun Chattraphol over the line by just a few hundredths of a second was Khun Poomee who claimed the first podium finish of his Super Production debut year. He played the conditions superbly although he admitted he was fighting against the setup of his new Jazz GK. “Before the race, I was praying hard as I do not fancy [a] wet race and I do not want to repeat last year’s dilemma [when he was innocently caught up a crash is Super Eco in extreme wet conditions] until it was officially announced as a ‘Wet Race’,” he said. “I had to prepare myself mentally in a short time. I guessed that I took too much time to prepare myself and I left the settings of the car for the dry race. A few laps in I was all over the place. The track was really slippery to me because of the wrong set up. I was really fortunate to have finished the race.” Still it was a fighting drive and expect to see Khun Poomee becoming a podium regular very soon.
The final overall podium position went to Khun Settasit who recovered from well from a late race spin to bag points he couldn’t afford to drop while sixth went to Khun Thomas who saw the race move away from him and after storming from the tail end of the pack right to the front early on he started to drifted backwards over the closing laps.
“I knew I would have to push really hard from the start of the race where I still had the advantage from the wet tyres, and then try to minimise the loss of positions at the end of the race,” he explained afterwards. “I moved my way up to second place and was chasing down the leader, but by then the track was getting almost completely dry and he was on slicks, so I could see this was not going to happen, and I knew the four drivers behind me were on slicks also. I drove my heart out to try and keep my position and for several laps we had an awesome race but eventually with my wet tyres being like melted chocolate on the dry track, I just wasn’t able to keep up the fight with a few laps to go.”
Seventh overall after another impressive drive was Khun Nattanid who is quickly staking her claim to be one of the top lady drivers in Thailand. She turned in another faultless drive to take her second Class C win of the weekend, that coming after she ran as high as P2 overall in the early stages of the race as the conditions favoured her tyre choice.
“The race was a half wet, half normal race so it’s hard to make a decision on the tyres but the team chose to use wet tyres for the first half to be at the top rank but it’s also risky for the second half,” she said. “But anyway we’re really pleased with the result.”
Khun Nattanid drove carefully and quickly in the changing conditions to bag maximum Class C points for the weekend and with the class championship leader coming into this round, Khun Thanawat, suffering a costly DNF in the second race, she moves up into the joint lead of the unofficial championship standings at the halfway stage of the season. “I’m so happy with the results,” added the 22-year-old. “It’s beyond my expectations because when I rehearsed it wasn’t that good so I was a bit scared that it won’t come out well.”
Eighth place went to Khun Thanasit, the championship leader dropping vital points with that less than desirable result, while the top ten overall was completed by Khun Tony, who is starting to prosper on his return to Super Production after a couple of seasons competing in Super 1500, and Khun Sirisak.
At the halfway stage of the season the overall championship is wide open. Khun Thanasit came into the weekend just one point ahead of Khun Chattraphol and they leave with that gap wiped out, the pair are now jointly on 57 points in the unofficial standings. Last year the championship gap seesawed all year and it looks like the same is going to happen this year, but with a new pair of protagonists. There are plenty of chasers though and Khun Settasit (40), Khun Anon (37) and Khun Yotsarun (35) are next up.
Meanwhile in Class C the standings have closed up as the double winner of the first event of the year, Khun Thanawat, had a difficult return to Buriram, he picked up 15 points from Saturday’s race before dropping out after 7 laps in Sunday’s encounter. That means Khun Nattanid, who collected a perfect score of 40 points, leapfrogs him in the unofficial standings into the top spot, she has 58 points to Khun Thanawat’s 55 points.
Khun Tachapan, who was second in the Class C standings coming into the weekend, has now swapped to the new turbodiesel Mazda2 and that looks like it’s going to effectively rule her out of the Drivers’ championship; she however picked up some class points in both races and has moved up to 33 points. That though drops her to fourth place as Khun Ray McDonald also moves above her, he’s into third place, with 35 points although the actor-driver is going to find it hard to get himself on terms with the top two over the second half of the season.