Before it had even set a wheel on the race tracks of Asia in 2003, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia had pledged that the championship would have genuine value to all involved. To Porsche, it would be an exciting showcase, a way to show all of Asia and far beyond its famed motor racing pedigree; for the series’ partners, it would be an unmatched opportunity to leverage their involvement with a prestigious championship and a respected marque; and for fans, a chance to experience motorsport at is purest, finest form.

 For drivers though, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia promised something more than a chance to race the iconic Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in a championship which represented a sea change in the way the sport was run in the region. The crucial component and one which would make the world of difference to the careers of the very best? A field which provided a credible, proven international benchmark.

 From the early 1990’s, the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship had seen manufacturers enter established drivers from outside the region, such as Carlos Sainz and Swede Kenneth Eriksson, in a bid to win titles. Likewise, Asia’s first junior single seater series brought young drivers from Scandinavia and Europe to set a realistic benchmark for the likes to Malaysia’s Alex Yoong and India’s Narain Karthikeyan. However, it was not the advent of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia that Asian drivers could gauge their sportscar skills in a global context.

 The first Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title was won by Charles Kwan, at the time the most accomplished Hong Kong driver of all time. A former works touring car driver and winner of the Macau Grand Prix’s prestigious Guia Race in 1993, Kwan’s credentials were both impeccable and international. The following year it was Briton Matthew Marsh who had been a regular competitor on UK race tracks and had also competed at Bathurst and the Nürburgring. Fifth on the leaderboard that year was a young rookie making his international sportscar racing debut with Team Jebsen: Darryl O’Young.

 However, 2005 saw the arrival of Briton Jonathan Cocker who, a year earlier, had become the youngest British GT Champion in history, taking the title aged just 18. Cocker won the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title from seasoned Thai driver Nattavude Charoensukhawatana, but only by a single point, with O’Young five points away from a second title. However, the series had given O’Young the chance to experience GT competition at the highest level, with an outing in the FIA GT Championship in Zhuhai and in the Le Mans Endurance Series.

 Upping his game, O’Young returned in 2006 and clinched the first of his two Porsche Carrera Cup Asia titles. His efforts were rewarded by Team Jebsen with a season in the fastest Porsche one-make series, the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup. During his absence, the 2007 title was won by Briton Tim Sugden who beat Japan’s Keita Sawa and Christian Jones, son of former F1 world champion, Alan.

 O’Young returned in 2008 to take his second Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title, before spreading his wings a season later and making his Le Mans 24 Hours debut in 2009. The following year the joined the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and today is one of the most internationally-recognised Asian drivers in the world.

 The next young sportscar star to emerge from the ranks of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia was Shanghai-based Swiss driver Alexandre Imperatori. Against the backdrop of an impressive career in formula racing, Imperatori astonished on his sportscar debut in 2011, winning eight of the 10 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia races he contested that season for Team StarChase. His absence from two rounds, due to pre-existing racing commitments elsewhere, meant the then-24-year-old missed out on the title that season, but he returned in 2012 to claim the championship by the biggest margin in the series’ history.

 In 2013, Imperatori was named as the lead driver for a new endurance racing project which saw him make his debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours. In 2014, he contested all but two of the FIA World Endurance Series (WEC) season, winning the LMP2 Class in Bahrain and São Paulo. In March 25, 2015 Imperatori signed with the Swiss Rebellion Racing LMP1 squad for the WEC.

 While the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia powered the rise of O’Young and Imperatori from sportscar rookies to the top echelons of GT competition, it has also played a role in fuelling the careers of countless others. Drivers who are enjoying successful sportscar careers who have raced with the series include former F1 drivers Ho-Pin Tung of China and Malaysian Alex Yoong, Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee, and Dilantha Malagamuwa of Sri Lanka.

 Providing an added inspiration to the field are the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia VIP drivers who have – so far –  included nine-time FIA World Rally Champion and FIA WTCC driver Sébastien Loeb, Le Mans winners David Brabham, Danny Watts, and the late Allan Simonsen.

 However the series’ biggest success story to date was so spectacular it rocketed one young driver at warp speed into world headlines.

 Earl Bamber, 25, won his first competition at the age of 12 racing go karts in his native New Zealand. An impressive career in single seater racing followed, including successful outings in A1GP and others. However, nothing could have prepared the sportscar world for what was to come.

 At the start of the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season – less than 2 ½ years ago – Bamber lined up on the grid in Malaysia for his first-ever race in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991). Twelve races later, Bamber had taken six victories plus five podiums to win the championship, earning the series’ nomination to the Porsche Motorsport International Cup Scholarship in the process.

 Bamber aced the shootout between the best and the brightest young talent in the world, and went on to win a second Asian title the following year, take the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup title on his debut (the only rookie in history ever to do so), and led the Carrera Cup Germany until – understandably – his packed racing schedule meant he had to bow out early. In November, he won the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia invitational on the Macau Grand Prix’s Guia street circuit, beating none other than Sébastien Loeb.

 Bamber also replaced the injured Richard Lietz in the Porsche 911 RSR at the Petit Le Mans in the United SportsCar Championship joining Porsche works drivers Patrick Long and Michael Christensen. Their second place ensured team Porsche North America won the manufacturers title in the championship.

 Prior to the start of the 2015 season, Bamber realised the dream of every young driver when he was signed by Porsche Motorsport as a works driver. He joined Nick Tandy and Nico Hülkenberg in the Porsche LMP squad to contest the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the Le Mans 24 Hours in a 919 Hybrid. Bamber’s hybrid, car No. 19, was third on the grid at Le Mans after Porsche finished first, second and third in qualifying,but ended up winning comfortably. Bamber’s childhood friend, fellow countryman and Porsche teammate, Brendon Hartley, with co-drivers Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard, started from second on the grid in a 919 Hybrid and finished the race.

 For Earl Bamber though, victory at Le Mans was the culmination of a fast track fairytale, and one can only imagine what extraordinary achievements lie ahead for him.

 Meanwhile, back in Asia, while the lad from Whanganui powers to ever-greater heights, the deafening whisper in the paddock is, “who will be the next Earl Bamber?”