Porsche Carrera Cup Australia front-runner Craig Baird remains second in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia standings after finishing third and fourth last weekend at Thailand’s Chang International Circuit.

Fellow New Zealander Chris van der Drift claimed his fifth and sixth consecutive win in the eighth round of the 14-race season, extending his lead in the Carrera Cup Asia title chase.

Baird finished behind van der Drift and Nico Menzel in the opening race while he trailed van der Drift, Nico Menzel and Chinese racer, Tung Ho-Pin in the second race.

The weekend saw significant changes to the overall championship leader board. Van der Drift now has 15 point lead from Baird in second. Menzel climbs to third in the standings ahead of Tung, who moves up to fourth, two points clear Martin Ragginger. In Class B, Tjia has closed the gap to rival Tan to just three points, while Wayne Shen retains the third spot.

While van der Drift’s victory looked effortless, it was meticulously planned as the New Zealander was mindful of the two Safety Car periods in Round 7: “My start was OK but Nico’s was better and I had to make sure I had him covered. It was matter of finding where the grip was after the heavy rains overnight, finding the speed, and then not making any mistakes.”

Having made a spectacular return to Thailand, with two action-paced races at the new Buriram track, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia embarks upon the second half of the 2015 season next month. Asia’s premier sportscar championship returns to Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit for Rounds 9 and 10 from September 4-6.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2015
Round 7 Results
1 68 Chris VAN DER DRIFT (NZL) Kamlung Racing (CHN) 26:34.000
2 99 Nico MENZEL (GER) PICC Team StarChase (CHN) +1.077
3 12 Craig BAIRD (NZL) Clearwater Racing (SIN) +1.967
4 86 Martin RAGGINGER (AUT) Team Porsche Holding (CHN) +2.556
5 58 TUNG Ho-Pin (CHN) Budweiser Team Absolute Racing (HKG) +3.380
6 2 *Evan CHEN (TPE) B Evan Chen (TPE) +6.517
7 18 Vutthikorn INTHRAPHUVASAK (THA) B est Racing Team (THA) +7.264
8 21 Francis TJIA (HKG) B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) +8.985
9 9 LI Chao (CHN) B Team Betterlife (CHN) +11.938
10 5 Yuey TAN (SIN) B Team Jebsen (HKG) +12.736
11 16 Wayne SHEN (HKG) B Modena Motorsports (HKG) +13.883
12 51 Johnson HUANG (TPE) B Team BC Racing (TPE) +14.343
13 78 Suttiluck BUNCHAROEN (THA) B True Visions Motorsports Thailand (THA) +15.607
14 60 Marcel TJIA (SIN) B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) +16.983
15 98 *Max CHEN (TPE) B Max Chen (TPE) +19.463
16 65 ZHU Jun Han (CHN) B Absolute Racing (HKG) +21.356
17 22 SIU Yuk Lung (HKG) B LKM Racing (HKG) +25.101
18 8 Ro Charlz SKYANGEL (SIN) Team Yonda (CHN) +25.223
19 28 John SHEN (HKG) B Modena Motorsports (HKG) +26.576
20 80 Sontaya KUNPLOME (THA) B Racing Spirit Thailand (THA) +27.225
21 17 FUNG Yui Sum (HKG) B Arrows Racing (MAS) +28.379
22 3 Michael S. (INA) B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) +54.572
DNF 55 BAO Jin Long (CHN) Zheng Tong Auto (CHN) –
DNF 72 Alif HAMDAN (MAS) Alif Hamdan Motorsport (MAS) –
DNF 20 Rodolfo AVILA (MAC) Team Jebsen (HKG) –
DNF 11 *Mikko Patteri NASSI (MAL) B Team Kangshun (CHN) –
DNF 88 *Daniel BILSKI (AUS) B Spark Motorsports (HKG) –
DNF 23 Paul TRESIDDER (AUS) B Paul Tresidder (AUS)

Round 8 Results
1 68 Chris VAN DER DRIFT (NZL) Kamlung Racing (CHN) 21:37.900
2 99 Nico MENZEL (GER) PICC Team StarChase (CHN) +2.569
3 58 TUNG Ho-Pin (CHN) Budweiser Team Absolute Racing (HKG) +4.824
4 12 Craig BAIRD (NZL) Clearwater Racing (SIN) +6.108
5 8 Ro Charlz SKYANGEL (SIN) Team Yonda (CHN) +7.043
6 2 *Evan CHEN (TPE) B Evan Chen (TPE) +25.507
7 18 Vutthikorn INTHRAPHUVASAK (THA) B est Racing Team (THA) +26.541
8 21 Francis TJIA (HKG) B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) +29.483
9 55 BAO Jin Long (CHN) Zheng Tong Auto (CHN) +30.212
10 5 Yuey TAN (SIN) B Team Jebsen (HKG) +30.608
11 9 LI Chao (CHN) B Team Betterlife (CHN) +32.940
12 51 Johnson HUANG (TPE) B Team BC Racing (TPE) +36.385
13 16 Wayne SHEN (HKG) B Modena Motorsports (HKG) +36.702
14 78 Suttiluck BUNCHAROEN (THA) B True Visions Motorsports Thailand (THA) +47.437
15 3 Michael S. (INA) B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) +53.938
16 98 *Max CHEN (TPE) B Max Chen (TPE) +58.520
17 65 ZHU Jun Han (CHN) B Absolute Racing (HKG) +58.978
18 22 SIU Yuk Lung (HKG) B LKM Racing (HKG) +1:19.490
19 80 Sontaya KUNPLOME (THA) B Racing Spirit Thailand (THA) +1:36.073
DNF 17 FUNG Yui Sum (HKG) B Arrows Racing (MAS) –
DNF 60 Marcel TJIA (SIN) B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) –
DNF 28 John SHEN (HKG) B Modena Motorsports (HKG) –
DNF 23 Paul TRESIDDER (AUS) B Paul Tresidder (AUS) –
DNF 11 *Mikko Patteri NASSI (MAL) B Team Kangshun (CHN) –
DNF 88 *Daniel BILSKI (AUS) B Spark Motorsports (HKG) –
DNF 20 Rodolfo AVILA (MAC) Team Jebsen (HKG) –
DNS 72 Alif HAMDAN (MAS) Alif Hamdan Motorsport (MAS) –
DNS 86 Martin RAGGINGER (AUT) Team Porsche Holding (CHN) –
*Non series registered

Overall Points after Round 8 (top 5)
1 68 Chris van der Drift Kamlung Racing 140
2 12 Craig Baird Clearwater Racing 125
3 99 Nico Menzel PICC Team StarChase 96
4 58 Tung Ho-Pin Budweiser Team Absolute Racing 85
5 86 Martin Ragginger Team Porsche Holding 83