Singapore. The beautiful Singapore skyline was the backdrop for Round 8 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2018 season. Held at Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore, it was where Team StarChase’s Philip Hamprecht claimed his third pole position of the season. The daunting Singapore street circuit proved to be a tough challenger and despite the team left without a win, Hamprecht’s stable performance has helped the team remain strong contender for the Championship.

The Marina Bay Circuit, famed for its challenging corners and limited overtaking space, making it one of the toughest Asian circuits to conquer.

Last year, Hamprecht claimed a win in Singapore, which is his first in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and he has continued to mature this year, making him one of the leading contenders for the Championship. His blistering pace in Saturday’s qualifying of 2:16.258 was 2-seconds faster than the laptime set in 2017, giving him pole position for Sunday’s race.

A perfect start saw Hamprecht successfully defend his lead into the first corner but he was soon put under pressure by his Championship rival, Chris van der Drift, who managed to find a way past later in the race. By the second half of the race, Hamprecht was caught in fierce battles with his rivals. Tried as he might to defend his position, the young German could not fend off the onslaught to finish the race in fifth.

Hamprecht commented on his performance over the weekend, “It was a difficult race. My car was a little bit unstable and I was fighting more with myself than my competitors. We had some issues with the car. I’m not sure what it was but we are analyzing the data to find the problem. I drove home P5. It is not a perfect result but the Championship is far from over. There is still a few races to go and lots of points to collect so we will just look forward, learning from this race and working towards the Championship. Anyway, the hard work put in by Team StarChase made me show promising speed in the qualifying.”

It was a tough weekend but Team StarChase still managed to stay second in the championship and earned a nearly unreachable advantage over the team in third place. As there are still two stations remaining, the team will continue to push for the title of Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2018 season.

Mr. Robby Niermann, Chief Operating Officer of StarChase, “Singapore is always a special highlight of the season, and the level of competition in the race is incredible. Congrats to Chris for his victory, it’s well deserved. It was not a perfect weekend for us as it was not the outcome that we were hoping for but we will always celebrate the wins and learn from the losses. Today is a day for us to learn and next time we will come back stronger and try to do a better job. ”

Furthermore, Hamprecht’s outstanding performance so far this season made him stand out as a Carrera Cup Asia Talent Pool Camp participant, giving him the opportunity to take part in Porsche Global Young Driver Selection representing Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. He will travel to Malaysia together with Team StarChase on September 28-30 for the penultimate round held at Sepang International Circuit.