Marcus Amand extended his Porsche ARbox Carrera Cup Asia winning streak with a double victory at the Bangsaen Grand Prix, taking wins in both Round 7 and Round 8 during a dramatic street-circuit weekend in Thailand.
The Bangsaen event, held from 1-5 July, marked the 20th anniversary of the Bangsaen Grand Prix and formed a key point in the second half of the 2026 Carrera Cup Asia season. The 3.754km street circuit once again proved unforgiving, with wet qualifying, barrier contact, Safety Car interruptions, retirements and a red-flagged second race shaping the weekend.
Amand entered the event as the championship leader and left with an even stronger advantage after converting a front-row start into victory in Race 1 before controlling Race 2 from pole position.
The weekend also featured the return of two former Carrera Cup Asia champions. Reigning champion Dylan Pereira made his comeback with Absolute Racing and scored podium finishes in both races, while three-time champion Chris van der Drift returned with Bergwerk Motorsport but failed to finish either race.
Qualifying: Azlan masters wet Bangsaen conditions
Naquib Azlan produced the standout qualifying performance of the weekend, putting Team Porsche Malaysia on pole position with a 1m46.328s.
The Malaysian driver was in a class of his own in the wet and difficult conditions, finishing 2.726s clear of Amand, who qualified second for BWT Shanghai Yonda with a 1m49.054s.
Rodrigo Dias Almeida was third for Wetrade X Phantom Global on a 1m49.296s, with Pereira fourth for Absolute Racing on his return to the championship. Marvin Klein completed the top five in the second Absolute Racing entry.
Liu Ruiqi qualified sixth for Phantom Global Racing, narrowly ahead of Marco Giltrap, who placed seventh for Team Porsche New Zealand. Xie An was the leading Pro-Am runner in eighth overall for Phantom Global Racing, ahead of EBM’s Joshua Berry and Porsche Centre Adelaide driver Seth Gilmore.
Gilmore qualified 10th overall and ninth in the Pro class, putting himself in position to move forward in Race 1. Further back, Chris van der Drift qualified 16th overall and 12th in Pro for Bergwerk Motorsport.
Alex Sawer Hoang Dat’s weekend effectively ended before qualifying. The Porsche Vietnam / Bergwerk / Racing X driver was listed at the bottom of the combined qualifying result without a representative lap after making contact with the barriers during practice. The incident caused significant damage, and the car did not take part in qualifying or either race.
There were also post-session lap cancellations. Roy Tang lost his fastest lap under Stewards Decision 13, Wang Zhongwei lost his fastest lap for crossing the pit entry under Stewards Decision 14, and Klein had his fastest lap cancelled for causing a red flag under Stewards Decision 15.
Qualifying combined result – top 10
- Naquib Azlan, Team Porsche Malaysia, 1m46.328s
- Marcus Amand, BWT Shanghai Yonda, +2.726s
- Rodrigo Dias Almeida, Wetrade X Phantom Global, +2.968s
- Dylan Pereira, Absolute Racing, +4.070s
- Marvin Klein, Absolute Racing, +4.319s
- Liu Ruiqi, Phantom Global Racing, +4.686s
- Marco Giltrap, Team Porsche New Zealand, +4.748s
- Xie An, Phantom Global Racing, +5.424s, Pro-Am pole
- Joshua Berry, EBM, +5.628s
- Seth Gilmore, Porsche Centre Adelaide, +6.078s
Class poles
Pro: Naquib Azlan
Pro-Am: Xie An
Am: Xu Zhefeng
Masters: Adrian D’Silva
Race 1: Amand takes control as Azlan fades
Amand made the decisive move of Race 1 at the start, beating pole-sitter Azlan into Turn 1 and immediately taking control of the race.
On a narrow street circuit where overtaking opportunities are limited, the move proved crucial. Amand was able to build the race around track position, while Azlan came under increasing pressure behind.
Pereira quickly moved into contention on his return to the championship, attacking Azlan for second place. Azlan was already dealing with damage after contact with the barriers, and his podium challenge unravelled on lap five when he spun while defending.
That allowed Pereira through into second, but although the Absolute Racing driver closed the margin in the later stages, Amand remained composed at the front.
Amand crossed the line after 14 laps to win by 4.788s, with Pereira second and Klein third. Giltrap finished fourth for Team Porsche New Zealand, while Azlan recovered to fifth despite his earlier spin.
Liu Ruiqi finished sixth, with Gilmore taking seventh. Ling Kang completed the Pro-class top eight.
Xie An won Pro-Am from ninth overall, continuing his strong qualifying performance with a controlled class victory. Li Kerong finished second in Pro-Am, while Wang Zhongwei completed the class podium in 19th overall after a more difficult race.
Xu Zhefeng won the Am class in 11th overall for OpenRoad Racing, ahead of Simon Chan and Henry Kwong. John Shen took Masters honours for Modena Motorsports, finishing ahead of Adrian D’Silva and Jacky Wu.
Van der Drift’s return race lasted only two laps before he retired. Yan Chuang, Jacky Wu and Dale Wood were also listed as non-finishers.
Race 1 result – top 10
- Marcus Amand, BWT Shanghai Yonda, 14 laps
- Dylan Pereira, Absolute Racing, +4.788s
- Marvin Klein, Absolute Racing, +8.972s
- Marco Giltrap, Team Porsche New Zealand, +16.367s
- Naquib Azlan, Team Porsche Malaysia, +25.147s
- Liu Ruiqi, Phantom Global Racing, +26.264s
- Seth Gilmore, Porsche Centre Adelaide, +26.974s
- Ling Kang, Origine Motorsport, +30.419s
- Xie An, Phantom Global Racing, +1m07.802s, Pro-Am winner
- Amna Al Qubaisi, Team Jebsen, +1m10.780s
Class winners
Pro: Marcus Amand
Pro-Am: Xie An
Am: Xu Zhefeng
Masters: John Shen
Not classified
Yan Chuang
Jacky Wu
Chris van der Drift
Dale Wood
Race 2: Amand wins red-flagged contest
Amand started Race 2 from pole and converted it into another victory, but the race was far from straightforward.
The BWT Shanghai Yonda driver led from the start, while Giltrap made a strong launch to move into second for Team Porsche New Zealand. Behind them, Azlan and Klein became involved in an early battle that ended almost immediately.
On lap two, contact between Azlan and Klein forced both drivers out of the race. The incident removed two of the weekend’s fastest drivers from contention and brought out a lengthy Safety Car period.
Giltrap held second when the race resumed, with Pereira third and looking to pressure the New Zealander. However, the fight for the podium did not have time to fully develop before another incident blocked the circuit.
Officials red flagged the race after nine laps, confirming Amand as the winner ahead of Giltrap and Pereira.
The final margin between Amand and Giltrap was just 1.042s, with Pereira only 1.390s behind the winner in third. Liu Ruiqi finished fourth, while Joshua Berry completed the top five for EBM.
Xie An was sixth overall and again won Pro-Am, completing a double class victory for the weekend. Xu Zhefeng finished seventh overall and took his second Am win of the round, ahead of Yan Chuang and Amna Al Qubaisi. Simon Chan completed the top 10.
D’Silva responded from his Race 1 defeat to win the Masters class in 15th overall, ahead of John Shen and Jacky Wu.
Gilmore’s weekend ended early in Race 2. After finishing seventh in Race 1, the Australian completed only two laps before retiring with technical issues. Van der Drift also retired again, making it two non-finishes from two races on his return with Bergwerk Motorsport.
Azlan, Klein, Ling Kang and Wang Zhongwei were also among the Race 2 non-finishers.
Race 2 result – top 10
- Marcus Amand, BWT Shanghai Yonda, 9 laps
- Marco Giltrap, Team Porsche New Zealand, +1.042s
- Dylan Pereira, Absolute Racing, +1.390s
- Liu Ruiqi, Phantom Global Racing, +2.419s
- Joshua Berry, EBM, +2.951s
- Xie An, Phantom Global Racing, +3.901s, Pro-Am winner
- Xu Zhefeng, OpenRoad Racing, +4.625s, Am winner
- Yan Chuang, BWT X Phantom Global, +4.923s
- Amna Al Qubaisi, Team Jebsen, +5.411s
- Simon Chan, Fire Monkey Motorsport, +6.157s
Class winners
Pro: Marcus Amand
Pro-Am: Xie An
Am: Xu Zhefeng
Masters: Adrian D’Silva
Not classified
Seth Gilmore
Chris van der Drift
Dale Wood
Naquib Azlan
Marvin Klein
Ling Kang
Wang Zhongwei
Championship picture
Amand’s double victory extended his championship lead to 179 points and continued a winning run that now stands at four consecutive races.
Giltrap moved to second in the standings on 108.5 points after a strong weekend that included fourth in Race 1 and second in Race 2. His result at Bangsaen may prove especially important, with Amand set to miss the next round at Sepang due to Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup commitments.
Pereira’s return was also significant, with the reigning champion taking second and third across the two races for Absolute Racing. Klein added a podium in Race 1 but failed to finish Race 2 after his early clash with Azlan.
In the class battles, Xie An completed a perfect Pro-Am weekend, while Xu Zhefeng did the same in Am. The Masters honours were split between John Shen and Adrian D’Silva.
Bergwerk Motorsport / Racing X endured a difficult event, with Sawer unable to start either race after his practice crash, Gilmore retiring from Race 2 after a seventh in Race 1, and van der Drift failing to finish either race on his return to the championship.
BWT Shanghai Yonda also strengthened its Dealer Trophy position through Amand’s perfect weekend, while Team Porsche New Zealand scored strongly with Giltrap’s results.
The championship now heads to Sepang International Circuit on 22-23 August, with the Malaysian round set to feature three races, including a night race and a longer rolling-start contest.
