Tang pays the penalty in Sepang

SINGAPORE — Emerging from his car at the end of yesterday’s Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, Singapore race driver Andrew Tang initially thought he had earned himself a spot on the podium after finishing third.

With just two races left to the end of the season, the result would have kept the Porsche China Junior Team firmly in the hunt for the PCCA title in his debut season.

But Tang’s joy was short-lived, as race officials informed his team that the 21-year-old would be penalised after he was adjudged to have made contact with Kamlung Racing’s Maxime Jousse while overtaking him on Turn 10.

A 30-second penalty was subsequently imposed on Tang, which resulted in him being bumped down to 10th place. He is now third in the drivers’ standings on 153 points, and 15 points behind current leader Nico Menzel of PICC Team StarChase.

Reflecting on his performance in Sepang, Tang told TODAY: “I thought it was a good race. I managed to get a good start but was a bit too soft into the first corner and lost my advantage.

“From there, I managed to get past Absolute Racing’s Mitchell Gilbert in and I made a pass on Jousse in after he made a mistake. Unfortunately, there was some contact and from there I was relegated a place back to fourth.

“So I spent the rest of the race trying to get past Gilbert which finally happened on lap 11. But the front two drivers had too big of a gap by the time that happened. Nevertheless, I have to thank my team for the great car over the entire weekend as it was phenomenal to drive and I managed to set the fastest lap.”

Tang also refused to dwell on the penalty and what could have been. Instead, he is already looking forward to next month’s final two races in Shanghai, China, where he hopes to end his season on a strong note.

“The race stewards have made their decision and whatever I think about the penalty won’t change the outcome, so I just need to keep my head down and stay focused for the final rounds in Shanghai,” explained Tang.

“It’s really only my first year in the PCCA and so the plan was never to try to win the championship this year. I am just approaching each race to do the best I can and hopefully win. I will take that same approach heading into Shanghai and, hopefully, I can finish the season off with two more wins.”