Porsche Carrera Cup Asia announces eight-strong Talent Pool for 2026 season

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Talent Pool Presented by Michelin aims to detect and develop promising racers by offering them financial support, coaching and training camps while they compete in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, turning them into well-rounded drivers both on and off the track who will be ready to launch their careers as professionals. It also gives the selected eight a chance to get to grips with the brand-new Porsche 911 Cup (992.2), with Porsche Carrera Cup Asia set to be the first One-Make Series to race the new machinery.

Rodrigo Dias Almeida will take on his third year in the championship, as he switches to WeTrade x Phantom Global Racing. The Mozambican driver has shown his ability in the series in the past two seasons, regularly picking up strong points and earning three podium finishes. Also returning to the championship and the Talent Pool is Marco Giltrap, who secured a podium at Sepang during his half season in 2024. The Kiwi will race for the same team as he did two years ago, taking the wheel of the Porsche Team New Zealand car.
 

2-time F1 Academy race winner Amna Al Qubaisi becomes the first female driver to join the Talent Pool, having switched to car racing from single-seaters last year. Al Qubaisi will drive for the experienced Team Jebsen, and will continue her family’s history of competing in Porsche race cars, her father having tackled the 24 Hours of Le Mans five times with the marque.

Chinese racer Ruiqi Liu will also make his debut in the championship for Phantom Global Racing, following a 2025 season where he scored multiple points finishes in both Formula Regional Middle East Championship and Formula Regional European Championship. He’ll be joined by fellow rookie Naquib Azlan, who began his career in sim racing, before transitioning onto the real track, impressing at the Talent Pool Assessment Test last November. He will compete for Malaysian Porsche importer Sime Motors, which has regularly supported Talent Pool drivers from the country in recent years.
 

A trio of racers who competed at Formula 4 level in 2025 complete the roster. Alex Sawer enjoyed a superb season in Formula 4 South East Asia, winning nine races on his way to the title, and the Vietnamese driver will drive for Bergwerk Motorsport in the upcoming campaign. Seth Gilmore finished as runner-up to Sawer, and the duo will re-ignite their battle in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, with the Australian teaming up with Porsche Center Adelaide. Josh Berry joins as the youngest member of the Talent Pool. A regular points finisher in Formula 4 South East Asia last year, he will compete for Earl Bamber Motorsport in his maiden Porsche Carrera Cup Asia campaign.
 

The drivers will receive coaching throughout the season from Porsche Junior Coach Sascha Maassen and Maxime Jousse, along with multi-faceted training camps, one in Shanghai and another mid-season in Phuket in partnership with UFC and Thanyapura Sports Resorts. They are also assisted on the financial side, with entry fee rebates, tyres and dedicated prize money part of the programme. There is also the opportunity to be nominated for the Porsche Junior shootout and to be considered for the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver role, following in the path led by current Selected Driver Enzo Trulli, who earned his position partly thanks to his excellent performances in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia last year.

Alexandre Imperatori, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Manager: “I’m really excited for the new season to get underway and especially delighted to announce such a strong Talent Pool for the 2026 season. It’s going to be a massive year with the introduction of the new Porsche 911 Cup (992.2) and we’re really happy to have some incredibly gifted individuals joining us. One of our main goals for the 2026 Talent Pool was to detect and recruit younger drivers from the Asia-Pacific region. This is a really important mission for Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and I believe we have succeeded in selecting racers who have the potential to fulfil their dreams of becoming professionals. Six of the eight were picked up following the Talent Pool Assessment Test at Sepang last year, and we can’t wait to begin working with them and see them compete against each other and the rest of the field in the upcoming campaign.”