Porsche Carrera Cup Asia completes successful Official Test Days at Zhuhai ahead of record breaking 2026 season

The event marked the start of the 2026 season, with Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Talent Pool Presented by Michelin member Naquib Azlan topping three out of the four sessions, as the Team Porsche Malaysia driver recorded a 1:35.391 on Sunday afternoon. 
 

A record breaking 30 cars took on the Official Test Days as they aimed to find the limits of the new Porsche 911 Cup (992.2), which will make its racing debut in just two weeks at the season opener on the support bill of the Chinese Grand Prix.
 

Saturday’s running got underway in the wet as the returning Rodrigo Dias Almeida (Wetrade x Phantom Global) put in the fastest time of the first session, in front of Team Porsche New Zealand’s Marco Giltrap and two-time Porsche Carrera Cup France champion Marvin Klein (Absolute Racing).
 

The afternoon saw Marcus Amand (BWT Shanghai Yonda) set the early pace in the opening hour, before Naquib Azlan showed his ability in tricky conditions. The Team Porsche Malaysia driver topped the timesheets narrowly ahead of the Franco-Finn Amand, with Giltrap once again making his way into the top three.
 

2022 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Pro-Am champion Lu Wei (Origine Motorsport) recorded the best Pro-Am time of morning, before six-time titleholder Bao Jinlong (Origine Motorsport) went quickest in Session 2.
 

610 Racing’s Cao Qikuan delivered several impressive laps in the Am-class, being fastest across the day, while Adrian D’Silva (EBM) and John Shen (Modena Motorsports) took a session each in the Masters category. 

With improved conditions and a dry track, it was still Azlan who set the overall pace on Sunday morning, recording a 1:35:517 which was almost half a second in front of Giltrap and Dias Almedia.
 

The final session of the weekend saw Amand and Azlan constantly switching positions at the top of the leaderboard, with the latter coming out on top in an impressive showing, with Dias Almeida ensuring another top three finish.
 

Lu Wei clinched the fastest Pro-Am times in both sessions from Wang Zhongwei (Origine Motorsport) and Bao respectively in what looks to be an incredibly competitive class.
 

Qikuan continued his strong speed in the morning, but the afternoon belonged to his 610 Racing teammate Roy Tang in the Am-class, while reigning Masters champion D’Silva topped both sessions to end his test on a high.
 

The championship now heads to Shanghai International Circuit on 13-15 March to host the first two rounds of the season alongside the Chinese Grand Prix, before returning to Zhuhai in April.

Naquib Azlan, Team Porsche Malaysia: “The transition between the sim racing world and getting on track has been seamless. The laps in the simulator prepared me for the Talent Pool Assessment last November as well as the Official Test Days this weekend. This event has been very productive and we’ve got up to speed quickly with the new car. The Porsche 911 Cup (992.2) is impressive and is a huge joy to drive with the updates they have introduced. The goal for this season is to extract the maximum out of myself during each race and be fighting towards the front of the field.”
 

Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “I’m very happy to be returning to Porsche Carrera Cup Asia after securing the Pro-Am title back in the 2022 season. It’s going to be amazing to drive the new Porsche 911 Cup (992.2) throughout the campaign as well. My target for the year is to continue to have clean races and challenge for the Pro-Am championship.”
 

Cao Qikuan, 610 Racing: “It’s great to be back racing in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and this time as a registered full-time driver. Winning two Am-class races in Sepang last year helped me understand how important consistency and race pace are during a weekend. These experiences will be something that I will carry forward with me into the new campaign. For 2026, my focus is on achieving strong results and fighting for the title.”
 

Douglas Khoo, Viper Niza Racing: “I’m very excited to be part of Porsche Carrera Cup Asia this year as it’s a brilliant opportunity to race with some great drivers. There’s still a lot to learn about the car, but I feel like we’re making progress in the right direction. I’ll be aiming for the podium of course, however, I’ll take each race as it comes and look to maximise our potential.”
 

Alexandre Imperatori, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Manager: “It was brilliant to see the new Porsche 911 Cup (992.2) in action this weekend during our Official Test Days in Zhuhai. We’re proud to be the first One-Make Series who will race this new generation of car, as our record-breaking 30 car grid does this on the support bill of the Chinese Grand Prix in two weeks. We’ve got a great field of drivers across the four categories and you can already see how competitive each class looks from these testing sessions. We’re now looking forward to the short turnaround before taking on Shanghai International Circuit for the season opener.”