Singapore's Tang aims for good finish at Marina Bay
He is in his rookie season, and already, Andrew Tang is making waves in Asia's premier touring car championship, the Porsche Carrera Cup.
The 21-year-old, who won the opening 15-round season in Shanghai in March, lies third in the series ahead of the 11th leg at the Marina Bay street circuit tomorrow.
Frenchman Maxime Jousse leads Aussie Mitchell Gilbert and Tang, but the Singaporean is only five points adrift.
Tang, who drives for the Porsche China Team, said yesterday at trackside that he started the season with only a top-five finish as his target, but now sees third as a distinct possibility.
"It has been a tight contest so far and the only way I can take over the lead is to win on Sunday and with neither Maxime nor Mitchell finishing on the podium, which is not easy," said the Singaporean, who held talks with McLaren boss Ron Dennis in 2012 on the possibility of joining the British Formula 1 team's driver programme.
The Singapore leg is one of the support events for the Formula 1 night race and the remaining rounds are scheduled for Sepang in Malaysia in two weeks' time and then in Shanghai again for the last two contests from Nov 4-6.
"What I need to do now is to keep pushing and aim to finish among the top three."
Another Singaporean, Yuey Tan, drives in Class B of the series and is in 12th spot.
Other drivers from the Republic featuring this weekend are Ringo Chong and Gregory Teo in the Ferrari Challenge, and they qualified seventh and eighth, respectively, yesterday for today's first race.
VETERAN
The Ferrari competition is held around the world but Chong, a veteran who has competed in various motor-racing series in Asia, is only contesting two rounds.
He raced in Shanghai three months ago and will also battle it out here this weekend.
Said the 50-year-old: "I am taking it slow this year, but Singapore is home and I have not missed a single year since the first night race in 2008."
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