Expanded Talent Pool Roster Ready to Bid to Impress

Photo: Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific

An expanded roster of young drivers selected by Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific is set to take on this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season, with the Talent Pool program growing from five to seven drivers as it enters its second year.

Last year, five drivers raced in the Carrera Cup Asia series with Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific’s backing, including Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti, who won the title, and Mathys Jaubert, who has since joined the Genesis LMDh ‘Trajectory’ program.

Two of the other drivers, Mozambique’s Rodrigo Almeida and China’s Dylan Yip, return for a second year, joined by five drivers who were selected among 12 candidates off the back of an assessment test held at Sepang in Malaysia last December.

New Zealander Brock Gilchrist will contest a full season after making a cameo outing in last year’s season finale at Shanghai, while former single-seater driver Enzo Trulli, son of ex-Formula 1 driver Jarno, British pair Josh Rowledge and Hugo Ellis, who moves from Carrera Cup GB, and Malaysian Amer Jefry make up the remainder of the pool.

The seven Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific-backed drivers make up seven of the eight drivers contesting the full season in the top Pro class of Carrera Cup Asia, together with 2022 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup champion Dylan Pereira.

They form part of a 24-car field that will tackle the six-round, 12-race series that begins this weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit and will also visit Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore over the course of the year.

Carrera Cup Asia manager Alexandre Imperatori, a former racer in his own right that won the series in 2012, says he is excited by this year’s new intake after they took to the track for an official test at Shanghai at the start of this moth.

“The assessment test is not something that drivers have to bring any budget to, so it’s really a good opportunity to show themselves,” Imperatori told Sportscar365.

“Sometimes we get really good surprises, for example with Amer Jefry. He came from touring cars and did well right from the off. That’s the kind of driver we are looking for.

“It’s very early in their careers for many of them, so we are looking more at potential than ultimate speed. We are looking at how quickly they can adapt, their work ethic, attitude.

“It’s not a shootout where one guy gets the support. We try to spread our resources over a pool of drivers. We also want a balance between local and international talent.”

Talent Pool graduates that perform well in this year’s Carrera Cup Asia will be considered to enter the Porsche Junior shootout, a path taken by Ghiretti, who goes into his second year as an official Porsche Junior this year after winning the 2023 shootout.

Alternatively, success could put drivers on the radar for consideration to eventually succeed Dorian Boccolacci as Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific’s Selected Driver.

However, Imperatori was also keen to highlight that successful Talent Pool graduates could catch the eye of other manufacturers, such as Jaubert, who will race in the European Le Mans Series with IDEC Sport this year with the support of Genesis.

“Mathys was in our Talent Pool last year, he did the assessment, performed well, and then got a really good drive in our series,” said Imperatori.

“He did really well; hewas a bit unlucky not to finish second in the championship and he was pushing Ghiretti by the end. I am sure he will do great in the Genesis program.

“We would have liked for him to continue for us, but the point of the Talent Pool is to give these guys the tools to become professional, whether it’s with Porsche or with somebody else, although he will still be doing the Porsche Supercup.

“He has a lot of potential and you’ll be hearing his name more in the future.”