Fuji, Japan. The third meeting of the 2019 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia didn’t go how Team StarChase’s Philip Hamprecht had hoped it would. The Fuji Speedway event was held in horrendous weather conditions on Saturday that forced the organizers to cancel the first of the three planned races for the racetrack close to Japan's highest mountain, Mount Fuji.

The promising work the team had done in Friday’s Free Practice was undone on Saturday. Hamprecht started from the unusually low position of 7th on the grid for both races following a dramatic 30-minute qualifying session where the No. 99 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 991 II) fought hard from the outset during a partial break in the heavy rain.

The dry conditions returned for the two races on Sunday, and a thrilling Round 4 saw Hamprecht cross the finish line in fourth place. The German youngster worked his way steadily from seventh to fourth over the ten laps, showing his confidence and experience at the iconic Japanese track.

The Carrera Cup Asia reigning vice-champion had a good getaway and was gaining ground only to be hit by an opponent, sending the car into a spin on the first corner. Now at the wheel in last place and with nothing to lose, Hamprecht started the fight back passing sixteen cars in 15 laps! He was seventh at the flag.

The 22-year-old saw the positives from the weekend and said after Sunday’s final race: “It was obviously a disappointing result this weekend. Conditions were very difficult and the result of the qualifying ‘compromised’ the race results, but I had good race balance and good race pace on Sunday. I believe a podium position was achievable in the second race if an opponent didn’t push me out right at the start. We win and lose together as a team and I hope with more luck on our side we can bounce back strongly next race”.

Speaking about the weekend, Mr. Robby Niermann, Chief Executive Officer Greater China of StarChase, added: "This weekend simply was not our best. Despite the promise we showed on Friday, the events of the qualifying compromised our race strategies and made it very difficult to obtain the results that Team StarChase we hoped for. We can now put this performance behind us, having not lost too much ground to the rival competitors around us.”

With nine more races until the season’s end, Hamprecht is firmly in Carrera Cup Asia title hunt, currently lying third in the standings. Team StarChase sits now third in the Porsche Dealer Trophy classification.

The next Porsche Carrera Cup Asia round takes place in Sepang, Malaysia on July 13/14. Over 30 special guests from Porsche StarChase dealerships will attend the Malaysian triple-header on-site, cheering for the No.99 success at the races.