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Mitch Gilbert secures precious points in Thailand

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Rounds five and six of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) have been hailed as a “fantastic outing” by Malaysian-born Australian driver Mitchell Gilbert.

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Taking place from the 8th till the 10th of July at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand in conjunction with the Thailand Super Series, the PCCA weekend started off rather uneventfully for Gilbert during qualifying despite topping Friday’s practice sessions.

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On-track traffic and slight issues with the set up of the car meant that Mitch only manage to qualify ninth. A position he will have to start from for both races of the weekend.

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“That was not the ideal spot to start the race from, so I had to ensure I got a good, clean start to jump ahead of as many people as I could in the first lap,” said Mitchell of his qualifying position.

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Race One took place on Saturday 9th of July and Gilbert describes it as the best race of the weekend. The start was timed to perfection which gave him the momentum needed to leap frog the field ahead.
By lap eight, he was already in third place and dicing with the two cars ahead for first place. Unfortunately he rubbed cars with the second placed car which gave the fourth place car the opportunity to sneak past into second place. Gilbert finished the race in fourth.

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Speaking after the race, the 22-year old Malaysian-Australian said, “Race One was really good. I finished five places ahead of where I qualified which is great. And being in the battle for first place after qualifying ninth was an feeling and gives me the confidence for the rest of the season. A podium finish is not too far away, I can feel it already.”

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Gilbert described Race Two as “a bit of an anti-climax” after Race One. As the lights turned green, he once again executed a perfect start and by the end of the first lap Gilbert was already in fifth place. However it was a lonely race from there on as he simply did not have the pace to catch the four leading cars, and finished the race in fifth place.

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“Race two truly was a bit of an anti-climax compared to Race One. I had a good start again and a good first lap and got up to fifth place. I was looking to emulate race one at this point, but after that I did not quite have the pace of the leaders. It was a lonely race from lap five onwards, all the way to the chequered flag. I did collect precious points though and being fifth on the table with four more race weekends to go, which I believe is a good place to be in at this point of the season,” said Gilbert of his second race.

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Gilbert is currently fifth on the Championship table and is just 26 points adrift of the Championship leader. With five race weekends and 10 more races to go before the season ends, all eyes will be on Gilbert for the next race in Sydney, Australia next month.