Shanghai, China.  The battle to decide the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia overall champion will go down to the wire in what promises to be a thrilling season finale at the Sports Car Champions Festival in Shanghai from October 25-27.

Thirty-seven points separate the trio of title contenders, with 23-year-old wunderkind Earl Bamber of Nexus Racing leading the charge, 16 points ahead of Team Eagle’s Martin Ragginger of Austria.  Still in with a shot at the title in third is Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila of Macau.  With 41 points on offer over qualifying and the two final rounds of the season, all three have a mathematical chance of lifting the crown at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Meanwhile, following Bamber’s impressive Porsche racing debut this season, organisers of the series confirmed that 23-year-old will be the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia candidate for the International Scholarship Program 2014.  Bamber’s nomination gives him a chance to compete at the highest level of Porsche competition – the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup.

In Class B, Mentos Racing’s Egidio Perfetti has already secured championship title thanks to a dominant season which saw him claim eight out of 10 race victories and four pole positions, but he will be out to complete his dominance of the category in Shanghai and round out his season with two more race wins.  However, the only man this season who has been able to deny Perfetti victory, OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia of Hong Kong, will be determined to close his season on a high, coming fresh from a class victory on the streets of Singapore last month.

The runner-up position in Class B will be decided in Shanghai.  Asia Racing Team’s Li Chao of China is currently second on the leaderboard but just a single point ahead of Dorr McElrea Racing’s Yuey Tan of Singapore, while Francis Tjia and Modena Motorsports’ John Shen could also mathematically still take the runner-up spot.

Avila’s predecessor at Team Jebsen, and two time Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion, Darryl O’Young of Hong Kong will be at the wheel of the Team Carrera Cup Asia VIP car for the Shanghai spectacular. Team Betterlife will field series newcomer Ben Barker of Britain. The 22-year-old finished second on his debut in the Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain in 2012, before graduating to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup this season where he currently lies 10th.

For the entire Porsche Carrera Cup Asia field, a return to the fast, sweeping Shanghai track, home to China’s Formula 1 Grand Prix, will be a fitting end to a season which has seen them rise to the unique challenges of Asia’s leading race tracks.  Supporting no fewer than three rounds of the 2013 FIA Formula 1 World Championship this season – in Malaysia, Shanghai and Singapore – the championship has also raced at the Pearl River Delta’s Zhuhai International Circuit, on the tough, demanding Ordos circuit of Inner Mongolia, and at Asia’s newest circuit in the majestic mountains of South Korea’s Inje.

The Sports Car Champions Festival in Shanghai will give the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia teams and drivers the opportunity to once again demonstrate why the series is held as the benchmark for motorsport excellence in Asia and why, as they complete the 11th triumphant season, it is recognised far beyond the region as the finest sportscar competition of its kind.