Porschenews 04/2009 Unleashed. The new Boxster Spyder.

Changi Airport Race
The 911 GT3 debuts in Asia –
with the race of a lifetime.
A very special and landmark event in Singapore marked the regional debut of the latest generation 911 GT3
in the Asia Pacific region. More than 500 invited guests attended the launch at the gatehold rooms of
Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal 3. The unveiling of the new 911 GT3 also set the stage for the tantalizing
and highly anticipated race between a 911 GT3 Cup Car and a Jett8 Airlines Boeing 747 jetliner. This was to
be the first car versus jetliner race ever in Asia and the driver of the 911 GT3 Cup car in the race, Singaporean
Porsche Carrera Cup Asia racer Yuey Tan summed it up as the race of a lifetime.
Sporty and dynamic: The unveiling of the new 911 GT3
Before the race flagged off, Yuey Tan along with Mr.
Karsono Kwee, Executive Chairman of Porsche
Centre Singapore, Mr. Christer Ekberg, Managing
Director of Porsche Asia Pacific, Mr. Tan Lye
Teck, Executive Vice President, Corporate of Changi
Airport Group, jointly unveiled the new 911 GT3 – a
sporting and dynamic vehicle that audience in the
Asia-Pacific region is seeing for the very first time.
After the unveiling, the guests were ushered onto the
tarmac where grandstands were erected for them to
witness the historical race first hand.
Before the countdown to the race, guests were
surprised by the unexpected discovery of Porsche
Design sunglasses underneath their grandstand
seats. The cheerleading performance pumped up
the excitement even more in welcoming the Porsche
driver, Yuey Tan, 27 and Captain Peter Leo, 64.
As the Jett8 Airlines B747-200F sat primed to go on
Runway 1 and the Porsche revved up 200 metres
away on a parallel taxiway, the race was ready to
start. With a race distance of 1.7km, it was always
going to be close. The aircraft’s top speed in the
air is 955km/h, while a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup can
reach up to 280km/h. Finally they were off – the
jetliner seemed to start the stronger, but suddenly
the Porsche, dwarfed in size by the massive B747,
came powering from behind to reach the chequered
flag seemingly nose to nose with the plane. The
race itself was a blinder, with Yuey and the Cup car
crossing the finish line just 0.4 seconds ahead of
the towering jumbo jet for a close call photo finish,
crowning himself as the speed king of the Changi
Airport tarmac in the process.
A jubilant Yuey received the winner’s trophy from
Guest-of-Honour, Mrs. Lim Hwee Hua, Minister, Prime
Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and
Transport. Commenting on his win, Yuey said, “This
marks my maiden win in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
car, and what a win this is. This is definitely one of the
highlights of my motoring career so far – as a boy,
I’ve always been fascinated by speed and to be able to
triumph over the Boeing jetliner is a terrific experience
for me. I hope to build on this success in the weeks to
come during the Singapore Grand Prix week.”
Added Mr. Karsono Kwee, “What an exciting race
and a fantastic win for the Porsche 911 GT3 Carrera
Cup Car. This race is a stellar accomplishment for
Porsche’s world-class race cars. One of the things
Porsche does best is adapting its race technology
for its road cars, and the new 911 GT3 epitomises
this. The new 911 GT3 road car that will appear on
Singapore roads soon, is definitely one built for the
race track with its exhilarating driving dynamics and
race car-like performance. It also keeps the owner’s
everyday driving needs firmly in mind by designing a
car that suits the everyday road conditions as well.” n
A truly exhilarating race: a mere 0.4 seconds separated the Cup car and the jetliner at the finish line
Guests admiring the 911 GT3 Cup car
Yuey Tan, proud winner of the first ever car vs. jetliner race in Asia