Amna Al Qubaisi enjoys most productive weekend yet in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia with 6th at Bangsaen Street Circuit
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Amna Al Qubaisi continued her progression in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia with one of her strongest weekend to date on the Bangsaen Street Circuit in Thailand, where she twice fought her way into the overall top ten, charging from the midfield to sixth among the Pro drivers in the second contest.
Amna Al Qubaisi continued her progression in the 2026 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season with one of her strongest weekend to date at the championship's fourth round on the spectacular Bangsaen Street Circuit in Thailand. The Team Jebsen driver twice fought her way into the overall top ten, securing ninth place in the Pro class in Saturday's opening race before charging from the midfield to sixth among the Pro drivers in a shortened second contest.
One of the Middle East's leading female racing talents through a successful single-seater career that included becoming the first Arab woman to win a single-seater race, competing in Formula Regional Asia and claiming race victories in F1 Academy, Al Qubaisi switched her focus to sportscar racing in 2025, contesting the Ligier European Series alongside her sister Hamda.
Selected for the prestigious Porsche Talent Pool Asia, Amna then joined Team Jebsen for her rookie Porsche Carrera Cup Asia campaign, becoming the first Arab and first Arab woman to earn a place in the programme. The Emirati quickly adapted to the demanding Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, progressing steadily from 13th in the Pro class on her debut at Shanghai to her maiden overall top-ten finish at Zhuhai before taking another significant step forward at Fuji Speedway, where she secured back-to-back top-ten finishes while equalling her season-best result.
The championship's fourth round presented perhaps the toughest challenge yet: the Bangsaen Street Circuit, combining concrete barriers, little margin for error and extremely high temperatures.
Despite never having raced at the Thai street circuit before, Al Qubaisi approached the event methodically learning the unforgiving layout during the opening practice session.
Running only a handful of laps in a wet FP1, she recorded a best time of 2:17.292, placing 13th among the Pro competitors. Significant progress came during the second practice session once the circuit was dry. Finding more confidence with every lap, Al Qubaisi lowered her benchmark to a 1:37.025, climbing into tenth position among the Pro entries.
Changing weather conditions remained challenging, as qualifying once again was held on a wet circuit.
Al Qubaisi produced a best lap of 1:55.589 to qualify 14th overall and 11th in the highly competitive Pro class.
Saturday afternoon's opening race took place on an initially damp but rapidly drying circuit. Although rain had stopped, drivers still faced evolving grip levels around the narrow street track, following a short delay to repair the barriers before the field could be released.
Lining up 13th overall and tenth among the Pro competitors, Al Qubaisi made an excellent getaway and negotiated the tight opening corners without incident. The Team Jebsen racer immediately gained ground, holding 13th overall while moving into tenth position in the Pro standings after the first lap.
Ahead, Amand led the field while Al Qubaisi quickly latched onto the rear of Yan Chuang's Porsche. Displaying strong early pace, she consistently circulated in the low 1:40s, already running quicker than the two cars immediately ahead but struggling to find a clear overtaking opportunity.
She soon attempted a move into Turn 1 under braking, but the Chinese driver firmly closed the door, forcing Al Qubaisi to abandon the move and slot back into line. The attempt briefly left her vulnerable as Simon Chan immediately appeared in her mirrors and began applying pressure from behind.
Al Qubaisi however remained patient and continued focusing ahead; her persistence was rewarded on lap five when Joshua Berry encountered mechanical problems and was forced to pit, promoting the Emirati another position in the overall classification.
Now back on the offensive, Al Qubaisi steadily increased her pace. She lowered her personal best to a 1:39.317, once again closing rapidly onto the rear of Yan Chuang as the race entered its second half.
On lap 10, Al Qubaisi launched a decisive move into Turn 1, diving to the inside under braking and completing one of the race's cleanest overtakes to claim 11th position overall.
It was one of the few genuine passing manoeuvres completed around the difficult Bangsaen circuit.
Once clear, Al Qubaisi immediately lowered her lap time to 1:38.719 before improving again to a 1:38.171 that rapidly brought her onto the rear of Xu Zhefeng, the Am class leader, as the closing laps approached.
With only a handful of laps remaining, Al Qubaisi piled the pressure, consistently closing the gap and forcing Xu into a defensive approach through the final sector. After another strong run, Al Qubaisi completed a pass to move into the overall top ten, securing tenth overall and ninth among the Pro entries by the chequered flag.
It was another convincing drive from the Emirati, who had combined patience with decisive overtaking skills to continue her learning curve in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.
Sunday's second race took place in soaring temperatures and intense humidity. Starting once again from 13th on the overall grid, Al Qubaisi lined up immediately ahead of former Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion Chris van der Drift. She made another excellent launch when the lights went out, holding position into the opening corner before chaos erupted almost immediately behind the leading group.
Ling Kang crashed into the barriers in the opening sequence of corners, forcing the drivers behind to take rapid avoiding action. Al Qubaisi reacted superbly, safely negotiating the incident while several rivals lost momentum, allowing her to climb to 12th overall and ninth in the Pro class.
One lap later, Marvin Klein attempted an optimistic move into Turn 1 but made contact with Naquib Azlan, spinning the Malaysian into the barriers. The incident elevated Al Qubaisi into tenth overall and seventh among the Pro drivers as she immediately closed onto Yan Chuang, preparing another attack.
However, the damaged cars left on the circuit required the intervention of the Safety Car, neutralizing the race while marshals cleared debris and recovered the stricken Porsches.
Following the clean-up operation, the Safety Car made its way back into the pits, setting up a five-lap sprint to the finish.
By the restart, Al Qubaisi had advanced even further and now ran ninth overall and sixth in the Pro class, placing herself in an excellent position to secure another career-best result. Immediately after racing resumed she resumed her pursuit of Yan Chuang.
Running consistently in the 1:39.8 and 1:39.7 range, the Team Jebsen driver once again displayed good speed, but the Bangsaen Street Circuit made overtaking opportunities extremely limited. Unfortunately, the battle would be cut short.
A multi-car accident involving six competitors further down the field brought out the red flag with less than two minutes remaining on the clock. Given the limited time available, race control elected not to restart the race, bringing the weekend to an early conclusion.
Al Qubaisi nevertheless completed another impressive recovery drive, climbing from her starting position to finish ninth overall and sixth in the Pro class before the race was halted.
Across both races she executed clean overtaking manoeuvres and extracted increasingly competitive pace as each session progressed.
The double points finish marked another step forward in her rookie Porsche Carrera Cup Asia campaign and arguably her strongest overall weekend of the season, on a circuit she had never previously raced.
Following four rounds of the championship, Al Qubaisi now sits eighth in the overall standings.
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season will resume on 22-23 August at Malaysia's Sepang International Circuit.