Al Qubaisi “Fell in Love With Racing Again” in PCCA
Photo: Porsche Carrera Cup Asia
Amna Al Qubaisi has declared that racing in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia has allowed to her to ‘fall in love’ with racing again, saying it has allowed her to focus on becoming a better driver instead of fighting against inferior equipment.
The 26-year-old Emirati racer, daughter of erstwhile 24 Hours of Le Mans and FIA World Endurance Championship regular Khaled Al Qubaisi, was selected as one of six newcomers to the one-make series through its Talent Pool initiative.
At the halfway point of the season, which resumes at the Bangsaen street circuit in Thailand this weekend, Al Qubaisi sits tenth in the standings.
The Team Jebsen driver says she has relished the chance to return to single-driver competition after a season in the Ligier European Series, where he shared a Ligier JS P4 with her younger sister Hamda, as she set out a desire to stay within the Carrera Cup ecosystem beyond the end of the current season.
“My goal is to stick with Porsche, and hopefully do another season in Carrera Cup Asia or maybe in Germany, and try to improve further,” Al Qubaisi told Sportscar365.
“I really enjoy the series and I enjoy the racing style. I felt like I fell in love with racing again this year. It’s much more fun compared to endurance racing, so I really want to stick around [on the Carrera Cup ladder].”
Al Qubaisi went on to compare Carrera Cup Asia favorably in terms of machine preparation and equality compared to other series she has raced in previously, which includes the all-female F1 Academy series that she contested in 2023-24.
“I would say things are more equal here,” she said. “All the cars are the same. There’s no advantage given to anyone.
“So it’s just all based on the driver’s skill and technique, which I find more enjoyable rather than there being speed differences and something you can’t really fix and you just have to stick around and forcefully drive for the rest of the season.
“Here, it gives me a challenge to actually improve as a racing driver and try to extract everything from the car and from my driving style.
“That’s why I fell in love with the sport again. It’s not like trying to fix something from the car, but fixing yourself as a driver.”
Across the opening three weekends of the season at Shanghai, Zhuhai and Fuji, Al Qubaisi has finished inside the top ten three times, peaking with ninth-place finishes in the second race at Zhuhai and the opening race at Fuji.
Considering her total lack of experience of Carrera Cup machinery heading into the campaign, she admitted she expected to struggle more initially.
“So far, I would say I expected to do much worse considering it’s my first year in Porsches, my first time driving the car and the tracks,” said Al Qubaisi.
“I was just hoping throughout the season to finish within the top ten and already doing it in my second race weekend, it was like, ‘now I want to finish within the top five’, which is too optimistic. My goal for now is to consistently stay inside the points.
“Hopefully in Singapore I can make a step, because I know the track [from F1 Academy] and the other newcomers maybe don’t have that experience. So finally I would have the advantage there that they usually have over me.”
However, Al-Qubaisi admitted that she is still trying to shift away from a single-seater philosophy with her driving style to get the most out of her machinery.
“Moving from single-seaters, I’m used to a car with a lot of aero and downforce,” said Al Qubaisi. “So trusting the car’s stability and traction took a bit of time for me.
“I am gaining more and more confidence with the car and trusting its traction control.
“Also, in the beginning I was afraid of ABS, because I was not used to driving with ABS. I was a bit stunned when I experienced it. But now I’m used to it.
“Now the biggest thing is just trusting the lateral grip of the car. I’m used to single-seaters where you have a lot of downforce that helps you.
“The Porsche is so heavy, so I’m expecting to spin at any moment. So it’s still something I’m trying to adapt to.”
Source: Sports Car 365