FastMotoring Motor News In Speed
Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee with Audi Ultra will try to defend his narrow overall lead when the Audi R8 LMS Cup returns to action this weekend for Rounds 7 & 8 at the Zhuhai International Circuit, China.
Spoken to Marchy personally about 2 weeks ago in Sepang, he is satisfying with his impressive results in Ordos last month. He led from lights to flag in both races, taking over the championship lead in Asia’s hot new international championship. But Marchy has been put on notice by his rivals. The rising star, Adderly Fong of KLM Racing is just two points behind Marchy Lee. The Malaysia’s Former F1 driver Alex Yoong with Audi GQ is third in the standings and will be on the hunt for crucial championship points as the clock begins to wind down on the inaugural season of Audi’s first one-makes championship.
The 16-strong field all races identical Audi R8 LMS Cup cars, putting talent and racing mettle to the test. An optimum showcase for Audi innovation and technology, the series has recently introduced a new long life tyre from Michelin.
It is first time in Asian motorsport, the tyre lasts over the course of an entire weekend, reducing the consumption of resources while maintaining the performance required for top, international racing.
While the three-way showdown between Lee, Fong and Yoong is one battle to watch, there is plenty of exciting on-track action right the way through the field. The 4.3km Zhuhai International Circuit’s contrasting fast straights and slow corners provide plenty of overtaking opportunities and often some surprise results.
Commented Director of Audi Sport customer racing in China, Rene Koneberg: “We’ve had six great, competitive races so far and we’re looking forward to an intense and nail-biting second half of the season. The championship race is still wide open as we head to Zhuhai, and the stakes are only going to get higher. The pressure is mounting for our talented field, each of whom is looking to earn a place in the motorsport history book as the first ever Audi R8 LMS Cup champion.”
Three titles are up for grabs in 2012: The Audi R8 LMS Cup overall title, an Amateur category, and a Teams award, with each round points-scoring.
With Amateur Cup leader Byron Tong of Hong Kong missing this weekend’s races, Rounds 7 & 8 present a golden opportunity for Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing Team driver Jeffrey Lee of Chinese Taipei to regain the top spot in the non-professional class, having missed Rounds 5 & 6 when he flew the flag for the Audi R8 LMS Cup entry in the GT Asia Series that same weekend.
Zhuhai also represents an opportunity for the series’ only lady driver, Audi Castrol’s Zhang Ran to get back to podium form after a last-minute injury in Ordos kept her out of action.
Buoyed by his second-place class finish in Round 6, we believe that the Hong Kong superstar Aaron Kwok of Team Audi R8 LMS Cup will push forward his performance at Zhuhai International Circuit since he previously crashed his race car @ Rounds 3 & 4.
Rounds 7 & 8 Entry List:
No.1/Marchy LEE (HKG)/Audi Ultra
No.3/Hugues RIPERT (HKG)/Spark Motorsport/Am
No.6/David ZHU(CHN)/Team Zhe Jiang Aotong
No.7/Jeffrey LEE/TPE/Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing/Am
No.8/Alex YOONG (MAL)/Audi GQ
No.9/WANG Jian Wei (CHN)/Team Betterlife
No.13/Adrian FU (HKG)/FuSpeed Racing/Am
No.23/Alex Au (HKG)/AK Racing/Am
No.27/Massimo VIGNALI (UK)/Audi Driving Dreams
No.33/SUN Zheng (CHN)/Team Erdos Xinan
No.66/ZHANG Ran (CHN)/Audi Castrol/Am
No.68/Adderly FONG (HKG)/KLM Team
No.75/Eric HSIANG (TPE)/J-Fly Racing Team/Am
No.77/SUN Chao (CHNG)/P D GROUP Team
No.88/Aaron KWOK (HKG)/Team Audi R8 LMS Cup/Am
No.99/TIAN Li Ying (CHN)/Team Chengdu New Elements
