Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release
· Alex
Yoong seizes early pole in flawless comeback performance
· Lightning
Jeffrey Lee quickest in Amateur Cup
· Top
six within less than once second
Zhuhai, September 15, 2012 – Audi GQ Driver Alex Yoong took pole position for
Round 7 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup today after a flawless performance in a powerful
shot across the bows to his rivals.
Championship leader Marchy
Lee of Audi Ultra could not better Yoong’s impressive lap of 1: 34.014 around
the 4.3km Zhuhai International Circuit, despite a close-run session which saw
the top six all within a second of each other.
Starting from the second
row of the grid for Round 7 will be China’s Sun Zheng of Team Erdos Xinan, currently
4th in the championship chase, alongside KLM Team’s Adderly Fong of
Hong Kong. Fong trails Marchy by just two points on the championship
leaderboard, but with Yoong looking so strong this weekend, the pair will be
watching their backs.
Fastest in the Amateur Cup
was Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing driver Jeffrey Lee, back with the series
after missing the Ordos rounds due to racing duties in Suzuka with the Audi R8
LMS ultra entry in the GT Asia series. Second quickest in the class was
star of stage, screen and race track, Aaron Kwok, who is on scorching form this
weekend, with Alex Au, class winner of both races in Ordos, third in the
session.
The session saw Yoong, who
is roaring back after a tough weekend in Ordos, set his best time on his fourth
lap out to take his second pole position of the season. David Zhu,
impressing on his Audi R8 LMS Cup debut with Team Zhe Jiang Aotong, was fifth
fastest in the session.
Sun Chao of PD Group Team
was eighth on the time sheets, but was earlier penalized by Race Stewards for a
regulations infringement during free practice and demoted two places on the
grid for Round 7.
Commented Director of Audi
Sport customer racing in China, Rene Koneberg: “The times were incredibly close
today, which is testament to both the quality of skill amongst our field, and
the extraordinary performance and reliability of the Audi R8 LMS Cup right on
the limit. We’re all looking forward to two hard-fought, thrilling battle
this weekend.”
Quotes
after Round 7 Qualifying:
Alex
Yoong (Audi GQ)
“I’m very happy, and my car is fantastic. I
had a couple of clean laps, which was good because the times are so
close. I need to win races if I want to get back into the fight with
Adderly and Marchy, so I need to get right into it this weekend. We tried
a couple of things on the set up yesterday, but they didn’t really work so we
went back to basics today with great results.”
Marchy
Lee (Audi Ultra)
“We are very close in the times today. I’m
quite happy with the set up but I still want to do some fine-tuning before the
race. In qualifying it’s only one lap where you need to be really quick,
but in the race it’s 21 laps, so you need the set up to be really
balanced. Given how close the times are, I expect it to be a wonderful
race.”
Sun
Zheng (Team Erdos Xinan)
“It is proof that drivers from Mainland China have
the strength to compete with international drivers, so I’m very happy to be
(third). With just a tenth of a second difference between each other,
it’s going to be an intense race this afternoon.
Jeffrey
Lee (Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing)
“The new tyre is unfamiliar to me, and I think I
got caught out with my tyre strategy. It’s great to be back in the Audi
R8 LMS Cup, and I hope to take maximum points this weekend to re-take the lead
in the Amateur Cup.”
Round
7 – Qualifying
No
|
Comp No
|
Name
|
Class
|
Entrant
|
Time
|
1
|
8
|
Alex
YOONG (MAL)
|
Audi
GQ
|
1:35.014
|
|
2
|
1
|
Marchy
LEE (HKG)
|
Audi
Ultra
|
1:35.137
|
|
3
|
33
|
SUN
Zheng (CHN)
|
Team
Erdos Xinan
|
1:35.198
|
|
4
|
68
|
Adderly
FONG (HKG)
|
KLM
Team
|
1:35.199
|
|
5
|
6
|
David
ZHU (CHN)
|
Team
Zhe Jiang Aotong
|
1:35.676
|
|
6
|
7
|
Jeffrey
LEE (TPE)
|
Am
|
Pauian
Archiland J-Fly Racing
|
1:36.007
|
7
|
9
|
WANG
Jian Wei (CHN)
|
Team
Betterlife
|
1:36.413
|
|
8
|
77
|
SUN
Chao (CHN)
|
P
D GROUP Team
|
1:37:202
|
|
9
|
88
|
Aaron
KWOK (HKG)
|
Am
|
Team
Audi R8 LMS Cup
|
1:37.623
|
10
|
27
|
Massimo
VIGNALI (GBR)
|
Audi
Driving Dreams
|
1:37.660
|
|
11
|
23
|
Alex
AU (HKG)
|
Am
|
AK
Racing
|
1:37.999
|
12
|
99
|
TIAN
Li Ying (CHN)
|
Team
Chengdu New Elements
|
1:38.605
|
|
13
|
3
|
Hugues
RIPERT (HKG)
|
Am
|
Spark
Motorsport
|
1:38.920
|
14
|
66
|
ZHANG
Ran (CHN)
|
Am
|
Audi
Castrol
|
1:39.886
|
15
|
13
|
Adrian
FU (HKG)
|
Am
|
FuSpeed
Racing
|
1:40.876
|
16
|
75
|
Eric
HSIANG (TPE)
|
Am
|
J-Fly
Racing Team
|
1:45.657
|
(AM)
Amateur Cup Competitor
Audi
R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com
