O’Young grabs pole
on Audi R8 LMS Cup debut
· Darryl
O’Young on pole after close-run qualifying
· Marchy
Lee steals chase on fellow title-contender
· Jeffrey
Lee impresses with Amateur Cup pole
Shanghai, October 27, 2012 – Making his Audi R8 LMS Cup debut, FIA World Touring
Car Championship regular Darryl O’Young of Hong Kong took pole position by a
whisker from championship leader Marchy Lee of the Audi Ultra team. Third
quickest was fellow title contender, Adderly Fong of KLM Team, with the top
three separated by a little over a tenth of a second.
Another impressive outing from Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing’s Jeffrey
Lee saw him take pole in the Amateur Cup, setting the fifth fastest overall
time. Second quickest Amateur Cup driver was Alex Au of AK Racing,
following by lady driver Zhang Ran of Audi Castrol.
Having run both free practice sessions on the tyres used for the Zhuhai
meeting last month, all 16 Audi R8 LMS racing cars were shod with a fresh set
of the innovative new Michelin high-performance and long-lasting tyres.
While O’Young, who is standing in for series regular Alex Yoong this
weekend at the FIA World Endurance Championship-supporting event, is no
stranger to the car having won the famed 12 Hours of Bathurst in the Audi
R8 LMS in February, he is driving it for the first time at the Shanghai
International Circuit. While O’Young began the session cautiously,
seeking the limits of the new tyres, he shot to the top of the time sheets
mid-way through the session. He kept bettering his lap time before
deciding to pit to conserve his tyres.
It was Sun Zheng of Team Erdos Xinan who initially topped the times
followed by Kevin Chen of the J-Fly Racing Team who, like O’Young, is making
his series debut this weekend and impressed by topping both free practice
sessions on Friday.
However, Sun was gradually demoted down the order as O’Young took
provisional pole, and Chen went quicker.
Fong found his rhythm and shot up to second behind O’Young, before
Marchy Lee’s best time of 2:08.191, less than a hundredth of a second off pole,
came dramatically late in the session but put him alongside the pole-sitter for
the start of Round 9.
Sun Zheng will start from the third row of the grid alongside Jeffrey
Lee, ahead of David Zhu of Team Zhe Jiang Aotong, who is contesting just his
second weekend of sportscar racing, and newcomer K.O. You of Audi Korea.
Hugues Ripert of Spark Motorsport had an unlucky session, with a broken
gearbox meaning he was unable to get in a qualifying lap.
Although it was a dry session, the rain started to fall as qualifying
came to a close, with the gathering clouds opening the possibility of a wet
race later today.
Quotes after Round
7 Qualifying:
Darryl O’Young
(Audi GQ)
“I’m very happy to be back in the car! Bathhurst was the last time
I drove the Audi R8 LMS, but it felt comfortable right away. This is the
first time in the car for me in Shanghai, and the hardest part is getting used
to the tyres, learning how they work and what the limit is. I got quicker
as the session went on, but decided to pit as I thought I’d done enough.
I didn’t realize it would be that close!”
Marchy Lee (Audi Ultra)
“My tyres were overused in Zhuhai as we had two such tough races.
The quickest I managed in free practice was sixth, which made it quite hard to
find the set up. For me, this weekend is all about points. Darryl
is not in championship contention, so points are my focus.”
Adderly Fong (KLM Team)
“This is my third time at Shanghai International Circuit, and I’m
getting more confident now. The times are really close, and both Darryl
and Marchy are really good, experienced drivers. I’m not used to driving
this car here yet, so I’m really pleased with how the session went.”
Jeffrey Lee (Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing)
“The session was about getting used to the car. We had technical
problems yesterday, so I’m very happy with this result.”
Audi R8 LMS Cup
Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com
Round 9– Qualifying
|
Pos
|
Comp No
|
Name
|
Class
|
Entrant
|
Time
|
|
1
|
8
|
Darryl O’YOUNG
(HKG)
|
|
Audi GQ
|
2:08.098
|
|
2
|
1
|
Marchy LEE (HKG)
|
|
Audi Ultra
|
+0.093
|
|
3
|
68
|
Adderly FONG
(HKG)
|
|
KLM Team
|
+0.121
|
|
4
|
75
|
Kevin CHEN (USA)
|
|
J-Fly Racing Team
|
+0.524
|
|
5
|
7
|
Jeffrey LEE (TPE)
|
Am
|
Pauian Archiland
J-Fly Racing
|
+1.175
|
|
6
|
33
|
SUN Zheng (CHN)
|
|
Team Erdos Xinan
|
+1.356
|
|
7
|
6
|
David ZHU (CHN)
|
|
Team Zhe Jiang
Aotong
|
+1.596
|
|
8
|
55
|
Kyoung-Ouk YOU
(KOR)
|
|
Team Korea
|
+1.650
|
|
9
|
9
|
WANG Jian Wei
(CHN)
|
|
Team Betterlife
|
+1.863
|
|
10
|
77
|
SUN Chao (CHN)
|
|
P D GROUP Team
|
+2.906
|
|
11
|
23
|
Alex AU (HKG)
|
Am
|
AK Racing
|
+5.513
|
|
12
|
66
|
ZHANG Ran (CHN)
|
Am
|
Audi Castrol
|
+7.867
|
|
13
|
99
|
Anthony CHAN
(HKG)
|
|
Team Chengdu New
Elements
|
+9.029
|
|
14
|
13
|
Adrian FU (HKG)
|
Am
|
FuSpeed Racing
|
+10.774
|
|
15
|
88
|
Dr. FENG Derui
|
Am
|
Team Audi R8 LMS
Cup
|
+14.451
|
|
16
|
3
|
Hugues RIPERT
(HKG)
|
Am
|
Spark Motorsport
|
-
|
(AM) Amateur Cup
Competitor
