Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release
· Darryl
O’Young leads from pole to flag to grab win
· Marchy
Lee sees points lead cut after dramatic duel with title rival
· Victory
for Jeffrey Lee as he edges closer to Amateur Cup title
Shanghai, October 27, 2012 – Darryl O’Young
took a dominant pole-to-flag victory in Round 9 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup today at
the Shanghai International Circuit. Standing in for Audi GQ regular Alex
Yoong, O’Young won his debut race with the series but it was far from an easy
16 laps.
A dramatic last corner lunge by Marchy Lee to
snatch second place from title rival Adderly Fong was later punished by Race
Stewards with a 20-second penalty, demoting him to third. The points
earned for second by Fong put him just five points behind Marchy in the battle
for the title, with three races remaining.
Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing’s Jeffrey Lee took
the Amateur Cup win from pole, edging closer to title in the debut 2012
season. Jeffrey had qualified fifth overall, and crossed the line
sixth. Second in the class was Alex Au of AK Racing, 10th overall,
with Hugues Ripert of Spark Motorsport, who made a superb recovery after a
broken gearbox scuppered his qualifying, third in the category.
O’Young got away well at the start and, despite a
spirited challenge from Marchy, led out of the first turn. Fong was also
on a charge, and an aggressive move saw him pass Marchy to go second, the pair
making contact on the way. A furious Marchy immediately gave chase and
the race was on.
Behind the trio, Sun Zheng of Team Erdos Xinan, who
had started from the third row, led Jeffrey Lee, newcomer K.O. You of Audi
Korea, and J-Fly Racing Team’s Kevin Chen. Chen, like Marchy, was later
handed a 20 second penalty for an incident with David Zhu, which put him down
to ninth.
While O’Young may have been looking to pull away
from the chasing pack, all three drivers were on the limit for the entire 16
laps. Arguably the toughest job was Fong’s, who had one eye on the race
win, and the other on championship rival Marchy, who was right on his
tail.
Meanwhile, talented South Korean driver K.O. You
was finding his feet in the Audi R8 LMS Cup, and having got by Jeffrey Lee and
Kevin Chen, took the charge to Sun Zheng. The pair dueled for several
laps, expertly avoiding contact while thrilling the crowds.
Three laps from the flag, the front-runners hit
traffic. All got by cleanly, with O’Young able to pull out a small
breathing space at the front. A lap later, K.O. at last managed to pass
Sun Zheng, and immediately set the quickest sector time, but there were not
enough laps left for him to close in on the leaders.
In the final run to the flag, while O’Young was all
set for the win, the theatre was not over. Marchy saw his chance at the
final turn of the last lap and, in a high-speed tussle with Fong, made it past
to cross the line in second place. The move may have been punished later,
but for spectators it was a superb finish to what had been a truly thrilling
race.
The Audi R8 LMS Cup action continues tomorrow
(Sunday), with Round 10.
Quotes
after Round 9:
Darryl
O’Young (Audi GQ)
“Marchy had a better start than me and put me under
pressure into Turn 1, but I managed to come out in the lead. After that,
I drove on the limit of the tyres. Marchy and Adderly put me under so
much pressure I couldn’t back off to conserve the tyres. Later in the
race I was struggling a bit with the brakes, but hitting traffic gave me a bit
of a gap so I could cool the tyres down a bit.”
Adderly Fong (KLM Team)
[About the start] “To quote Ayrton Senna, ‘if you don’t
go for a gap, you’re no longer a racing driver’. I was following Darryl
all the way. He had good pace, but I could see he was struggling on the
brakes. I tried a few moves, but I never had a good enough exit to get
alongside him on the brakes.”
Marchy Lee (Audi Ultra)
“It was a tough race. I got a very good
start, and had a bit of an advantage on the lights. But then I got hit
and lost my place. I was very patient, although I was quite angry in the
car. I was patient until the very last corner when a gap opened. I
saw my chance, and I took it.”
Jeffrey Lee (Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing)
“At the second corner, I was squeezed out and on to
the grass, so I lost a place. I was following the fifth driver for most
of the time, and there was a gap between me and the other Amateur Cup drivers,
so I was competing with the professionals. So I’m very pleased with
that.”
Audi
R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com
Round
9 – Results
Pos
|
Comp No
|
Name
|
Class
|
Entrant
|
Time
|
1
|
8
|
Darryl
O’YOUNG (HKG)
|
Audi
GQ
|
34:11.901
|
|
2
|
68
|
Adderly
FONG (HKG)
|
KLM
Team
|
+1.759
|
|
3
|
1
|
Marchy
LEE (HKG)
|
Audi
Ultra
|
+21.445
|
|
4
|
55
|
Kyoung-Ouk
YOU (KOR)
|
Team
Korea
|
+33.532
|
|
5
|
33
|
SUN
Zheng (CHN)
|
Team
Erdos Xinan
|
+34.698
|
|
6
|
7
|
Jeffrey
LEE (TPE)
|
Am
|
Pauian
Archiland J-Fly Racing
|
+38.555
|
7
|
9
|
WANG
Jian Wei (CHN)
|
Team
Betterlife
|
+55.444
|
|
8
|
6
|
David
ZHU (CHN)
|
Team
Zhe Jiang Aotong
|
+59.448
|
|
9
|
75
|
Kevin
CHEN (USA)
|
J-Fly
Racing Team
|
+1:03.447
|
|
10
|
23
|
Alex
AU (HKG)
|
Am
|
AK
Racing
|
+1:07.434
|
11
|
3
|
Hugues
RIPERT (HKG)
|
Am
|
Spark
Motorsport
|
+1:54.111
|
12
|
66
|
ZHANG
Ran (CHN)
|
Am
|
Audi
Castrol
|
+2:11.200
|
13
|
77
|
SUN
Chao (CHN)
|
P
D GROUP Team
|
1
Lap
|
|
14
|
99
|
Anthony
CHAN (HKG)
|
Team
Chengdu New Elements
|
1
Lap
|
|
15
|
13
|
Adrian
FU (HKG)
|
Am
|
FuSpeed
Racing
|
1
Lap
|
16
|
88
|
Dr.
FENG Derui
|
Am
|
Team
Audi R8 LMS Cup
|
1
Lap
|
(AM)
Amateur Cup Competitor
Fastest
Lap: Marchy Lee/Audi Ultra/2:07.327/154.1kph
Overall
Classification (top 5)
1
|
Marchy
LEE (HKG)
|
161
|
2
|
Adderly
FONG (HKG)
|
156
|
3
|
Alex
YOONG (MAS)
|
136
|
4
|
SUN
Zheng (CHN)
|
93
|
5
|
Jeffrey
LEE (TPE)
|
69
|
Amateur
Cup Classification (top 5)
1
|
Jeffrey
LEE (TPE)
|
154
|
2
|
Alex
Au (HKG)
|
101
|
3
|
Aaron
KWOK (HKG)
|
99
|
3
|
Byron
TONG (HKG)
|
94
|
5
|
Adrian
FU (HKG)
|
83
|
