Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release
· Audi DTM ace Edoardo Mortara wins
his fourth straight race on the Guia Circuit and defends Macau GT Cup title
· Jeffrey Lee finishes fourth in GT
Asia Series
· Thrilling finale to strong Audi
customer racing China season
Macau, November 18,
2012 – Audi DTM ace Edoardo Mortara took
his fourth straight victory at the 59th Macau Grand Prix, defending his Macau
GT Cup crown with a masterful manoeuvre to stand atop the podium. Known as ‘Mr
Macau’ for his successful dominance of the 6.2km Guia street circuit, Mortara
competed with team Audi R8 LMS Cup in an Audi R8 LMS ultra, along with newly
crowned Audi R8 LMS Cup Amateur Cup champion Jeffrey Lee.
Mortara, the only
driver to have twice won the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix and the current lap record holder,
arrived in the city as the man to beat. In the first of two qualifying
sessions, Mortara found himself caught in traffic and could not do better than
second in Friday’s session. A day later, however, Mortara found a completely
clear lap, recording the fastest time of the two sessions with a 2:20.617.
Starting from pole
position, Mortara dropped a place as the cars thundered off the grid. While
Lucas di Grassi in a Ferrari 458 GT3 would later be penalized for jumping the
start, at the time Mortara was solely focused on finding a way past his rival.
The opportunity came on Lap 4, with Mortara getting by at the notorious Lisboa
Bend to grab the lead.
Mortara held the lead
as he stormed relentlessly towards the flag, even after the restart which
followed a Safety Car period, ultimately winning his second straight Macau GT
Cup, ahead of Alexandre Imperatori in a Porsche 911 GT3 R and Danny Watts in
the McLaren MP4-12C GT3.
Meanwhile Lee
continued to fly the flag for Audi in the regional GT Asia Series, for which
the Macau GT Cup served as its final round. Lee put in a strong performance in
the second qualifying session to find himself lining up on the fifth row of the
grid. While Lee did not finish as high as he had hoped, the Chinese Taipei
driver finished fourth overall in the GT Asia Series points standings, while
the team finished fifth.
Commented Director of
Audi Sport customer racing in China, Rene Koneberg: “We are thrilled to
celebrate Edoardo’s second win with Audi in the Macau GT Cup at the Macau Grand
Prix and bring the curtain down on a fantastic season of Audi customer racing
China. I would also like to congratulate Jeffrey on a strong Audi season this
year, first with his Amateur Cup title in the Audi R8 LMS Cup and a strong
result in this year’s GT Asia Series.”
The two entries in
the Macau GT Cup are part of the expanding reach of the Audi China motorsport
programme. The Audi R8 LMS Cup, the region’s newest international sportscar
series and the first ever by the brand the Four Rings, was launched earlier
this year. Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee was crowned the 2012 champion, with Jeffrey
Lee taking the Amateur Cup honours.
With an official Audi
R8 LMS Cup entry in the GT Asia Series, Audi China had an ideal platform to
promote the series and Audi lightweight technology to audiences across
Malaysia, Japan and Macau. Audi China also offers sportscar experience and race
experience programmes, as well as race licensing courses for motorsport
enthusiasts.
Rounding out the Audi
R8 LMS ultra trio was Hong Kong’s Philip Ma with Team Hong Kong Racing, who
finished 13th in the
race.
Quotes after the
Macau GT Cup:
Edoardo Mortara:
“It’s always tough.
It doesn’t matter who your toughest competitor is, it’s always tough. Today,
Lucas [di Grassi] was pushing really hard. He obviously had a good package, and
he put me in trouble. After the start, I thought the race win would be really
difficult. I had to invent a move into Lisboa to overtake him.
“To be honest, I took
a lot of risks, not only in Lisboa but through Mandarin as well. His car was
faster on the straights, so I had to be faster in the corners. I just went flat
out in Mandarin, almost crashed, and then broke 50 or 60 metres later than him
into Lisboa. So it’s not that easy, I tell you!”
Audi R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com
