By Johan Laubscher
The Macau GT Cup is taking place this weekend. The Audi squad got the
weekend underway by performing well during the free practice session this
morning. A total of six Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars have been entered for this
prestigious event at the annual Macau Grand Prix.
The Macau GT Cup is being held alongside the GT Asia season finale,
running together on track. A number of GT Asia entrants are in the field. Four
of the six Audi entries are also entered for the GT Asia finale. The six Audi
R8 LMS / ultra entries are listed below:
The big news this weekend is the return of the reigning two-time Macau
GT Cup champion, Edoardo Mortara, in his his #1 Audi R8 LMS Cup backed Audi R8
LMS ultra. He is joined by his teammate, Marchy Lee, in the #38 Audi Hong Kong Audi R8 LMS
ultra. Absolute Racing is also present with their regular three-car GT Asia
team, along with another private Audi entry from IMS. Absolute Racing, competing with the team name of "Team R8 LMS Ultra," is currently leading the GT Asia teams' championship points standings and they will be aiming to clinch the title this weekend.
The single free practice session began at 12:00 on Thursday. Edoardo Mortata immediately took control at the top of the time sheets and dominated the session. He set a fastest time of 2:20.138, bettering last year’s pole time by half a second, and blitzing the entire field by over two and a half seconds. Marchy Lee placed eighth, rounding out the two Audis within the top ten. The next Audi on the time sheets was the #98 of Philip Ma in sixteenth, followed by #7 Jeffrey Lee in eighteenth, #86 Francis Hideki Onda in twenty-seventh and #78 Shim Ching in thirty-first position.
Qualifying will be held over two sessions, one each taking place on Friday and Saturday, followed by the race on Sunday. We wish the best of luck to all of the Audi drivers and teams.
