By Johan Laubscher
The 2013 GT Asia Series saw a number of Audis entered throughout the
season. It proved to be a very good year for the Audi teams.
Absolute Racing was out in force with a regular three car team. Many other Audi entries were also entered at various rounds during the year, fielded by Absolute Racing and other teams.
The season concluded with a terrific result for Absolute Racing. They competed as "Team R8 LMS Ultra" and won the GT Asia teams' title.
Absolute Racing was out in force with a regular three car team. Many other Audi entries were also entered at various rounds during the year, fielded by Absolute Racing and other teams.
The season concluded with a terrific result for Absolute Racing. They competed as "Team R8 LMS Ultra" and won the GT Asia teams' title.
The season review has been compiled from the 2013 Audi Motorsport Blog
Weekend Round Up posts. Each round has been added as was seen in the individual
Weekend Round Up posts during 2013, which can be accessed via the links
throughout the review below:
Round 1: Twin Ring Motegi
The GT Asia series got underway at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan this
weekend. A total of five Audi R8 LMS ultra cars took part. Three 2013 Audi R8
LMS ultra cars were entered by Absolute Racing, as well as one 2013 car from
Dilango Racing and one older R8 LMS from Hitotsuyama Racing. The Audis showed
good pace during the sessions. The top placed and only Audi within the top ten
in race one was in fifth. The second race saw three Audis enter the top ten,
with the highest position again being fifth place. Hitotsuyama Racing finished
second in the GTM class in race two.
Round 2: Okayama
The GT Asia series hosted round two in Japan this weekend, at the
Okayama circuit. Four Audi cars were entered: three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars
(2013 spec) from Absolute Racing, and one Audi R8 LMS from Hitotsuyama Racing.
The cars qualified well and a top three was achieved in race one when the #888
R8 LMS ultra of Francis Hideki Onda and Alex Yoong finished in third. The
second race saw the trio of Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra cars occupying
the fourth, fifth and sixth positions.
Round 3: Fuji Speedway
The third GT Asia meeting remained in Japan, hosting rounds five and
six at the Fuji Speedway. Three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars were at the event, all
entered by Absolute Racing. The first race saw the highest Audi finisher in
fifth place, the #888 of Yoong and Onda. They lead home the #98 Audi in sixth,
followed by the third #7 Audi in eighth. The second race was an extremely good
performance for the Absolute Racing squad, an 1-2 race victory for the team.
The #7 Audi R8 LMS ultra of Jeffrey Lee and Marchy Lee crossed the line
victorious ahead of their teammates in the #888 Audi. The Audi 1-2 was backed
up by the #98 Audi finishing in fourth, ending off a terrific day for Audi and
Absolute Racing in Japan.
Round 4: Sepang
GT Asia resumed in Malaysia this weekend, where the fourth meeting of
the season was hosted at Sepang. Absolute Racing fielded a total of five Audi
cars this weekend, three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars in the GT3 class, and two older
Audi R8 LMS variants in the GTM class. Qualifying was highlighted by two front
row starting positions: the #888 grabbed second on the grid for race one and
the #7 did the same for race two. Pole in the GTM class went to the #77 for
race one. The first race was held on Saturday and saw the Audis battling near
the front. By the end of the race the three GT3 Audis placed in positions six
through eight, with the #7 of Marchy and Jeffrey Lee finishing sixth ahead of
the #98 and the #888. The #77 Tiger Racing R8 LMS of Yeung and van Dam finished
second in the GTM class. Race two was held on Sunday and saw podium results for
the Audi team. The #7 J-Fly Audi R8 LMS ultra of Marchy and Jeffrey Lee
finished in second place. They were followed by the #888 Audi in sixth and the
#98 in eighth. The #77 Tiger Racing R8 LMS of Yeung and van Dam went one
better, as they took victory in the GTM class, finishing tenth overall. The #78
finished fourth in GTM.
Round 5: Zhuhai
Zhuhai in China played host to the penultimate GT Asia round this
weekend. Absolute Racing fielded a trio of Audi R8 LMS ultra cars. The three
regular Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra cars took part in round five of the
2013 GT Asia season at Zhuhai, the only three Audi cars in the field this
weekend. All three cars are entered under the team/entrant name of Team R8 LMS
ultra, which represents Absolute Racing’s three customer teams: J-Fly Racing
(Audi #7), Team Hong Kong Racing (Audi #98) and Tunewear Racing (Audi #888).
Absolute Racing’s regular driver line-ups were again behind the wheel of the
three cars this weekend. Jeffrey Lee and Marchy Lee were driving the #7 J-Fly
machine, Philip Ma and Cong Fu Cheng in the #98 and Francis Hideki Onda and
Alex Yoong in the #888. Qualifying for the first race saw the #888 as the
highest Audi in fifth place, followed by the #7 in ninth and the #98 in tenth.
The grid for race two yielded Audi #7 in sixth followed by the #98 in ninth and
#888 rounding out the top ten in tenth. Race one was held on Saturday, with the
highest Audi being that of Philip Ma and Cong Fu Cheng in the #98, as they
finished fifth. They were followed home by their teammates in the #7 Audi in
eighth. The #888 Tunewear Audi unfortunately retired from race one. The second
and final race was held on Sunday. Francis Hideki Onda and Alex Yoong brought
the #888 R8 LMS ultra home as the top placed Audi, taking fifth place by the
finish. They were followed by their teammates in the #98 Audi, who finished
eighth. The #7 Audi R8 LMS ultra unfortunately retired from the second race.
Absolute Racing, with the team name of Team R8 LMS ultra, are still leading the
GT Asia team's championship points standings.
Macau GT CupThe 2013 Macau GT Cup was held as part of the annual Macau Grand Prix this weekend. The Macau GT Cup was held alongside the GT Asia season finale, running together on track this weekend. A number of GT Asia entrants were in the field. Four of the six Audi entries were also entered for the GT Asia finale.
The big news this weekend was 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 was joined by his teammate, Marchy Lee, in the #38 Audi Hong Kong Audi R8 LMS ultra, neither were entered as GT Asia competitors. Absolute Racing was also present with their regular three-car GT Asia team, along with another private Audi entry from IMS, all four entered in GT Asia. Absolute Racing, who competed with the team name of "Team R8 LMS Ultra," arrived as the leaders in the GT Asia teams' championship points standings and they were aiming to clinch the title this weekend.
Edoardo Mortara dominated practice on Friday by over two and a half seconds and he continued that form during the first qualifying session with a lap record setting provisional pole position, over half a second clear of the field.
The final qualifying grid was determined by the fastest times from the two qualifying sessions. The second session was dominated by Maro Engel in the Erebus Mercedes-Benz SLS GT3. Mortara was the highest Audi runner and qualified in second position on the grid. His teammate Marchy Lee qualified in eleventh, followed by Jeffrey Lee in seventeenth, Philip Ma in eighteenth, Francis Hideki Onda in twenty-sixth and Shim Ching in thirty-second.
The race itself got underway at 9:20 on Sunday morning and saw Maro Engel in the #36 Mercedes-Benz leading the way as Mortara dropped from second to fourth, being passed by Alexandre Imperatori in the #99 Porsche and Renger van der Zande in the #63 Mercedes-Benz. A massive crash collecting a number of competitors occurred on the first lap, thus prompting the first safety car. The race restarted a few laps later and the top four remained stagnant with another crash bringing out the safety car on the restart lap.
Marchy Lee had a good start to the race and had moved up to sixth by the second safety car. The pair of Absolute Racing Audis of Jeffrey Lee and Philip Ma had progressed well up to tenth and eleventh, well poised for the teams' championship title.
The race restarted for a second time and went green to the flag with racing. The top four remained stagnant until the fourth last lap when race leader, Maro Engel, slowed on track. This promoted Mortara up to third. He then managed a brilliant overtaking manoeuvre to take second away from van der Zande in the infield section of the track. Mr Macau then had two laps to try and pass Alexandre Imperatori in the Porsche for the lead.
Traffic came into play coming out of the hairpin on the penultimate lap and Mortara was able to grab the lead as chaos broke out behind him. Mortara continued to lead as Imperatori collected van der Zande going into Lisboa. Mr Macau continued to lead and brought his #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra home for his third consecutive Macau GT Cup victory, finishing ahead of Watts' McLaren and Imperatori's Porsche. Mortara also set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap, a 2:19.550, the only driver to drop into the 2 minute 19 second bracket during the race.
Mr Macau had it all do and he was able to recover from fourth to first for victory. Marchy Lee rounded out the top four in fourth, ensuring that two Audis finished within the top four. Jeffrey Lee and Philip Ma rounded out the top ten in ninth and tenth respectively. Francis Hideki Onda finished seventeenth and Shim Ching unfortunately retired.
It was another terrific Macau Grand Prix weekend for the Audi entrants. This win for Mortara also marked his sixth straight victory at Macau, as he had won the previous five races that he had been entered for: the 2009 and 2010 Macau Formula 3 races, the 2011 and 2012 Macau GT Cup and the 2013 Audi R8 LMS Cup round at Macau. Edoardo Mortara continues to deserve his title of “Mr Macau”.
Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (16-17/11/2013)
Round 6: Macau GT Cup (GT Asia)The 2013 GT Asia Series concluded with the finale at Macau this weekend. The GT Asia season finale was held alongside the Macau GT Cup, running together on track. A number of GT Asia entrants were in the field. Four of the six Audi entries were also entered for the GT Asia finale, which included: Jeffery Lee (#7), Shim Ching (#78), Francis Hideki Onda (#86) and Philip Ma (#98).
The big news this weekend was 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 was joined by his teammate, Marchy Lee, in the #38 Audi Hong Kong Audi R8 LMS ultra, neither were entered as GT Asia competitors. Absolute Racing was also present with their regular three-car GT Asia team, along with another private Audi entry from IMS, all four entered in GT Asia. Absolute Racing, who competed with the team name of "Team R8 LMS Ultra," arrived as the leaders in the GT Asia teams' championship points standings and they were aiming to clinch the title this weekend. They were leading the standings ahead of Clearwater Racing and Craft Racing.
Qualifying was split over two days, with the first session on Friday and the second on Saturday. The first session concluded with Jeffrey Lee topping the times as the fastest GT Asia entrant in fourteenth overall. The final qualifying grid was determined by the fastest times from the two qualifying sessions. The GT Asia 'pole position' went to Mok Weng Sun in his McLaren MP4-12C, who qualified fourteenth overall. Jeffrey Lee was the highest GT Asia Audi qualifier and he lined up in fourth place, seventeenth overall. Philip Ma qualified in fifth, eighteenth overall. Francis Hideki Onda qualified in twelfth, twenty-sixth overall and Shim Ching lined up seventeenth, thirty-second overall.
The race itself got underway at 9:20 on Sunday morning and up front there was a battle between the front running Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Audi cars. Further back the GT Asia competitors were looking for passing opportunities and to stay clear of incidents. A large crash during the opening few corners unfortunately took out a number of the GT Asia runners. Fortunately the three Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra cars made it through the carnage and survived the opening laps. Their main challengers for the teams' title, Clearwater Racing, were unfortunately collected in the incidents that brought out the first two safety cars.
Jeffrey Lee and Philip Ma were running together and moved up into the top ten overall. They maintained their positions to the flag, with Lee finishing ninth ahead of Ma in tenth. This translated into third within the GT Asia runners for Marchy Lee and fourth for Ma. The GT Asia ranks was lead by Li Zhi Cong in the #2 Porsche ahead of Frank Yu in the #30 Craft Racing Aston Martin. Francis Hideki Onda finished seventeenth overall, taking tenth within GT Asia, ensuring that all three of the Absolute Racing Audis finished within the GT Asia top ten, vital for the teams' championship points standings. Shim Ching unfortunately retired from the race.
These results were enough to crown Absolute Racing with the 2013 GT Asia teams’ championship title. Well done to the entire team, who competed as “Team R8 LMS ultra” during 2013.
Taken from Weekend Round Up - Audi Motorsport Blog (16-17/11/2013)
Photo credit:
Absolute Racing
RacerLink [Sean Henshelwood]
Photo credit:
Absolute Racing
RacerLink [Sean Henshelwood]
