Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release
- Alex Yoong beats the heat to claim his first Audi R8 LMS Cup pole
- Adderly Fong continues strong form with front row performance
- Jeffrey Lee takes his second Amateur pole position of the season
Zhuhai, June 2, 2012 - The debut season of the new international Audi R8 LMS Cup continued to thrill as a closely fought qualifying session saw championship points leader Alex Yoong of Malaysia with Audi GQ snatch pole position for Round 3 at the Zhuhai International Circuit ahead of Hong Kong driver Adderly Fong with KLM Team.
Hong Kong driver Marchy Lee of Audi Ultra secured third position on the grid. Sun Zheng, of Team Erdos Xinan, will line-up alongside Lee on the second row. With the top four cars all qualifying within a second of each other, the fight for the Round 3 win is expected to be close and intense.
Consistent throughout the 30-minute session was Jeffrey Lee of Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing who qualified fifth overall. The Amateur Drivers Cup contender took the battle to the professional drivers, taking his second Amateur Cup pole position of the season.
Celebrity and entertainer Aaron Kwok of Team Audi R8 LMS Cup claimed second in the non-professional category ahead of Byron Tong of AK Racing.
Championship front-runners, Yoong, Fong and Marchy Lee, all waited before going out to set a qualifying time to avoid the rising temperatures
at the Zhuhai International Circuit. All three joined the fray within a lap of each other and a thrilling battle ensued.
Marchy Lee was the first to achieve provisional pole, before being topped by Adderly Fong, fresh off his first gutsy sportscar win in Round 2 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup. Just when Fong seemed to have pole position secured and with time expiring on the session, Yoong jumped past Fong by 0.048 of a second. Not one to rest on that result, Yoong continued to go quicker still, recording the session's fastest time of 1:36.108.
Round 3 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup takes place this afternoon at the Zhuhai International Circuit.
Alex Yoong (Audi GQ)
"I had a few steering problems with the car yesterday and went out to do a couple of laps to check everything was ok. We checked the pressures and temperatures in the pits and then it was time to push. I didn't expect it to happen on that first [fast] lap, but I know that against these guys it wasn't enough. So, I decided to push on. I used up more of the tyres, but it's a pole position, so I'm happy with that.
"I was quite conservative in Shanghai but this is a sprint race so I'm going to go for it as fast as I can."
Adderly Fong (KLM Team)
"I'm really learning more and more about the car. On my part I feel I can go a little bit quicker and certainly for the race it will be100 per cent from the first lap."
Marchy Lee (Audi Ultra)
"I first raced here in 1994 so Zhuhai is like my home, it is very special to me. The tyre temperatures came up a lot faster than yesterday so I went back into the pits to reduce the temperatures. When I went back out there were some other cars on the track and I couldn't get a clear run, but third is not bad and I am looking forward to my race performance here. Qualifying is qualifying and the race is the race - 21 laps is long enough and I will see how Adderly and Alex lead the pace and see where to overtake them in the race."
Jeffrey Lee (Paulian Archiland J-Fly Racing)
"The qualifying time between the cars in front and behind me are very close so this will be an intense race. I am looking forward to a stable performance. I think on the first corner I can get a little bit faster than previously, so I will look to overtake other drivers from there.
No.
|
Comp No.
|
Name.
|
Class
|
Entrant
|
Time
|
1
|
8
|
Alex YOONG
|
Audi GQ
|
1:36.108
| |
2
|
68
|
Adderly FONG
|
KLM Team
|
1:36.210
| |
3
|
1
|
Marchy LEE
|
Audi Ultra
|
1:36.449
| |
4
|
33
|
SUN Zheng
|
Team Erdos Xinan
|
1:36.944
| |
5
|
7
|
Jeffrey LEE
|
Am
|
Paulian Archiland J-Fly Racing
|
1:37.140
|
6
|
9
|
WANG Jian Wei
|
Team Betterlife
|
1:37.163
| |
7
|
6
|
HAN Han
|
Team Zhe Jiang Aotong
|
1:37.308
| |
8
|
77
|
SUN Chao
|
P D GROUP Team
|
1:37.750
| |
9
|
88
|
Aaron KWOK
|
Am
|
Team Audi R8 LMS Cup
|
1:38.435
|
10
|
23
|
Byron Tong
|
Am
|
AK Racing
|
1:38.512
|
11
|
27
|
Daniel BILSKI
|
Am
|
Audi Driving Dreams
|
1:38.708
|
12
|
99
|
HUA Xia Wei
|
Team Chengdu New Elements
|
1:39.545
| |
13
|
3
|
Hughes RIPERT
|
Am
|
Spark Motorsport
|
1:39.641
|
14
|
66
|
ZHANG Ran
|
Am
|
Audi Castrol
|
1:39.818
|
15
|
13
|
Adrian FU
|
Am
|
FuSpeed Racing
|
1:40.693
|
16
|
75
|
Clifford CHEN
|
Am
|
J-Fly Racing Team
|
1:41.032
|
(Am) Amateur Drivers Cup
Audi R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com
