Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release
· DTM
ace Edoardo Mortara tops the podium in Shanghai
· Marchy
Lee takes second sending championship down to the wire
· Jeffrey
Lee clinches Amateur Cup in penultimate round
Shanghai, November 10, 2012 –
DTM ace Edoardo Mortara clinched a thrilling victory this afternoon in the
penultimate round of the Audi R8 LMS Cup at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Audi Ultra’s Marchy Lee was second, giving him enough points to take a narrow
five point lead in the overall championship points’ standings over Adderly
Fong. Fong of the KLM Racing team took the chequered flag in an impressive
third place after fighting his way up through the field from ninth on the grid.
The Amateur Cup title was sealed by Pauian Archilland J-Fly Racing’s Jeffrey
Lee.
After the wet conditions of qualifying, this
afternoon’s race saw all 16 drivers take the rolling start on Michelin’s
innovative dry weather tyres. Pole sitter Alex Yoong got a clean start but
succumbed to the charging Mortara on the opening lap of the race. Marchy Lee
promptly pounced on Yoong, constantly putting the Malaysian ace under pressure
until taking him for second place.
Fong also had a storming start, pushing past Aaron
Kwok in the Audi R8 LMS Cup car on the first of what was to be 18 laps of
scintillating racing. By lap seven, Mortara had Marchy Lee hot on his heels,
Fong and Yoong were locked in battle and Kwok and AK Racing’s Alex Au were
challenging for Amateur Cup title honours.
Competing for Audi Driving Dreams, this was
Mortara’s debut race with the series and he had it far from easy with a
spirited drive from Marchy Lee pushing him all the way to the chequered flag.
Meanwhile, Team Erdos Xinan’s Sun Zheng had run wide on lap 13, letting Yoong
and Fong past for third and fourth positions respectively, only for those
positions to be reversed after an epic battle on lap 14 which saw Fong
eventually win out over Yoong. Nevertheless, it was a strong drive from the
Chinese driver Sun and he retained his fifth position all the way to the line
to clinch 12 points ahead of Team Zhe Jiang Aotong’s David Zhu in sixth.
Pushing hard in his debut race meanwhile was Spark
Motorsport’s Dino Crescentini. The American had started top of the Amateur Cup
drivers on the grid. Although he lost places to the tussling professional
drivers in the early stages of the race Crescentini went on to cross the
finishing line in seventh, clinching maximum Amateur Cup points. Taking eighth
and ninth places overall respectively was Wang Jian Wei of Team Betterlife and
PD Group’s Sun Chao.
Next across the finishing line were the battling
Jeffrey Lee and Alex Au in second and third places respectively in the Amateurs
Cup and thus sealing Lee’s place as the Champion with one race still to run.
Kwok took points for third place in the Amateurs Cup standings.
The final round of the Audi R8 LMS Cup takes place
tomorrow (Sunday).
Quotes after Round 11:
Edoardo Mortara (Audi Driving Dreams)
“It was a difficult race overall. After passing
Alex (Yoong), Marchy (Lee) was coming up to me quickly and I could see he had
lots of pace. We then started really racing and we had some enjoyable moments
where he came alongside and I thought he would pass but I was lucky to remain
in first. I tried to leave him room when I made a couple of mistakes so I did
not damage the championship result. I think tomorrow will be a really nice
battle between the drivers for the championship and I will make sure I stay out
of the game.”
Marchy Lee (Audi Ultra)
“Once I passed (Alex) and caught Edoardo we both
had some really good racing moments. He was fighting hard but always
leaving space for me. He is a really experienced and good driver. Later on in
the race we came up to some back markers and I have had a moment or two with
them in the past so I was being extremely safe and careful about my overtaking.
I then decided to save the tyres but saw Adderly (Fong) coming up in my mirror
but I could see he was pushing hard and really using up his tyres, which is good
for me. Overall it was really good today and racing with these gentlemen was
very enjoyable.”
Adderly Fong (KLM Team)
“It was really difficult to get past Aaron (Kwok)
and even more to get past Alex. I really don't remember all the overtaking in
the race, apart from Alex's, because there was so much going on. Alex seemed to
be struggling with his brakes and at one point I tried to get a slipstream
(from Alex) down the straight but there's no real advantage at all. The
closeness of the racing really goes to show how very equal all the cars are in
this championship.”
Dino Crescentini (Spark Motorsport)
“What a nice day at the office! It was a lot of fun
out on the track and I tried my best to just stay out of trouble. I had a lot
of time and space to myself and I used that to learn more about the car and the
track and prepare to do some battles tomorrow.”
Jeffrey Lee (Pauian Archilland J-Fly Racing)
“I don't think I looked in the rear view mirror so
many times as I did today. I spent most of the race looking back. After
qualifying I thought it would be an easier race, but Alex (Au) was getting
quicker. I did ease off a little bit and then realised that Alex was catching
me quickly. I thought that safety and protecting my position was the best thing
to do.”
Audi R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com
Round 11– Results
Pos
|
Comp No
|
Name
|
Class
|
Entrant
|
Time
|
1
|
27
|
Edoardo MORTARA (I) (G)
|
Audi Driving Dreams
|
32:59.987
|
|
2
|
1
|
Marchy LEE (HK)
|
Audi Ultra
|
33:04.559
|
|
3
|
68
|
Adderly FONG (HK)
|
KLM Team
|
33:07.465
|
|
4
|
8
|
Alex YOONG (MAL)
|
Audi GQ
|
33:13.443
|
|
5
|
33
|
SUN Zheng (CN)
|
Team Erdos Xinan
|
33:13.852
|
|
6
|
6
|
David ZHU (CN)
|
Team Zhe Jiang Aotong
|
33:33.038
|
|
7
|
3
|
Dino Crescentini (USA)
|
AM
|
Spark Motorsport
|
33:33.562
|
8
|
9
|
WANG Jian Wei (CN)
|
Team Betterlife
|
33:53.314
|
|
9
|
77
|
SUN Chao (CN)
|
PD Group Team
|
34:11.628
|
|
10
|
7
|
Jeffrey LEE (TPE)
|
AM
|
Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing
|
34:18.720
|
11
|
23
|
Alex AU (HK)
|
AM
|
AK Racing
|
34:18.763
|
12
|
99
|
Massimo VIGNALI (I)
|
Team Chengdu New Elements
|
34:48.305
|
|
13
|
88
|
Aaron KWOK (HK)
|
AM
|
Team Audi R8 LMS Cup
|
34:54.978
|
14
|
66
|
ZHANG Ran (CN)
|
AM
|
Audi Castrol
|
+1 lap
|
15
|
75
|
Clifford CHEN (TPE)
|
AM
|
J-Fly Racing Team
|
+1 lap
|
16
|
13
|
Adrian FU (HK)
|
AM
|
FuSpeed Racing
|
+1 lap
|
(AM) Amateur Cup
Competitor
(G)
Guest Driver
Fastest Lap: Marchy Lee/Audi Ultra/1:48.965
Overall Classification (top 5)
1
|
Marchy LEE (HK)
|
204
|
2
|
Adderly FONG (HK)
|
199
|
3
|
Alex YOONG (MAL)
|
152
|
4
|
SUN Zheng (CN)
|
117
|
5
|
WANG Jian Wei (CN)
|
74
|
Amateur Cup Classification (top 5)
1
|
Jeffrey LEE (TPE)
|
172
|
2
|
Alex AU (HK)
|
141
|
3
|
Aaron KWOK (HK)
|
111
|
4
|
ZHANG Ran (CN)
|
106
|
5
|
Adrian FU (HK)
|
101
|
