Jacky Yeung and Matt Solomon take double victory in GTM Class
Wins see Jacky Yeung top of GTM class rankings
Unlucky weekend in GT3 for Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Mies
China, October 13, 2014 – The Hong Kong pairing of Jacky Yeung and Matt Solomon scored back-to-back victories in the GTM class of Rounds 11 and 12 of the GT Asia series at the Shanghai International Circuit on October 11-12. After youngster Solomon clocked the fastest time in qualifying, the pair held onto pole position throughout the two races to pick up maximum points.
In Round 11, Matt Solomon, one of Asian motorsport’s most talented young drivers, got off to a flying start, pulling away from the rivals in the GTM class. This blistering pace gave Jacky Yeung a massive 16-second lead, who then drove even faster during his stint, recording a lap time a full second quicker than their qualifying time on the way to victory for the Audi R8 LMS #77.
Starting from pole-position for Round 12, Solomon and Yeung once again flew around the Shanghai International Circuit for their second start-to-finish victory of the weekend. Having secured maximum points for the weekend, Yeung moves to the top of the GTM class leaderboard heading into the finale in Macau next month. A good result in the final race will see Yeung crowned GT Asia GTM class champion for a second time.
In the GT3 class, the pairing of Jeffrey Lee and Audi factory driver Christopher Mies, endured a tumultuous weekend. In the first race, their Audi R8 LMS ultra #7 was hit by another driver, before suffering a puncture, which forced an extra visit to the pits. However, strong driving from the pair reduced the earlier delay and they finished in eighth. Unfortunately, there was more bad luck in store, as Lee was nudged in the opening laps of the second race, causing him to crash into the barriers, ending the race prematurely for the pair.
Elsewhere, the Chinese pairing of Sun Jingzu and Wang Jianwei put in two very good performances in front of their home crowd, finishing in ninth in both races. Johnson Huang of Taiwan, scoring two fourth-place finishes in the GTM class.
“This weekend saw our strongest performances so far this season, with two excellent wins for Jacky and Matt,” commented Fabien Fior, Technical Director of Absolute Racing. “But unfortunately, we had some difficulties with other cars making contact with ours, ruining the races for Jeffrey and Christopher and affecting their results. We were very unlucky in that case, but that’s how racing goes. We are all now looking forward to the season finale in Macau next month, and we will push even harder for the best results.”
The Audi entries head to Macau on November 14-16 for the GT Asia series finale at the Guia Circuit.
Race two of the GT Asia Series at Shanghai concluded with another class victory for Absolute Racing.
Jacky Yeung and Matt Solomon made it a double for the weekend by winning the GTM class in race two. Yeung handed over the car to Solomon in third place and Solomon was then able to pass both cars to take class victory with the #77 Absolute Racing prepared Tiger Racing Team R8 LMS. The pairing finished tenth overall. Jacky Yeung now has a twelve point lead in the GTM championship standings and the title will be decided at Macau.
Jian Wei Wang and Sun Jing Zu piloted the #17 Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra to ninth place overall, the highest Audi in the overall results. Johnson Huang repeated his race one result by finishing thirteenth overall, taking fourth in the GTM class with the #26 Absolute Racing R8 LMS.
Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Mies unfortunately retired from race two on lap seven, after having started from third position on the grid.
The finale of the 2014 GT Asia Series will be taking place at Macau with the Macau GT Cup from 13-16 November.
The GT Asia Series is at the Shanghai International Circuit in China this weekend and the first race concluded with an Audi class victory on Saturday.
Qualifying saw the #7 Absolute Racing paring of Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Mies as the highest placed Audi on the grid for both races, fourth on the gird for race one and third for race two.
The first race was held on Saturday and concluded with a class victory for Absolute Racing. Jacky Yeung and Matt Solomon took pole position and lead from start to finish to win the GTM class with the Absolute Racing prepared Tiger Racing Team Audi R8 LMS, they finished tenth overall. This result sees Jacky Yeung taking the lead in the GTM championship drivers’ standings.
The highest placed Audi in the overall and GT3 standings was the #7 Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra of Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Mies. Their teammates, Jian Wei Wang and Sun Jing Zu, finished ninth in the #17 Audi.
Johnson Huang finished thirteenth overall, taking fourth in the GTM class with the #26 Absolute Racing R8 LMS.
The second and final race of the weekend will be taking place tomorrow. We wish the best of luck to the Audi teams and drivers.
Four Audi entries in Rounds 11 and 12 of the GT Asia series
Team Absolute Racing aims for GT3 podium with the driver pairing of Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Mies
Jacky Yeung and Matt Solomon to challenge for GTM class
China, October 10, 2014 – Four Audi entries will compete at the Shanghai International Circuit in China for Rounds 11 and 12 of the GT Asia series from October 10-12. Team Absolute Racing aims for a podium finish at the first visit of the GT Asia series to Shanghai since 2009.
In the GT3 class, Jeffrey Lee will once again partner Audi factory driver Christopher Mies in the number 7 Audi R8 LMS ultra. The pair claimed fourth place in the last race at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia and will look to add to their points tally this time round.
“Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Mies are clearly aiming for a podium finish. I wouldn’t be surprised if they finish in the top spot, especially if it is a wet race, as the Audi R8 LMS ultra performs strongly in the rain,” commented Fabien Fior, Technical Director of Absolute Racing. Fior added, “We are definitely expecting another good weekend from all our drivers.”
Jacky Yeung will drive his number 77 Audi R8 LMS Cup car with youngster Matt Solomon, who recently finished on the podium in the Sepang 12h race. The Hong Kong driver pairing’s goal is to win in the GTM class and keep Yeung in line for a shot at the championship. Going into Shanghai, Yeung sits in third place in the GTM class, and a good result could see him climb back to first. In the previous Rounds 9 and 10 at Sepang, Yeung won the first race to move top of the leaderboard, before an early retirement in race two made it a mixed weekend for him.
Local Chinese drivers, Sun Jingzu and Wang Jianwei will compete in front of their home crowd in car number 17. Sun also competes in the amateur category of the Audi R8 LMS Cup and is familiar with both the track in Shanghai, and the GT3 race car. Sun showed a big improvement in his performance in last week’s Boss GP.
Completing the line-up for Absolute Racing and Audi is Johnson Huang from Taiwan in car number 26.
The qualifying sessions will be held on Friday October 10, with Rounds 11 and 12 taking place on Saturday October 11 and Sunday October 12 respectively.
Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Mies win Round 6 of the GT Asia series
Jacky Yeung takes fourth podium of the season
Adverse weather conditions added an extra level of difficulty
Japan, July 15, 2014 – The Audi entries achieved great results at the Fuji International Speedway in Japan in Rounds 5 and 6 of the GT Asia series. After good pace was set in qualifying, the pairing of Jeffrey Lee and Christopher Mies finished fourth in Round 5 and then took first in Round 6. Jacky Yeung also maintained form to claim another podium in the GTM class.
“Shortly before the races got underway, rain started to fall very hard and very fast. It was very difficult for all the teams to react in time and make adjustments to the cars to suit the conditions,” commented Fabien Fior, Director of Absolute Racing.
In the wet conditions, winner at last year’s stop at the Fuji International Speedway, Jeffrey Lee, and his partner Christopher Mies, braved the severe weather to put in a great performance in their Audi R8 LMS ultra car number 7 to finish first in Sunday’s race.
Lee started the race several cars behind pole position but held on well to gain position. After the driver swap, Mies drove positively to make steady progress. He achieved some of the fastest lap times and managed to overtake the cars in front one by one, before taking the lead with two laps to go.
Similarly, Alex Yoong and Hong Kong racing driver, Philip Ma, did well to come from the middle of the pack to finish fifth, improving upon their results in qualifying and Round 5, although the torrential rain and slippery surface proved tricky to deal with.
In the GTM class, Jacky Yeung battled through the conditions in his Audi R8 LMS Cup car for Tiger Team Racing, coming from eighth place to score a podium, finishing third in Round 5. So far in the series, the Hong Kong gentleman driver has four podium finishes to his name.
“Overall, it was a very satisfying day, in which the team and drivers worked very hard and performed well. Special thanks to Christopher Mies for his amazing driving in the rain. We should be seeing more from him in Asia,” said Fabien Fior.
Next up in the GT Asia series for the Audi entries is Rounds 7 and 8 on August 15-17 at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
A great debut for Christopher Mies in the demanding GT Asia Series. The German Audi factory driver took a great race victory in the Race 2 at the Fuji Speedway.
Christphoer Mies shared the winning R8 LMS ultra with Jeffrey Lee and helped the Audi brand clinch a first victory in GT Asia Series this year.
The #7 Audi R8 LMS ultra from team Absolute Racing won the 30-lap race with style after a great battle with the second placed Ferrari 458 GT3.
Another Audi R8 LMS ultra from Absolute Racing performed well, the #98 car of Alex Young and Philip Ma finished in a strong fifth.
Four Audi entries in Rounds 3 and 4 of the GT Asia series
Team Absolute Racing eyes podium
Autopolis International Circuit suits Audi GT3 car
Four Audi entries are preparing to compete at the Autopolis International Circuit in the third and fourth rounds of the GT Asia series in Japan from May 30 to June 1. With three Audi R8 LMS ultras in the competition, Team Absolute Racing has high hopes for a successful weekend on a technical circuit, which should suit the Audi GT3 cars well.
“I am hopeful that Japan will be good. The Autopolis International Circuit is a very technical track, with lots of ups and downs, and twists and turns, which suits our car very well. With the enlarged GT Asia field in Japan, the competition is difficult. But we want to put in a performance this weekend. We want to win. I at least expect a podium position”, commented Ingo Matter, Director of Absolute Racing.
Former Formula 1 driver, Alex Yoong, will partner talented gentleman driver, Egidio Perfetti in car 98. The Italian won the amateur class of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in 2013. The new pairing will try to make up for the difficult start to the GT Asia season for Audi in Yeongam, South Korea. Alex Yoong and Matt Solomon were leading for most of the race in Round 2, but in order to avoid a collision, the car was driven over a curb, sustaining damage. This forced them to retire in the final few laps.
Jeffrey Lee from Taiwan and local driver, Hiroki Yoshimoto, will be in car 7 at this weekend’s races in Japan. The Japanese driver’s knowledge of his home track will be beneficial to the pair. Completing the Absolute Racing Audi line-up is car 17, driven by Sun Jingzu, who also drives in the amateur category of the Audi R8 LMS Cup, and Wang Jianwei, who makes his debut in the GT Asia series this season.
Furthermore, Jacky Yeung of Team Tiger Racing will be competing in car 77, the same car he drives in the Audi R8 LMS Cup. Hong Kong driver Yeung had achieved two podium finishes in the GTM category in Rounds 1 and 2 of GT Asia at the Korea International Circuit in May.
The qualifying sessions will be held on Friday May 30, with Rounds 3 and 4 taking place on Saturday May 31 and Sunday June 1 respectively.
By Johan Laubscher Absolute Racing is busy preparing for the 2014 GT Asia Series. The team was out testing with two Audi R8 LMS ultra cars at Sepang this weekend. The two all-black R8 LMS ultra cars at the test were listed with drivers Philip Ma / Alex Yoong and Jeffrey Lee / Marchy Lee.
Absolute Racing entered three full-season Audi R8 LMS ultra cars in GT Asia last year. This team was strong enough to clinch the GT Asia teams' title for Absolute Racing, who was using the team name of Team R8 LMS Ultra. The 2014 GT Asia season will get underway in Korea, with round one taking place at Inje from 2-4 May.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Cup The 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.
Edoardo Mortara wins third Macau GT Cup in a row for Audi
Team R8 LMS ultra clinch GT Asia team championship
Marchy Lee with excellent fourth place
Macau, November 17, 2013 – Edoardo Mortara won his third Macau GT Cup in a row in dramatic fashion today. Starting second on the grid, Mortara dropped to fourth after the first two corners, before eventually passing through the top of the field in the final three laps of the race. Marchy Lee produced a superb drive to secure fourth position after starting 11th on the grid. An excellent weekend for Audi was completed as Team R8 LMS ultra, with drivers Philip Ma, Francis Hideki Onda and Jeffrey Lee sealed the GT Asia team championship.
“The one person who can make this possible is Edo. Yesterday he said he could not do miracles – then today when he overtook one of his competitors in the narrow hills of Macau he said over the radio ‘see, I can do miracles’. To collect his 6th win in Macau at the 60th anniversary of the Macau GP and against this year’s very strong competition is outstanding. Marchy Lee was excellent for 4th place. It shows how strong Asian drivers can compete on an international level,” said Rene Koneberg, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. He continued: “Additionally we won the team championship of the GT Asia season today. This is the icing on the cake. In only two years, we have established our Audi Sport customer racing activities in Asia as the benchmark of motorsport in the Asian region.”
Mortara’s race got off to a disappointing start when he dropped from second to fourth. And there were little opportunities to regain positions, as the safety car was out for the majority of the opening six laps because of two crashes. The first one involved a handful of cars after New Zealand driver Earl Bamber hit the wall and spun. The second incident saw Australian Ro Charlz lose control of his vehicle. The standing car was eventually hit by the Audi R8 LMS ultra of team IMS driver Shim Ching, who had to retire from the race.
The race came alive on lap 7, with Maro Engel leading the field before he was forced to retire in lap 9. Three enthralling final three laps followed. On lap 10 Mortara was able to move into second place by overtaking Renger Zande’s Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 on a very tight corner of the snake-like hill area of the circuit. He now had a clear run at race leader Alexandre Imperatori.
And with just two laps to go, Mortara took the lead with another spectacular move. Danny Watts in the McLaren MP4-12C climbed from fourth to second in the shadow of the Audi driver. Mortara kept his cool and opened up a safe gap between him and his rival to take the chequered flag. 2012 Audi LMS cup champion, Marchy Lee, drove excellently to cut through the field from 11th on the grid to 4th.
For Mortara it was the sixth victory in Macau and the second in just as many weekends. Last Sunday he had already won the final race of the 2013 Audi R8 LMS Cup season on Macau’s Guia Circuit.
Jeffrey Lee finished third in the GT Asia category. His Team R8 LMS ultra secured the overall GT Asia team championship for Audi in Macau. They finished the series on top of the standings on 236 points ahead of Clearwater Racing on 206 and Craft Racing on 188.
Edoardo Mortara:
“The car was unbelievable, especially in the hill part. I never give up and always give everything. Congrats to Marchy [Lee] for fourth place and thanks to all the people that made this weekend possible. I have never seen such a competitive field in the GT Cup, and to have first and fourth is fantastic. We were losing 7 to 8 tenths on the straights, so we had to make that up in the mountains where we were quicker. Many people say you can’t overtake in the mountain area. But it was the only chance, so I had to do it.”
Marchy Lee:
“I started the race very patient and waited for my opportunities. Edo [Mortara] has been fantastic all weekend and I have learnt a lot from the Audi Quattro team and from Edo’s driving style. This will help me going into 2014. I hope I can come back to Macau next year. ”
Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing:
“I am not sure if my nerves can take this every year. After the start of the race I didn’t think victory was possible. But Edo [Mortara] again did an outstanding job. He was fantastic. He made history today!!” Audi R8 LMS Cup Official Website: www.audir8lmscup.com Photo credit: Audi R8 LMS Cup
The 2013 Macau GT Cup was held during the early hours of this morning and it was certainly a very exciting race. Mr Macau Edoardo Mortara took his sixth straight win at Macau, his third consecutive GT Cup victory, after fighting back from fourth. As is always the case videos have begun to appear on YouTube and we have embedded two videos below, the full race and a highlights video. Full Race (Chinese Commentary)
The 2013 GT Asia Series concluded with the finale at Macau today. It was a day of celebration for Absolute Racing as they won the GT Asia teams’ championship title.
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 six Audi R8 LMS / ultra entries are listed below:
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. Absolute Racing was also present with their regular three-car GT Asia team, along with another private Audi entry from IMS. 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. Philip Ma was fourth fastest, followed by Francis Hideki Onda in twelfth and Shim Ching in sixteenth. The second and final qualifying session again saw Jeffrey Lee as the fastest GT Asia Audi, but this time he was fourth fastest in the GT Asia standings, followed by Philip Ma in fifth. Francis Hideki Onda had been steadily improving during the weekend and was tenth fastest during the second qualifying session. Shim Ching placed fifteenth.
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. Up front in the overall classification it was another victory for Mr Macau Edoardo Mortara in his #1 Audi R8 LMS ultra, who celebrated the win ahead of his teammate, Marchy Lee, who had progressed up to fourth. It was a terrific weekend for the Audi teams. Race victory for Mortara and Absolute Racing secured the GT Asia teams' championship title.
