Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release
· Darryl O’Young leads from pole to flag to grab win
· Marchy Lee sees points lead cut after dramatic duel with title rival
· Victory for Jeffrey Lee as he edges closer to Amateur Cup title
Shanghai, October 27, 2012 – Darryl O’Young took a dominant pole-to-flag victory in Round 9 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup today at the Shanghai International Circuit. Standing in for Audi GQ regular Alex Yoong, O’Young won his debut race with the series but it was far from an easy 16 laps.
A dramatic last corner lunge by Marchy Lee to snatch second place from title rival Adderly Fong was later punished by Race Stewards with a 20-second penalty, demoting him to third. The points earned for second by Fong put him just five points behind Marchy in the battle for the title, with three races remaining.
Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing’s Jeffrey Lee took the Amateur Cup win from pole, edging closer to title in the debut 2012 season. Jeffrey had qualified fifth overall, and crossed the line sixth. Second in the class was Alex Au of AK Racing, 10th overall, with Hugues Ripert of Spark Motorsport, who made a superb recovery after a broken gearbox scuppered his qualifying, third in the category.
O’Young got away well at the start and, despite a spirited challenge from Marchy, led out of the first turn. Fong was also on a charge, and an aggressive move saw him pass Marchy to go second, the pair making contact on the way. A furious Marchy immediately gave chase and the race was on.
Behind the trio, Sun Zheng of Team Erdos Xinan, who had started from the third row, led Jeffrey Lee, newcomer K.O. You of Audi Korea, and J-Fly Racing Team’s Kevin Chen. Chen, like Marchy, was later handed a 20 second penalty for an incident with David Zhu, which put him down to ninth.
While O’Young may have been looking to pull away from the chasing pack, all three drivers were on the limit for the entire 16 laps. Arguably the toughest job was Fong’s, who had one eye on the race win, and the other on championship rival Marchy, who was right on his tail.
Meanwhile, talented South Korean driver K.O. You was finding his feet in the Audi R8 LMS Cup, and having got by Jeffrey Lee and Kevin Chen, took the charge to Sun Zheng. The pair dueled for several laps, expertly avoiding contact while thrilling the crowds.
Three laps from the flag, the front-runners hit traffic. All got by cleanly, with O’Young able to pull out a small breathing space at the front. A lap later, K.O. at last managed to pass Sun Zheng, and immediately set the quickest sector time, but there were not enough laps left for him to close in on the leaders.
In the final run to the flag, while O’Young was all set for the win, the theatre was not over. Marchy saw his chance at the final turn of the last lap and, in a high-speed tussle with Fong, made it past to cross the line in second place. The move may have been punished later, but for spectators it was a superb finish to what had been a truly thrilling race.
The Audi R8 LMS Cup action continues tomorrow (Sunday), with Round 10.
Quotes after Round 9:
Darryl O’Young (Audi GQ)
“Marchy had a better start than me and put me under pressure into Turn 1, but I managed to come out in the lead. After that, I drove on the limit of the tyres. Marchy and Adderly put me under so much pressure I couldn’t back off to conserve the tyres. Later in the race I was struggling a bit with the brakes, but hitting traffic gave me a bit of a gap so I could cool the tyres down a bit.”
Adderly Fong (KLM Team)
[About the start] “To quote Ayrton Senna, ‘if you don’t go for a gap, you’re no longer a racing driver’. I was following Darryl all the way. He had good pace, but I could see he was struggling on the brakes. I tried a few moves, but I never had a good enough exit to get alongside him on the brakes.”
Marchy Lee (Audi Ultra)
“It was a tough race. I got a very good start, and had a bit of an advantage on the lights. But then I got hit and lost my place. I was very patient, although I was quite angry in the car. I was patient until the very last corner when a gap opened. I saw my chance, and I took it.”
Jeffrey Lee (Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing)
“At the second corner, I was squeezed out and on to the grass, so I lost a place. I was following the fifth driver for most of the time, and there was a gap between me and the other Amateur Cup drivers, so I was competing with the professionals. So I’m very pleased with that.”
Audi R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com
Round 9 – Results
Pos | Comp No | Name | Class | Entrant | Time |
1 | 8 | Darryl O’YOUNG (HKG) | Audi GQ | 34:11.901 | |
2 | 68 | Adderly FONG (HKG) | KLM Team | +1.759 | |
3 | 1 | Marchy LEE (HKG) | Audi Ultra | +21.445 | |
4 | 55 | Kyoung-Ouk YOU (KOR) | Team Korea | +33.532 | |
5 | 33 | SUN Zheng (CHN) | Team Erdos Xinan | +34.698 | |
6 | 7 | Jeffrey LEE (TPE) | Am | Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing | +38.555 |
7 | 9 | WANG Jian Wei (CHN) | Team Betterlife | +55.444 | |
8 | 6 | David ZHU (CHN) | Team Zhe Jiang Aotong | +59.448 | |
9 | 75 | Kevin CHEN (USA) | J-Fly Racing Team | +1:03.447 | |
10 | 23 | Alex AU (HKG) | Am | AK Racing | +1:07.434 |
11 | 3 | Hugues RIPERT (HKG) | Am | Spark Motorsport | +1:54.111 |
12 | 66 | ZHANG Ran (CHN) | Am | Audi Castrol | +2:11.200 |
13 | 77 | SUN Chao (CHN) | P D GROUP Team | 1 Lap | |
14 | 99 | Anthony CHAN (HKG) | Team Chengdu New Elements | 1 Lap | |
15 | 13 | Adrian FU (HKG) | Am | FuSpeed Racing | 1 Lap |
16 | 88 | Dr. FENG Derui | Am | Team Audi R8 LMS Cup | 1 Lap |
(AM) Amateur Cup Competitor
Fastest Lap: Marchy Lee/Audi Ultra/2:07.327/154.1kph
Overall Classification (top 5)
1 | Marchy LEE (HKG) | 161 |
2 | Adderly FONG (HKG) | 156 |
3 | Alex YOONG (MAS) | 136 |
4 | SUN Zheng (CHN) | 93 |
5 | Jeffrey LEE (TPE) | 69 |
Amateur Cup Classification (top 5)
1 | Jeffrey LEE (TPE) | 154 |
2 | Alex Au (HKG) | 101 |
3 | Aaron KWOK (HKG) | 99 |
3 | Byron TONG (HKG) | 94 |
5 | Adrian FU (HKG) | 83 |
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