News

Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee took his first victory in the 997-based Porsche 911 GT3 Cup today, while SCC Racing China’s Christian Jones took a superb second place to narrow the title chase to just six points from championship leader Tim Sugden of GruppeM Racing who crossed the line in third.

In Class B, it was Team PCS Racing’s Mok Weng Sun who took victory, capitalizing on a brilliant start to stay ahead of William “Chip” Connor and Philip Ma of Hong Kong.

Pole-sitter Darryl O’Young fell victim to an overly-ambitious overtaking attempt by Cref Motorsports’ Keita Sawa, and the pair spun off effectively ending the Japanese driver’s championship chances.

In the opening seconds of the 12-lap race, Sawa believed he saw a chance to get by O’Young on the inside going in to turn 4. However, the pair came together and spun into the gravel. Both managed to return to the pits, with Sawa rejoining the race in the hopes of retrieving some all-important points.

Sugden was concentrating so hard on keeping out of trouble when the pair came together he made a mistake a braked too late, running wide. That put him back down the running order to 6th, while Jones led the pack ahead of Lee, Team Vertu’s Nigel Albon, Sunseeker Asia’s Alain Li and Dilantha Malagamuwa.

Lee was closing in on Jones and make his move on lap 3, grabbing and holding the lead to the chequered flag. Sugden was on a charge, but knew his chances of making the podium were slim until Albon made and error and spun, demoting him to 4th. The closing stages of the race saw Australian Geoff Morgan and Malagamuwa engaged in a fantastic battle for position, with the Sri Lankan claiming 5th at the flag.

Said Lee, who also set the fastest lap of the race: “I made a good start, and I saw Sawa make quite an aggressive move. After that I followed Christian and concentrated on finding a mistake – then I found it! I made a big mistake with the tyres and flat spotted, and Christian gave me absolutely no time to rest. It was a great race!”

Jones is well aware how tough the next race will be, with the title fight now effectively between him and Sugden: “I knew I had to beat Tim and Sawa for the championship. I didn’t need an accident with Marchy, so it worked out great for me.”

Sugden was obviously less than delighted that the title chase has now become even tighter, and was disappointed with himself for making a mistake at such a crucial stage in his campaign: “I made a really good start down the inside, but not quite enough to pass Darryl. Sawa was clearly on a mission. I was so busy watching them I braked too late. I was lucky Nigel spun as I was catching him but not much. Now it’s down to me and Christian. Unless there’s a massive disaster, Sawa’s taking himself out of the championship.”

Sawa was disappointed and apologetic: “I feel very sorry for Darryl and my team as it’s a big loss for the championship, but I have to change my mindset for the next race.”

Pole-sitter O’Young had already put the incident behind him: “I’m looking forward to the next race where I start from the back of the grid – so there’ll be a lot of overtaking!” he laughed.

In Class B, points leader going in to Round 11 Mok was delighted with his win and more crucial points: “I focused on my start as I realized I lost out in Shanghai because of it. Chip is always quick and consistent, so I knew it was important to get away well. So, I have to thank my start for this win. The championship is very close – it’s crunch time – so every single point counts.”

The penultimate round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2007 season will be held this afternoon over 12 laps of the 4.3km Zhuhai International Circuit.


Round 11 Results
1.#13,Marchy LEE(HKG),A,Marchy Lee,19:47.629
2.#36,Christian JONES(AUS),A,SCC Racing China,+0.2456
3.#88,Tim SUGDEN(GBR),A,GruppeM Racing,+11.785
4.#5,Nigel ALBON(GBR),A,Team Vertu,+12.287
5.#6,Dilantha MALAGAMUWA(JPN),A,Team Hayashi,+32.036
6.#41,Geoff MORGAN(AUS),A,Geoff Morgan,+32.182
7.#33,MOK Weng Sun,(SIN),B,Team PCS Racing,+43.102
8.#8,William E. CONNOR II,(HKG),B,William Connor, +45.887
9.#98,Philip MA(HKG),B,Philip Ma,+47.261
10.#69,Melvin CHOO Kwok Ming (SIN),B,Melvin Choo,+1:04.371
11.#77,Peter BOYLAN(AUS),B,Peter Boylan,+1:12.874
12.#22,SIU Tit Lung(HKG),B,Siu Tit Lung,+1:23.161
80.#Keita SAWA(JPN),A,Cref Motorsports,DNF
11.#Alain LI(HKG),A,Sunseeker Asia,DNF
15.#Tunku HAMMAM (MAS),B,Tunku Hammam,DNF
55.#Darryl O’YOUNG(HKG),A,LKM Team Jebsen,DNF
Fastest Lap: Marchy Lee / 1:38.332/ Lap 2/ 157.42kph