Archive 2011

Team Jebsen victorious in Round 6, lead championship Team Jebsen Roundup – Rounds 5 & 6 July 8-10, 2011, Ordos International Circuit

Team Jebsen and driver Rodolfo Avila scored its maiden victory of the 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season, with a dominant win in Round 6 at the Ordos International Circuit. With the win, Team Jebsen also moved up to take the lead in the overall championship – the first time Avila has ever led the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

Although qualifying did not go according to plan, Team Jebsen was still able to finish second on the podium in Round 5. Consistency has been a hallmark of Team Jebsen this season, as the two-time Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champions came to the Inner Mongolia circuit having reached the podium in four straight races.

In Round 5, Avila started from fourth on the grid. An error on the first lap sent Avila down to ninth position, but with gritty determination the 24-year old Macau talent expertly drove his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car through the field to get back into fourth position and then on the last lap Avila seized an opportunity to move into third. Avila was ultimately promoted to second after a driver was penalized.

Determined to go for race wins this season, Team Jebsen knew they needed to make the most out of their front-line advantage. Avila did just that, capitalizing on an error by the pole-sitter to move into the lead position on the first lap. From there, Avila focused on bringing Team Jebsen their first win since the partnership began in 2010 and he did so in style, with nearly a four-second margin.

With the win, Team Jebsen now lead the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia for the first time this season – a position they will be eager to defend during next month’s Round 7 & 8 as they fight for a record third championship title.

Quotes from Team Jebsen
Rodolfo Avila, Team Jebsen Driver:
“While we’ve had good consistent podium finishes all season, we are definitely targeting race wins now. Yesterday’s qualifying didn’t go as well we expected as we had some bad luck with traffic. I tried to drive a clean race in Round 5, but I overdrove a little at Turn 14 and went off in the gravel. I fell back and then started to recover. I had a bit of luck with the incident involving two drivers, but I’ll take the luck.

“Today, I was a little worried as I was not on new tyres. But we made a good start and on the last corner, the driver in the lead position made a mistake and I took the opportunity to take the lead.

“It feels great to win. Last year didn’t go as well as we wanted it to, but we have worked hard this year and we’ve seen improved results. And now we have the championship lead. So I’m very happy for everyone who is a part of Team Jebsen.”

Sven Schnabl, Team Jebsen Engineer:
“I’m very happy with the win. As this is a new circuit for Team Jebsen, we did a track walk on Thursday which really helped as the track is totally different than what you see on the map as there is a lot of up and down. Our initial set-up was pretty accurate and we only needed to make a few adjustments afterwards. During qualifying we definitely had the pace, but were unable to show it as we lost eight-tenths of a second after we needed to pass a slow car on our fastest lap. We were a bit lucky in the first race, but today was just fabulous. There was not a single mistake and we were the quickest car out there.”

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2011 Provisional Calendar

Date	Circuit, Country	Event	Rounds
March 12-13	Sepang Int. Circuit, Malaysia	Test Days	-
April 15-17	Shanghai Int. Circuit, China	Formula 1 Support Race	Rounds 1&2
May 27-29	Zhuhai Int. Circuit, China	China Touring Car Championship	Rounds 3&4
July 08-10	Ordos Int. Circuit, China	China Touring Car Championship	Rounds 5&6
August 26-28	Sepang Int. Circuit, Malaysia	Porsche Weekend	Rounds 7&8
September 23-25	Marina Bay Circuit, Singapore	Formula 1 Support Race	Round 9
October 21-23	Shanghai Int. Circuit, China	SIC Championship	Rounds 10&11

About Rodolfo Avila Car No: 20
Avila began his career in karts, attending the Macau Karting School at 14, and winning the Macau Karting International A (Group B) a year later. In 2002, he graduated to single seater racing, becoming the youngest driver ever to compete at the Macau Grand Prix, racing in the Formula Renault event.

He took the Asian Formula Renault Challenge championship title the following year, making his Formula 3 Grand Prix debut at Macau in 2004. His career continued its extraordinary ascent, with Rookie honours in the Asian Formula 3 Championship in 2005, finishing 5th overall. A season in the prestigious British Formula 3 Championship saw him end the year 4th in the National Class for newcomers.

Avila made the switch to sportscar racing in 2008, when he became the youngest ever Asian Supercar Challenge Champion. He made his Porsche Carrera Cup Asia debut in 2009, taking pole position and a podium finish in his very first race.

About Team Jebsen
For Team Jebsen, 2011 marks the seventh full season in the series, having taken the championship title in 2006 and 2008.

Team Jebsen is backed by the Jebsen Group. Established in 1895 in Hong Kong, the Group has since expanded its activities into a comprehensive business network throughout China, Taiwan and South Korea. Today, the Jebsen Group is structured around four strategic business units targeting the consumer, industrial, beverage and luxury sectors.

Jebsen is a name synonymous with Porsche in the region, having first brought the marque to Hong Kong in 1955. Since then, the Jebsen Group has become the largest and longest-established Porsche dealer group in Asia. In addition to Porsche Centre Hong Kong, the group operates Porsche Centres in Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

7/14/2011