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Team Jebsen Celebrates First Podium Finish of 2013 Season Team Jebsen, Round Up – Rounds 2&3, 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, Shanghai International Circuit


Team Jebsen and Rodolfo Avila celebrated their first podium of the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season following a gutsy move at the start to power their way to third place in Round 3. Racing on the greatest stage in Chinese motorsport, in support of the 2013 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX, Avila started Sunday’s race from the second row of the grid and got his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup off to a scorching start, getting by his rival to take third position.

Avila and Team Jebsen engineer Ricki Martino arrived in Shanghai determined to find the race pace that had eluded them at the start of the season in Malaysia. With two races on the 5.4km Shanghai International Circuit, this season’s new qualifying regulations were implemented for the first time, with the fastest laps of the session setting the grid for Race 1, and the second-quickest times determining the starting order for Race 2.

Starting from the third row for Round 2, Avila pushed his rivals hard. Time was lost as Avila battled with a competitor car in front. Piling on the pressure, Avila finally passed the car ahead and whilst he was one of the fastest cars on track, he ran out of laps to make further passes and ultimately crossed the line in fifth. However, the team was buoyed by the pace they showed throughout the race and Team Jebsen felt confident going into Sunday’s Round 3.

With a second-row starting position, Avila knew he needed to maximize his advantage. As the lights went out Avila thundered off the grid, setting up a pass on his rival car in front not long after. He drove confidently and closed the gap to the second placed car in front, but again ran out of laps to challenge for the position. Nonetheless, he secured Team Jebsen’s first podium position of the season. Just as importantly, after a somewhat sluggish start in Sepang, Avila showed improved pace throughout the Shanghai weekend to be a real contender for the rest of the season.

Quotes from Team Jebsen
Rodolfo Avila

“I’m really pleased with the progress we made this weekend and our race pace in Sunday’s Round 3 was much quicker than in Round 1 in Sepang and yesterday’s Round 2. We’re quickly catching up to the leaders, but there’s still some work for us to do both on the car and also me as a driver before our next race in Zhuhai. I’m quite happy with my starts this season as they have previously not been my strong point. I made some adjustments starting at the end of last season and I’m feeling much more confident with my starts. I’m no longer losing places off the line, and in Round 3 I got past my rival to take third place.”

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2013

Provisional Race Calendar

Date Circuit, Country Event Round(s)
March 02 – 03 Sepang Intl. Circuit, Malaysia Test Days
March 22 – 24 Sepang Intl. Circuit, Malaysia Formula 1 Support Race Round 1
April 12 – 14 Shanghai Intl. Circuit, China Formula 1 Support Race Round 2
May 03 – 05 Zhuhai Intl. Circuit, China Asian Le Mans Series* Round 3 & 4
July 05 – 07 Ordos Intl. Circuit, China Asian Le Mans Series* Round 5 & 6
August 02 – 04 Autopia Intl. Circuit, Korea Asian Le Mans Series* Round 7 & 8
September 20 – 22 Marina Bay Circuit, Singapore Formula 1 Support Race Round 9
October 25 – 27 Shanghai Intl. Circuit, China Shanghai Sportscar Champions Festival Round 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. In 2011, Avila was just two points away from winning the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title, while last season he finished third in what was the strongest entry in the series’ history.

About Team Jebsen
For Team Jebsen, 2013 marks the ninth full season in the series, having taken the championship title in 2006 and 2008. Along the way, the team has earned 18 race wins together with 62 podiums.

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.

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4/16/2013

Porsche - Press Releases