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Alex Yoong got a double victory over the weekend Audi R8 LMS Cup in Zhuhai for Rounds 7 & 8. Audi GQ driver Alex Yoong of Malaysia took victory in Round 8 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup at the 4.3km Zhuhai International Circuit to take home maximum points haul.  His pole position and two wins bring him back into contention for the overall title.

Follow by Alex Yoong, second across the line was championship leader Marchy Lee with Audi Ultra, giving him an eight point advantage over KLM Team’s Adderly Fong. Fong was third in the race for the second time this weekend, and is just two points head of Yoong.

For the second time in as many races, all 16 cars finished, proving once again the reliability of Audi technology and the groundbreaking new long life Michelin tyres, with just one set maintaining their performance through qualifying and two, 21-lap races. Marchy now has an eight point advantage over second-placed Fong, who is just two points ahead of Alex after a dominant performance in Zhuhai.

In the Amateur Cup, Jeffrey Lee of Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing took his second successive victory having jumped back to the top of the class standings following his win in Round 7.  Second across the line was AK Racing’s Alex Au, but he was later handed a 30 second penalty for an incident with Audi Driving Dreams’ Massimo Vignali, which demoted him to third.  That promoted Aaron Kwok, who again had to fend off stiff competition in the race, this time from Spark Motorsport’s Hugues Ripert, to second in the category.

Although Alex Yoong got away well at the rolling start for the 21-lap race, Marchy was alongside going in to Turn 1, but the Alex held firm into the corner.  Marchy continued to push hard to catch his rival, setting the fastest lap on Lap 5.  Series newcomer David Zhu of Team Zhe Jiang Aotong mounted an early challenge to Fong for third, but the leading trio of Yoong, Marchy and Fong soon began to pull away from the pack.

Mid way through the race, two heated battles for position developed.  The first between Zhu and Sun Zheng, and the second between Sun Chao of the PD Group Team who was fending off unrelenting attacks from Team Betterlife’s Wang Jian Wei.  While Sun Chao resisted well, Wang finally found his way past on Lap 14 to go seventh, and began pulling away from his rival.  Zhu held firm and crossed the line fourth for the second time this weekend on his impressive Audi R8 LMS Cup debut.

Amateur Cup driver Au was also on a charge, making contact with Vignali, who had started from eighth on the grid, on Lap 15 to go ninth in the running order.

Alex Yoong continued to build up a lead at the front, crossing the line 3.514 seconds ahead of Marchy Lee at the flag.

Commented Director of Audi Sport customer racing in China, Rene Koneberg: “The weekend has shown the high level of talent amongst the Audi R8 LMS Cup drivers.  Close, fair racing over two exciting rounds proved the reliability of Audi technology and the new, one-set racing tyre from Michelin.  I am delighted that all 16 cars finished in both races this weekend.”

Round 8 – Results 

(AM) Amateur Cup Competitor

Fastest Lap:  Marchy Lee/Audi Ultra/1:37.931/156.855kph

Points after Round 8:

Overall Classification (top 5)

Amateur Cup Classification (top 5)

Audi GQ star Alex Yoong of Malaysia took first place in Round 7 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup @ Zhuhai International Circuit, with a trouble-free pole-to-flag run on the 4.3km Zhuhai International Circuit, setting the fastest lap of the race for good measure.

Building an impressive margin of 1.754 seconds from second-placed Marchy Lee of the Audi ultra team, Yoong proved untouchable throughout the gruelling 21-lap race.  KLM Team’s Adderly Fong of Hong Kong was third, having pulled off a brilliant manoeuvre on Team Erdos Xinan’s Sun Zheng after the 16-strong field roared off the grid.

All 16 Audi R8 LMS Cup racing cars finished the race, a ringing endorsement of the reliability of Audi technology under extreme conditions, and to the new long-life Michelin tyres.

Yoong got a perfect start from pole, with Marchy giving chase, and Fong up to third from fourth on the grid by the end of the opening lap.  With Yoong determined to pull away, Marchy kept his rival firmly in his sights closing the gap to 1.298 seconds mid-way through the race.  However, as Fong began to loom in his mirrors, Marchy switched his priorities from winning to taking the all-important 18 points for second place.

David Zhu, making his Audi R8 LMS Cup debut with Team Zhe Jiang Aotong finished a strong fourth, crossing the line ahead of Sun Zheng.

For Jeffrey Lee, his Amateur Cup was a convincing return to the series, and propelled him back to the top of the Amateur Cup leaderboard.  Having taken pole position in the class, Jeffrey remained at the front of the pack to cross the line an impressive sixth overall.

However, further down the order the battle for the remaining category podium places was frenzied, with Audi R8 LMS Cup driver Aaron Kwok initially holding firm from professional racer Massimo Vignali, making his series debut with Audi Driving Dreams.

Professional  Sun Chao of the PD Group Team was on a charge, having been penalised two grid positions, getting by Vignali and homing in on Kwok, blasting past with Vignali following through in his wake and demoting the Hong Kong star down to 10th in the order.  Kwok was back up to 8th after a tussle between Sun Chao and Vignali, but an error by Kwok saw the pair get by. Hence, he finished second last.

Marchy’s second place finish increases his points advantage on the overall championship leaderboard to five, ahead of Fong, but Yoong’s victory puts him very much back in the game in third, 17 points adrift of Marchy and closing.

Round 7 – Results 

(AM) Amateur Cup Competitor 

Fastest Lap:  Alex Yoong/Audi GQ/1:36.796/158.809kph

Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee with Audi Ultra will try to defend his narrow overall lead when the Audi R8 LMS Cup returns to action this weekend for Rounds 7 & 8 at the Zhuhai International Circuit, China.

Spoken to Marchy personally about 2 weeks ago in Sepang, he is satisfying with his impressive results in Ordos last month. He led from lights to flag in both races, taking over the championship lead in Asia’s hot new international championship. But Marchy has been put on notice by his rivals. The rising star, Adderly Fong of KLM Racing is just two points behind Marchy Lee. The Malaysia’s Former F1 driver Alex Yoong with Audi GQ is third in the standings and will be on the hunt for crucial championship points as the clock begins to wind down on the inaugural season of Audi’s first one-makes championship.

The 16-strong field all races identical Audi R8 LMS Cup cars, putting talent and racing mettle to the test. An optimum showcase for Audi innovation and technology, the series has recently introduced a new long life tyre from Michelin.

It is first time in Asian motorsport, the tyre lasts over the course of an entire weekend, reducing the consumption of resources while maintaining the performance required for top, international racing.

While the three-way showdown between Lee, Fong and Yoong is one battle to watch, there is plenty of exciting on-track action right the way through the field. The 4.3km Zhuhai International Circuit’s contrasting fast straights and slow corners provide plenty of overtaking opportunities and often some surprise results.

Commented Director of Audi Sport customer racing in China, Rene Koneberg: “We’ve had six great, competitive races so far and we’re looking forward to an intense and nail-biting second half of the season. The championship race is still wide open as we head to Zhuhai, and the stakes are only going to get higher. The pressure is mounting for our talented field, each of whom is looking to earn a place in the motorsport history book as the first ever Audi R8 LMS Cup champion.”

Three titles are up for grabs in 2012: The Audi R8 LMS Cup overall title, an Amateur category, and a Teams award, with each round points-scoring.

With Amateur Cup leader Byron Tong of Hong Kong missing this weekend’s races, Rounds 7 & 8 present a golden opportunity for Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing Team driver Jeffrey Lee of Chinese Taipei to regain the top spot in the non-professional class, having missed Rounds 5 & 6 when he flew the flag for the Audi R8 LMS Cup entry in the GT Asia Series that same weekend.

Zhuhai also represents an opportunity for the series’ only lady driver, Audi Castrol’s Zhang Ran to get back to podium form after a last-minute injury in Ordos kept her out of action.

Buoyed by his second-place class finish in Round 6, we believe that the Hong Kong superstar Aaron Kwok of Team Audi R8 LMS Cup will push forward his performance at Zhuhai International Circuit since he previously crashed his race car @ Rounds 3 & 4.

Rounds 7 & 8 Entry List:

No.1/Marchy LEE (HKG)/Audi Ultra

No.3/Hugues RIPERT (HKG)/Spark Motorsport/Am

No.6/David ZHU(CHN)/Team Zhe Jiang Aotong

No.7/Jeffrey LEE/TPE/Pauian Archiland J-Fly Racing/Am

No.8/Alex YOONG (MAL)/Audi GQ

No.9/WANG Jian Wei (CHN)/Team Betterlife

No.13/Adrian FU (HKG)/FuSpeed Racing/Am

No.23/Alex Au (HKG)/AK Racing/Am

No.27/Massimo VIGNALI (UK)/Audi Driving Dreams

No.33/SUN Zheng (CHN)/Team Erdos Xinan

No.66/ZHANG Ran (CHN)/Audi Castrol/Am

No.68/Adderly FONG (HKG)/KLM Team

No.75/Eric HSIANG (TPE)/J-Fly Racing Team/Am

No.77/SUN Chao (CHNG)/P D GROUP Team

No.88/Aaron KWOK (HKG)/Team Audi R8 LMS Cup/Am

No.99/TIAN Li Ying (CHN)/Team Chengdu New Elements

Marchy Lee of Hong Kong with Audi Ultra takes over championship lead with pole and two wins after he scored a perfect weekend at the Inner Mongolian Ordos International Circuit in both Rounds 5 & 6 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup.

Marchy scored the fastest laps in each race, did not put a foot wrong all weekend in his Audi R8 LMS Cup car and his results have vaulted him into first in the fight for the championship, two points ahead of rising star Adderly Fong with KLM Team in his first season of sportscar racing.

Our former Formula 1 driver Alex Yoong with Audi GQ is third in the championship a further 23 points behind. While Yoong finished second in Round 5, the Malaysian was forced to retire early in Round 6. Yoong spun and his restart resulted in a gearbox problem. 

Fong, who finished fifth in Round 5, scored a second-place finish in Round 6, but could not match Lee’s pace, crossing the finish line 14.198 seconds behind. Third in Round 5 was Charlie-Ro Charlz, who earned his second third-place finish in as many races. Charlz made his Audi R8 LMS Cup debut in Ordos, filling in for injured Audi Castrol driver Zhang Ran this weekend. Australian Charlz easily adapted to his smooth-handling Audi R8 LMS Cup car during qualifying, before piling on the pressure on Yoong in Round 5. 

Commented Director of Audi Sport customer racing in China, Rene Koneberg: “We’re delighted that three of our Audi China teams swept the podium in Round 5 for the first time in series history.”

Hong Kong driver Alex Au scored a double victory in the Amateur Cup in his Audi R8 LMS Cup debut. Hong Kong’s Byron Tong continues to lead the non-professional class.  Just in its first season, the Audi R8 LMS Cup, the marque’s first-ever one-makes racing series, is already gaining international attention and raising the bar on Asian motorsport. 

This weekend the Audi R8 LMS Cup introduced a new tyre with partner Michelin, the S9LL (long life). Exclusive to the Audi R8 LMS Cup, the new tyre has been designed to last for an entire weekend of racing, from free practice to the chequered flag. 

“We believe the new long life tyre is a positive technological contribution to motorsport and Audi is proud to continue to stand at the forefront of motorsport innovation,” Koneberg said. 

Audi is a leading proponent of the track-to-road philosophy. Its technological innovations honed in motorsport are implemented in its road car production, directly translating to the consumer as improved efficiency.

Round 5 saw Lee start from pole and quickly begin to establish a gap between him and the rest of the field, before taking the chequered flag 10.745 seconds ahead of Yoong, who had quickly worked his way up from fifth on the grid to second place. Behind Charlz in third were Finn Pekka Saarinen and Fong, fourth and fifth, respectively. 

Lee was equally impressive in Round 6, this time winning with a 14.198 second margin over Fong. Starting from pole, Lee immediately began to pull away. From fifth, Fong quickly moved into third position behind Lee and Yoong, with Saarinen and hometown hero Sun Zheng with Team Erdos Xinan chasing behind. On the third lap Yoong and Saarinen both spun, dropping down the order and leaving Fong to move into second place, ahead of Sun and Charlz. Charlz overtook Sun on Lap 4 and the top three would remain in place for the rest of the race. 

The Amateur Cup proved to be an exciting contest, with Hong Kong-based Frenchman Hugues Ripert leading the class until he was forced to retire on Lap 12. Au inherited the lead and although challenged by celebrity entertainer Aaron Kwok with Team Audi R8 LMS Cup and fellow Hong Kong racer Byron Tong, Au held strong. 

The Audi R8 LMS Cup debuted earlier this April at the Shanghai International Circuit. Two races in Zhuhai followed in June, before Rounds 5&6 in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. The series will next return to the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai for Rounds 7&8 from September 14-16, before November’s highly anticipated season finale. 

Round 5 – Results　

(AM) Amateur Cup Competitor 

Fastest Lap: Marchy LEE /Audi Ultra/1:44.350/Lap 2　

Round 6 –Results 

(AM) Amateur Cup Competitor 

Fastest Lap: Marchy LEE /Audi Ultra/1:45.626/Lap 8 

Photo Gallery: Audi R8 LMS Cup Rounds 5 & 6

The Audi Ultra driver, Marchy Lee of Hong Kong grab pole position for Round 5 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup at the Inner Mongolian Ordos International Circuit ahead of fellow Hong Kong driver Adderly Fong of KLM Team.

Marchy had decided not to start qualifying with the rest of the field, waiting instead for the track to warm up and traffic to clear. It proved a wise move as when he took to the track after 10 minutes of action, Lee produced the drive of the day to take pole position with a 1:43.484 lap on his second lap of the 30-minute qualifying session.

Series leader Fong finished just over three tenths of second behind his rival. Starting from third on the grid will be series newcomer Charlie-Ro Charlz. The Australian was called into action at the last minute for Audi Castrol to replace the team’s regular driver Zhang Ran, who injured her hand, this weekend. Charlz took just a single lap to become accustomed to the car before showing his pace.

In the Amateur Cup, Hong Kong celebrity and entertainer Aaron Kwok of Team Audi R8 LMS Cup saved his best until his 12th – and last – trip around the 3.751-km circuit, and was the fastest of the non-professional drivers.

When the 30-minute session began most of the field immediately took the circuit, eager to put in a strong showing early. However, the session was stopped a few minutes in, after former Formula 1 driver Alex Yoong of Malaysia had a technical malfunction and his Audi GQ-liveried car was put in the gravel. Yoong will start from fifth on the grid.

Team Chengdu New Elements driver Hua Xia Wei and Sun Zheng of Team Erdos Xinan did not take part in qualifying due to a pending stewards’ decision in another series. Both drivers will start Round 5 from the back of the grid.Rounds 5 and 6 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup take place at the Ordos International Circuit on Sunday. 

Marchy Lee (Audi Ultra)

“At the start I had a chat with my engineer and we decided that after 10 minutes of qualifying the track would be in the best condition to come in. Then the red flag came out and when I did get out on the track, everything was perfect. So I am very happy. At this stage of the series every point is crucial. Even one point is a very precious one point.

“To have the pole position is a very good start. But pole position doesn’t necessarily mean a winning position. The Ordos track is very tricky so I need to be very careful and prepare well.”

Adderly Fong (KLM Team)

“When we got back out on the track after the break it was difficult to get the tyres reheated so we couldn’t really improve any further. But I am still up at the front of the grid and from the front of the grid anything can happen.”

Charlie-Ro Charlz (Audi Castrol)

“I got up to speed quite quickly because the Audi car is very beautiful to drive – it does exactly what you want it to do. So the second I got into the car it felt very comfortable.”

Aaron Kwok (Team Audi R8 LMS Cup)

“I am very happy with the result. I am improving second by second. At the beginning I was hoping that during qualifying that I could go faster from free practice and I did, so I am very happy. I hope I can maintain my momentum tomorrow.”

Round 5 Qualifying – Results 

(Am) Amateur Drivers Cup