Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2010 – Round 2 At Shanghai
Christian Menzel rounded off a perfect weekend in the opening rounds of the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai with a second resounding victory. He drove yet another superb race from pole position all the way to the chequered flag on the 5.5km circuit, finishing 7.6 seconds ahead of Darryl O’Young of LKM Racing. Team PCS Racing’s Craig Baird finished 3rd.
Menzel again catapulted away at the start, driving flawlessly without much challenge from the rest of the field. Behind him though, Jeffrey Lee of Pauian Archiland Team spun across the track on the opening lap, forcing several drivers to take drastic evasive action. Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila retired early with a clutch problem.
After that O’Young and Marchy Lee got into massive battles throughout the race which thrilled the crowd yet again, with the Red Bull Racing driver right on the pace. Lee try to make a move on O’Young on Lap 6 but couldn’t make it stick. 4 Laps later Lee tried to overtake O’Young again but this time he overshot his attempt, ran wide and puncturing his tire which ended his race dramatically.
Meanwhile in Class B, Mok Weng Sun also won for the second time this weekend, leaving rival Team Kangshun’s Ringo Chong in second position, and newcomer Francis Tjia of OpenRoad Racing continuing his spectacular debut with his second podium finish of the weekend.
Selected driver quotes :
Christian Menzel : “The weekend was perfect – fastest in practice, qualifying, winning both races and setting the fastest laps in each. To do this you need a fantastic car which is what I had. After yesterday we changed a few small things, but the solution today was the new set of tyres we had. The first three laps I had so much grip. But, this was our plan, our strategy, and as a result we won, but I am old enough to know this can change very fast!”
Darryl O’Young : “It was tough! Christian gained his advantage in qualifying. That’s how far back his advantage goes. We’re still struggling with setup. It’s disappointing not to win, but second is good and I’m pleased I was able to hold off Marchy. I just tried to drive a steady race, but couldn’t get enough grip. We really need to work on setup.”
Craig Baird : “I was lucky! I’ve really struggled to come to terms with this circuit. I didn’t qualify well enough. We made some drastic changes to the setup yesterday and it was terrible – we went backwards. This circuit is so big, it’s difficult to get it right every time. It magnifies small mistakes, and is very technical. It looks easy on paper, but it’s not. We need to raise our game and move forward.”
Marchy Lee : “I had a good car today. For the first couple of laps I was trying to save my tyres. On lap four, I started pushing and got close to Darryl. Craig was behind, so I could really concentrate on pushing him. I wanted to get by Darryl as soon as I could and I tried so many times, but he was driving very defensively. Fair, but defensive. I didn’t want us to crash, but I had to try. I saw my chance and braked, but locked up. I tried to turn in even though I knew I already had a puncture, and I made the corner. As a racing driver, I wasn’t happy to be stuck in third again. I had to try!”
Round 2 Results :
1 – 99 Christian MENZEL (GER) Class A Team StarChase (CHN) 26:05.607
2 – 55 Darryl O’YOUNG (HKG) Class A LKM Racing (HKG) +7.678
3 – 32 Craig BAIRD (NZL) Class A Team PCS Racing (SIN) +8.499
4- 33 MOK Weng Sun (SIN) Class B Team PCS Racing (SIN) +30.898
5 – 11 Ringo CHONG (SIN) Class B Team Kangshun (CHN) +40.269
6 – 21 Francis TJIA (HKG) Class B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) +54.153
7 – 25 Christian CHIA (CAN) Class B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) +61.211
8 – 5 Yuey TAN Yuhian (SIN) Class B Wimobilize McElrea Racing Team (SIN) +64.244
9 – 64 Jean Marc MERLIN (FRA) Class B Team J2M Racing (FRA) +68.198
10 – 16 Wayne SHEN (HKG) Class B Modena Motorsports (HKG) +72.408
11 – 7 Jeffrey LEE (TPE) Class B Team Pauian Archiland (TPE) +90.806
12 – 98 Max CHEN* (TPE) Class B Max Chen (HKG) +91.268
13 – 12 Morris KU (HKG) Class B Team DAYCRAFT (HKG) +97.283
14 – 59 Philip BRIANDET (SIN) Class B Shift2Neutral Racing (SIN) +102.753
15 – 28 John SHEN (HKG) Class B Modena Motorsports (HKG) +103.728
16 – 2 Kenneth LAU (HKG) Class B Dyna Ten Motorsport (HKG) +112.550
17 – 18 Marcel TJIA (HKG) Class B OpenRoad Racing (HKG) +112.801
18 – 77 Jacky YEUNG* (HKG) Class B Jacky Yeung (HKG) +119.428
19 – 8 Michael CHOI (HKG) Class B Dyna Ten Motorsport (TPE) DNF
20 – 38 Marchy LEE (HKG) Class A Red Bull Racing (HKG) DNF
21 – 88 Ross LAU (HKG)* Class B Ross Lau (HKG) +1 Lap
NC – 68 MAK Hing Tak (HKG) Class B OMAK Team (HKG)
NC- 20 Rodolfo AVILA (MAC) Class A Team Jebsen (HKG)
*Non series registered
The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2010 continues next month, with Rounds 3 and 4 will be schedule during “Fascination Porsche weekend” at Beijing’s Goldenport Circuit from May 21-23. The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia is organised and promoted by Malaysian based Motorsport Asia Ltd.
Photo : PR Plus Ltd
Editorial : Nazim Idris
