KUALA LUMPUR: Reigning champion Alex Yoong of Audi TEDA Racing Team triumphed in Round 3 of the 2016 Audi R8 LMS Cup ahead of Belgian newcomer Alessio Picariello of MGT by Absolute and Audi Hong Kong’s Marchy Lee at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand.
The victory against his hard-charging competitors put Yoong into the overall series lead (52 points) ahead of Picariello (47 points) and Swiss driver Rahel Frey (44 points) of Castrol Racing Team.
“The Cup is extremely competitive this season, exemplified by the qualifying times of the top 10 drivers, all of which were within one second,” said Bernd Goeres, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “It was a great debut for the Audi R8 LMS Cup in Thailand.”
The eventful start saw pole-sitter Picariello and Lee embroiled in a wheel-to-wheel battle with Yoong seizing the opportunity to expertly pass both drivers and take the lead. Picariello recovered to apply increasing pressure on the race leader, but Yoong used every ounce of his race craft to defend for a memorable win.
Behind them, Lee won his race-long tussle with new Japanese entrant Ryo Ogawa of KCMG, who crossed the finish line ahead of FAW-VW Audi Racing Team’s Cheng Congfu.
The Thai fans were also treated to tight battles that broke out further down the field between Jan Kisiel of KCMG, Team Audi R8 LMS Cup’s Aditya Patel, Frey and K.O. You of Team Audi Korea. Swiss GT specialist Frey had come into the weekend as championship leader, but missed out on the Superpole shootout in qualifying by less than one-hundredth of a second and started ninth on the grid.
Round 1 winner Martin Rump of Champion Racing Team also got off to a tough start to this weekend. Things seemed to go from bad to worse for the young driver.
First, his Superpole time was wiped off after he exceeded track limits, then he was forced off the track after contact with You on the second lap of Round 3 but the Estonian used his disadvantage strategically, re-joining the race and ultimately recording the fastest lap of the round giving him pole position in Round 4 where he will also race with no weight ballast.
Jeffrey Lee of Team Audi Volkswagen Taiwan finished first on the podium in the Amateur Cup ahead of Vincent Floirendo of EN Sport by Absolute and Sun Jingzu of Absolute Racing. Reigning Amateur Cup champion Daniel Bilski, of Thailand-based team B-Quik Racing, claimed victory in the Masters Cup classification.
2016 Audi R8 LMS Cup
Overall Classification after Round 3 – Top 10
1. Alex YOONG (MAS) – 52
2. Alessio PICARIELLO (BEL) – 47
3. Rahel FREY (SWI) – 44
4. Marchy LEE (HKG) – 37
5. Martin RUMP (EST) – 36
6. CHENG Congfu (CHN) – 24
7. Aditya PATEL (IND) – 20
8. Jan KISIEL (POL) – 17
9. Ryo OGAWA (JPN) – 12
10. Yuichi NAKAYAMA (JPN) – 7
–BERNAMA