|Win for Ferrari F458 with Hamaguchi in GT Asia Round 2|
Hiroshi Hamaguchi took Team Clearwater Racing’s Ferrari F458 to the top step of the podium today for Round 2 of the GT Asia Series. The Ferrari completed 17 laps in the 40 minute race setting the best time of the day with 2:09.418.
“It was a very tough weekend for me. I’ve never driven this track or this car before so it took a full two days to get used to the car and track. I struggled a little to adjust my driving to the Ferrari but lap by lap from Qualifying on, I improved and I got more confident. So by the second race it was much easier for me” said Hamaguchi at the post race Press Conference.
Driver pairing Marchy Lee from Hong Kong and Taiwanese Jeffrey Lee took the Audi R8 LMS Ultra to its second podium of the weekend with a second placed finish. Chinese driver Li Zhi Cong finished third in the Asia Racing Team’s (ART) Porsche 997 GT3R.
The start of the race was a clean one with pole sitter Keita Sawa and teammate Mok Weng Sun both getting a clean start off the line in their Ferrari F458’s while seventh placed starter, Hisao Shigeta got the best start moving up to fifth by turn two.
Shigeta, in his Porsche 997 GT3R, then overtook his teammate, Li for fourth behind the Clearwater trio. From there it was a battle of the teammates before Mok, who was heavier from 70kg’s of success ballast, started to struggle with his car, dropping down the grid.
Then on lap 5 Shigeta made a mistake, spun on turn 7 into the gravel, ending his race.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Lee in the Audi was keeping up with the Ford GT3 of Frank Yu but could not find a way past. The ten minute pit window then opened allowing driver changes and for Jeffrey, it was to pass driving duties to his partner, Marchy Lee.
As all cars were completing their stops, on lap 10, the engine on Dilantha Malagamuwa’s Lamborghini LP560 GT3 blew, spewing smoke on turn 7.
Immediately thereafter, Hideki Onda also suffered from car failure in his Ferrari F430 GT, stopping in the middle of the track at turn 9. The incidents resulted in the Safety Car being deployed to clear the track, allowing the cars to catch up to the leaders.
As the Safety Car came in at lap 14, Hamaguchi once again pulled away but Yu who was in sixth spun at turn four and resumed but not before his teammate, Samson Chan, in the second Ford GT3 and Billy Fung in the Lamborghini LP600 GT3 got past, relegating him down to eighth.
Up ahead, with just two laps to go, Marchy began pursuing Li from the back straight. The duo battled all the way into turn one but the straight-line power of the Audi was no match for the Porsche, leaving Marchy to claim second.
Jeffrey who started the race in the Audi said “it was an average start but we had pace on the straight to look forward to and at the second turn, I was jammed up with the guys in front and Frank Yu just took advantage of that, taking the outside and passing me.
“But I managed to regain the position and that was the best I could do for the first stint” he ended.
“I was pushing. It was really hard today. Preparations for the car today were so short and we tried our best to set up the car. The Audi R8 LMS Ultra did a very good job. It was just one or two laps short for me to fight for the lead, maybe” ended Marchy with a smile.
For Li in his first race with ART, “the race was quite good but I didn’t have a good start, so I thought just follow the guy in front. My driving improved a little today and the laptimes were consistent. I’d like to thank my team and my sponsors for the race”.
Speaking of the Safety Car period, Li mentioned “the SC period was good for me, it closed the gap to the front car but it also allowed Marchy to come behind me. But we had a good two lap fight and it was quite exciting”.
GTM Class was won by Siu Yuk Lung in the Porsche 997 Cup, beating out Mak Hing Tak and Jacky Yeung for the win. The trio were all smiles after the race and were congratulating one another for a good fight.
The GT Asia Series will remain in Malaysia for Rounds 3 & 4 to be held as part of the Super GT event on 9-10 June 2012.