Mok Weng Sun takes the Ferrari F458 to the chequered flag completing a total of 18 laps in 40minutes during the Season Opening race of the GT Asia Series 2012 Season. Rounds 1 and 2 are being held this weekend at the Malaysian Formula 1 circuit.
Mok, got past the pole sitter, Marchy Lee (who is pared with Taiwanese driver Jeffrey Lee) at turn one and immediately set out to put a gap. He was followed closely by the Porsche 997 GT3R of Li Zhi Cong, who was pursued by two fast drivers, Marchy in the Audi R8 LMS Ultra and the Ferrari F458 of Hiroshi Hamaguchi.
The Team Clearwater Racing driver just maintained a steady pace to open up a gap that he maintained throughout the race. “Its fantastic to be back and as you can tell, I am not in fighting shape right now, I’m pretty pooped. I’ve been out of the car too long, off season was many, many months and coming back this weekend is a great feeling.
“I struggled a little but in the earlier practice sessions with setup and all that but by qualifying the car was all good” said Mok.
“Today I had a fantastic start, Marchy in the Audi was probably a little bit down on power so I pulled a little bit of a gap on him, I stayed on the outside and Peter Li (Zhi Cong) was amazingly quick at the start, he almost got right by me but fortunately I got the line into turn 2 and managed to get past turn 2 and put my head down and just go” ended Mok.
From there he was not challenged for the lead and despite the tyre degradation, he managed to maintain a steady pace all the way to the chequered flag for the first win of the season.
Mok will be starting Round 2 also from second, behind his Team Clearwater Racing teammates, driver pair Keita Sawa and David Lai, with a third Ferrari F458 of Japanese teammate, Hiroshi Hamaguchi starting from third.
When asked how he will fare against his teammates, Mok said “I’m going to have 70 kilos more than them so I don’t expect to be that competitive tomorrow, its going to be a struggle”.
Second placed finisher is the shy Chinese driver Li Zhi Cong from Asia Racing Team. Already a high hope for the team to win the Championship, “Firstly I had a good start and was up to second and keep the car on the track. The race was very good, my engineer set up a very good car for me allowing me to do some really good laptimes.
“I had a few good laps of battle with Jeffrey but my car had tyres that were already destroyed in the last few laps, leaving the laptimes very slow”. The driver maintained pace enough to have a nice battle with Jeffrey before the chequered flag.
The Audi R8 LMS Ultra came in third with Marchy starting the Round 1 race “At the start I managed to keep up with Mok but unfortunately they have more power than us on a straight line.
“I was fourth or fifth and tried to keep up but at turn 15 on the first lap, the Japanese driver (Hamaguchi) was in front of me and I think he didn’t see me on the inside so he closed the gap and hit me and I spun. I dropped down to P9 but by the time the pit window opened and I have climbed back to second or third” said Marchy.
He then passed the driving duties to his driver partner, Jeffrey who came out behind the Porsche of Li and had to battle for position when at turn 2 of lap 7 they touched, dropping Jeffrey down to third. “Marchy had good position when I took over so I just tried to maintain the position and try to catch up with the driver in front but on the straight we were just not as fast.
“But the team did a good job and I am quite confident about starting the race tomorrow” ended Jeffrey.
Steven Chian won the race for GTM Class and cited “because this is the first time this year, I just tried my best to pursue the GT3 but the power is just different. They have about 150 horsepower than I do. So I just tried my best and keep consistent and finish the race.
“In the first corner, I tried to pass Siu and Jacky and tried to follow Billy and also tried to overtake him” enede a very jovial Chian.
The GT Asia Series Round 2 is on Sunday, 27 May 2012 at 11.05am.
The GT Asia Series 2012 Season is set to be one of the most thrilling with many new drivers and some exciting new partnerships, including new official partners Yokohama ADVAN, KW Automotive and Stand21.
The 2012 Season will see four races held in Malaysia with Rounds 1 & 2 at Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia on 25-27 May 2012. The Series will then remain in Malaysia for Rounds 3 & 4 as part of the Super GT event from 8-10 June before heading to three Japanese weekends starting with Fuji International Circuit on 13-15 July, Suzuka International Racing Course on 17-19 August and Autopolis International Circuit on 28-30 September.
The Season Finale will be held as part of the Macau GP at the Guia International Circuit on 16-18 November.
The 2012 GT Asia Series is supported by, Yokohama ADVAN, Graham Timekeepers, KW Automotive, AutoArt, Stand21, Endless and Cody Enterprises.
The GT Asia Series is jointly organised by Motorsport Asia and Supercar Club Hong Kong.