GT Asia: Top 5 finishes for the Audi R8 LMS ultra at Twin Ring Motegi

By Johan Laubscher

The GT Asia series held its first round in Japan this weekend. Twin Ring Motegi hosted the event and a total of five Audi R8 LMS and ultra cars took part.

Absolute Racing were out in force with three 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra cars and a strong driver line-up. Two more Audis were entered by Dilango Racing and Hitotsuyama Racing, fielding one car each, an Audi R8 LMS ultra (2013) and an older R8 LMS respectively.  

The Audis performed well during the sessions and achieved good qualifying positions. All five Audis qualified within the top ten for race one, being lead by the #7 R8 LMS ultra in third place. For race two three Audis were within the top ten grid, again being lead by the #7 in third.

Race one saw very wet and difficult conditions on Saturday afternoon. The Audis dropped back during the race, but an overall top five result was achieved by the #98 Absolute Racing entry driven by Philip Ma and Cong Fu Cheng. The other Audis finished outside of the top ten. Hitotsuyama Racing also finished within the top five of their class, finishing fifth in the GTM class. The first race was won by the #2 Asia Racing Team Porsche 911 GT3 R. The results from race one can be seen HERE. 

A sunny day greeted the competitors for race two on Sunday. The race got underway on a dry track, a complete contrast to race one yesterday. The race saw an improvement as three Audis finished within the top ten. The highest placed Audi was again a fifth place finish overall, this time with the #7 Absolute Racing entry driven by Marchy Lee and Jeffrey Lee. The #888 of Francis Hideki Onda and Alex Yoong finished sixth followed by the #88 entry from Hitotsuyama Racing in ninth overall and second in the GTM class. Race two as won by the #007 Craft Racing Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3. The results from race two can be seen HERE.

The second round of the GT Asia series will also take place in Japan, to be hosted at Okayama in June. 

Photo credit and more information:

J-Fly Racing on Facebook

Hitotsuyama Racing on Facebook

GT Asia: Five Audis enter the GT Asia at Twin Ring Motegi

By Johan Laubscher

The GT Asia Championship is getting underway in Japan this weekend, round one at Twin Ring Motegi. Audi entries are occupying almost 30% of the GT Asia gird, with five entries in total.

Absolute Racing is fielding three Audi R8 LMS ultra cars, representing their customers. The three cars are the same which competed in the MSS at Sepang earlier this year, the international race debut for the 2013 specification Audi R8 LMS ultra. The cars are however now in the new 2013 homologated specification, having been fitted with the older rear diffuser, just like all the other 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra cars around the world.

The lead Absolute Racing car includes the #7 entry (J-Fly Racing) with Marchy Lee and Jeffrey Lee, the duo who also competed for Absolute Racing last year. The second car is that of Philip Ma and Cong Fu Cheng, who are sharing the #98 car (Team Hong Kong Racing). The third car will be driven by Francis Hideki Onda and Alex Yoong, sharing the #888 car (Tunewear Racing).

Two more teams have also entered one Audi each. Hitotsuyama Racing is fielding their older Audi R8 LMS for the driver pairing of Billy Fung and Akihiro Asai, driving the #88 entry. The third Audi team this weekend includes a new Audi R8 LMS team. Dilango Racing has entered a 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra for driver Dilantha Malagamuwa. This #24 entry was originally listed under the name of Nova Engineering, but it has subsequently been updated to Dilango Racing. They are another great addition to the ever growing Audi Sport customer racing family. 

Photo credit: J-Fly Racing

Int’l race debut for the 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra

By Johan Laubscher

The Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang was the scene for the international race debut of the new 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra. Absolute Racing fielded three of these cars in the Malaysian Super Series (MSS), which was a support event for the Grand Prix this weekend.

The three Absolute Racing entries were for their clients: #99 Jeffrey Lee (J-fly Racing), #98 Philip Ma (Team Hong Kong Racing) and #77 Francis Hideki Onda (Tunewear Racing). The #99 and #77 entries were listed as "Absolute Racing Team" at this event. The weekend got off to a very good start as Jeffrey Lee topped the practice session, highlighting the car’s potential. During qualifying the top spot was lost as Lee qualified in the top five followed by his teammates in eleventh and fifteenth.

Very warm and humid conditions greeted the field for race one of the weekend. Starting from fifth Lee was determined to move forward, however he ultimately finished in sixth. Ma was able to advance through the field and moved from his eleventh place up to seventh behind Lee. Onda also progressed well, from fifteenth he was up to eighth until a spin cost him time. He finished in tenth, rounding out a top ten finish for all three Audis.

The second race took place during the run-up to the Grand Prix on Sunday morning. Very humid conditions greated the field once again. All three Audis finished within the top seven during the race. Lee was the highest placed Audi in fourth (third in the GT Class) followed by Ma in sixth and Onda in seventh.

Absolute Racing’s final 2013 plans have not yet been announced. The team will be involved in running the Chinese Audi R8 LMS Cup and these new Audi R8 LMS ultra cars are expected to be seen in the GT Asia series as well.

More information:

Absolute Racing on Facebook

Event Results

Photo credit: Absolute Racing

Race debut weekend for the 2013 Audi R8 LMS ultra

By Johan Laubscher

The race-debut of the 2013 specification Audi R8 LMS ultra will be taking place this weekend. Three events would have witnessed the debut this coming weekend, however in the end, only one event will be seeing the debut of the new cars. The three events were originally the VLN, MSS and the Portuguese GT. Round one of the VLN has been cancelled due to dangerous weather conditions and the first Portuguese GT round has been postponed due to technicalities within the GT Cup regulations of the series. 

Thus the MSS (Malaysian Super Series) will be the race debut event for the new ultra. The MSS is held at Sepang and will be a support event for the Malaysian Formula One World Championship this weekend. It was the same case in 2012, that the Audi R8 LMS ultra also made its debut at the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend. You can read more about that HERE.

Absolute Racing will be fielding three newly updated cars at the event. The cars will be driven by their clients: Jeffrey Lee (J-fly Racing), Philip Ma (Team Hong Kong Racing) and Francis Hideki Onda (Tunewear Racing).

The next few weeks will see the anual flood of opening rounds for the GT championships around the world, but at least the wait for the race debut of the new ultra will finally come to an end.

More information:
Absolute Racing on Facebook

Photo credit: Motorsport Playground and Mr Fabien Fior from Absolute Racing

Audi Stands on Suzuka Podium‏ - GT Asia

Audi R8 LMS Cup Press Release 

·         Official Audi R8 LMS Cup entry reaches podium in Round 7

·         Jeffrey Lee now third in GT Asia Series championship standings

·         Suzuka races support Japan Super GT

Suzuka, August19, 2012 – The official Audi R8 LMS Cup entry reached the podium in Round 7 of the GT Asia Series, with the pairing of Shanghai-based Swiss Alexandre Imperatori and Jeffrey Lee of Chinese Taipei earning some crucial championship points in the two races at Suzuka Circuit.

With regular partner Marchy Lee of Hong Kong away in Inner Mongolia for Rounds 7&8 of the Audi R8 LMS Cup in Ordos, exciting young talent Imperatori was drafted in to partner Lee as the two flew the flag for the Audi R8 LMS Cup in Suzuka.

Qualifying got the weekend off to a strong start, with Imperatori recording the second fastest time of the first qualifying session in his Audi R8 LMS Cup ultra. Lee put in a strong performance in the second qualifying session, resulting in the team starting from the fourth row for the second race of the weekend.

With a third-place finish in Round 7 and a fifth-place finish in Round 8, Lee is now third in the championship standings, 19 points out of second place.

Imperatori started Round 7 from second on the grid and set off to catch the race leader and, in the process, set what would be the fastest lap of the weekend – a 2:05.390 – showing the speed and the benefits of Audi lightweight technology.

After 10 laps, Lee took over driving duties and when the race leader got stuck in the gravel, Lee moved into the lead with six laps remaining.

Lee fended off the competition and kept the field at bay, but unfortunately on the last lap, the second-place driver made an overtaking manoeuvre and touched Lee. Both drivers spun, with Lee recovering to finish third and take the final podium position.  

In Round 8, Lee started from seventh, holding his position on the 5.807-km circuit. However, the team’s podium hopes were challenged after a pit lane error resulted in a drive-through penalty.

A determined Imperatori set off to work his way up the grid and made up a few crucial positions, before crossing the finish line fifth.

An ideal platform to showcase Audi lightweight technology against other leading automotive marques, the GT Asia Series is further enhanced by a mandatory pit stop and Balance of Performance success ballast regulations.

Commented Director of Audi Sport customer racing in China, Rene Koneberg: “Although we had a bit of a challenge this weekend in Suzuka, there are also many positives. We were in the lead in Round 7 and only a bit of bad luck cost us the win, and a mega lap by Alexandre Imperatori in Round 7 proved to be the fastest lap of the weekend, showing the speed of the Audi R8 LMS ultra.”

Rounds 9&10 of the GT Asia Series will take place in September, before the showcase season finale as part of the Macau GT Cup at the 59^th Macau Grand Prix.

Jeffrey Lee:

“We’re pleased to have reached the podium in Round 7, although we are also disappointed that we didn’t get the win. Round 8 was a bit more challenging and with the series as competitive as it is, there is no room for error. I’m looking forward to getting back in the Audi R8 LMS ultra and racing in Autopolis next month.”

Alexandre Imperatori:

“Today was not as close as we had hoped.  We were definitely in a position to challenge for a podium spot in Round 8, if not for the pit lane penalty. We had a bit of bad luck this weekend. I feel like we could have won in Round 7, but that’s racing for you!”

Audi R8 LMS Cup Official Website at: www.audir8lmscup.com

 

Video: A closer look at the Audi R8 LMS Cup team in GT Asia

By Johan Laubscher

The Audi R8 LMS has taken the world by storm. The cars can be seen all over the world including Asia. A special Audi R8 LMS Cup has been created in China with a sixteen car grid. The series has provided some spectacular racing so far this year. Along with the one-make series a factory entry is taking part in the 2012 GT Asia series. The team is running under the name of “Audi R8 LMS Cup” and they are represented by two of the Audi series’ top drivers, Marchy Lee and Jeffrey Lee. Absolute Racing and J-Fly racing are running the car and the team have shown tremendous pace as one of the front runners in the series. Below is a very nice video which takes a closer look at this team.

More information:

J-Fly Racing FB page

Audi R8 LMS Cup Website

Absolute Racing FB page

Video: Noisy onboard Absolute Racing's Audi R8 LMS ultra at Sepang

By Tarek Ramchani 

A factory effort racing under the banner of Audi R8 LMS Cup entered in the GT Asia Series season opener at Sepang in Malaysia this weekend. The Audi team run by J-fly/Absolute Racing did really well with their Audi R8 LMS ultra and drivers Marchy Lee and Jeffery Lee. A storming pole position and a strong third place finish in race one followed by second place in race two. Enjoy the noisy V10 of the Ingolstadt GT3 racer around the Sepang Grand Prix track.

More information:
Absolute Racing official website
Absolute Racing official Facebook
J-Fly Racing official Facebook