The Lamborghini LP560 proved to be the best car of the day in the hands of Tunku Hammam, when he set the fastest time in both Qualifying sessions today to line up in pole for Rounds 5 & 6, held this weekend at the Fuji Speedway Circuit.

“Reuben Wong did a good job, he did the setting right. I complained yesterday that the car was not good and he got it right. I am so happy” said Hammam after the sessions.

It was a last minute dash at the end of the Qualifying session, that gave Hammam his best time of 1 minute 44.378 seconds, half a second faster than the Audi R8 GT3 of Kenji Kobayashi and a further 0.4 seconds ahead of the Sepang winning Ferrari F458 GT3 of Mok Weng Sun.

The second LP560 will line up third, driven by Sri Lankan driver, Dilantha Malagamuwa.

The Porsche 997 GT3 R was the second fastest car out on the track in the early part of the session, but driver Eddie Yau was penalised for crossing the pit-entry line and had his best time removed, relegating him down to fifth.

The top three will remain in the same position for Round 6 with Malagamuwa and Yau switching positions on the grid for Round 6.

The Ford GT GT3 proved to be harder to handle on the challenging Fuji Speedway, with Frank Yu of Craft Eurasia Motorsport struggling to find the best set-up for the car. He could only manage the sixth best time for both races, a full second ahead of David Lai’s LP560 in both sessions.

The Ferrari F430 Challenge of Modena Motorsport clocked the fastest time for the GTM class with Wayne Shen at the helm while Samson Chan, who has switched from the Ford GT GT3 back to last year’s Ginetta G50Z, taking the second fastest time, just ahead of the Porsche 997 Cup 3.8 of Christian Chia for Round 5.

Chan set the fastest in Qualifying 2, almost one second faster than Shen

The Aston Martin N24 of Mark Williamson proved to be the fastest of the GT4 Asia entries. He and teammate Ryan Marsden will sandwich Nigel Farmer’s Ginetta G50, who is returning to the Series after a busy start of the year away from the series.


Driver Quotes

Mok Weng Sun, Ferrari F458 GT3, Team Clearwater Racing
“I am happy with the result, P4 in Qualifying 1 and P3 in Qualifying 2. I’m carrying a lot of weight and I had some problems with the car the whole day yesterday, so effectively this was my practice session. I am happy with the end result so I am looking forward to the race”

Dilantha Malagamuwa, Lamborghini LP560 GT3, Dilango Racing
“That’s the best the car can do with the weight. We will be there (ahead) and Frank is behind me. I am happy with where we are. We will win”.

Eddie Yau, Porsche 997 GT3 R, Asia Racing Team
“Not really (happy with the results). The first qualifying I was okay with it, we came in early because we had a bit of traffic and then there wasn’t enough time to go back out. The second qualifying I wasn’t so focused maybe the heat, so I wasn’t doing as well as Q1. My time was pretty much the same but I was hoping for better”.

Wayne Shen, Ferrari F430 GT, Modena Motorsports
“The mechanics did a great job in improving the car. I did a couple of small mistakes but overall I am happy. I’ve been experiencing engine overheating all weekend, the Ferrari is famous for that, I don’t know how I am going to keep the guys behind during the race”.

Mark Williamson, Aston Martin N24, Concord Absolute Racing
“The car was very very good but I probably had an incorrect strategy in Q1 and I went out in front of the GT3 cars to try and get myself a clear space but that just didn’t work. No tyre change for Q2 as the tyres were relatively new and managed to go quicker into a 53 seconds so for me waiting for the end of the queue was better. The Concord Energy car was fantastic”.

Round 5 will be held at 3.40pm on Satuday, 16 July 2011 and Round 6 will be held at 12.50pm on Sunday, 17th July 2011 before the Formula Nippon races.

The GT Asia Series is supported by Michelin tyres, Graham London and Auto Art. The Series is organised by Motorsport Asia and Supercar Club Hong Kong.

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