It was the Lamborghini LP560 that took pole for both Rounds 9 & 10 of the GT Asia Series at the Autopolis International Circuit today. The Series is at the Japanese circuit in support of the 2011 Autobacs Super GT Round 7.

Dilantha Malagamuwa set clean fast lap early in the first qualifying session and was not bettered. The Sri Lankan’s time of 1:53.797 remained the fastest at the end of the 15 minute session with the Ferrari F458 of Mok Weng Sun coming a close second with just eight thousandth of a second gap.

After a ten minute break, the Qualifying session resumed with Mok setting the fastest lap on the outset before his time was beaten by Malagamuwa. The Dilango Racing driver bettered his first session’s lap-times by almost one second, clocking 1:52.853.

“It’s a very lucky car. All the compliments go to the boys and the mechanics, they did a good job and I was pushing. It was good.

When asked if he can keep the pace for the race, the always positive Malagamuwa said “Of course. If I can do the qualifying, I can do the race, no problems!”

Mok of Team Clearwater Racing will line up in alongside Malagamuwa in both races. The Team Clearwater Racing driver is three points behind current Championship points leader and will be looking to reclaim the position.

The Audi R8 LMS of Frank Yu will be third on the grid for Round 9 and fifth for Round 10. Yu switched cars for the weekend after competing in the 12-hour endurance race in Sepang and was unable to bring his Ford GT GT3 back from Malaysia in time.

“It’s the first time I went out on new tyres and I think I was in the wrong gear the whole time, I should have been one more gear up.

“I’m still trying to adapt to the Audi. At least I know where my mistakes are and I could have done better but we’ll see about the race” said Yu.

The second Lamborghini LP560, driven by Tunku Hammam, will line up third for Round 10 after clocking 1:54.130 for Arrows Racing. Hammam makes a return to the Series after missing the Suzuka race weekend last month. He takes fifth for Round 9 grid.

“It’s a bit of a disappointment. I am a bit rusty, I didn’t race for two and a half months and the last time was in Fuji” said Hammam after the sessions.

Current Championship leader, Eddie Yau takes fourth for both Rounds in the Porsche 997 GT3 R. He seems confident of the race ahead and foresees some nice battles at the head of the pack.

“It’s hard to predict, the first five or six runners are going to be very close. It’s going to be a tough race. Dilantha has always been fast here, that’s no doubt. He might take victory but I think we are all going to fight for it”.

The Ginetta G50 beat out the Aston Martin Vantage N24 for the head of the GT4 Asia pack when Track Torque Racing’s Nigel Farmer set almost one second faster than Concord Absolute Racing’s Simon Waters.

“It was good. We softened the car up between sessions and it just made all the difference as it is quite a bumpy track. I got a good lap. Honestly there was more there but I almost lost it on a fast lap and lost a bit of time.

“Bring on the race! I am going to have to beat them in the race, that’s where it matters” ended Farmer with a laugh.

The Lamborghini Gallardo made a surprise qualifying when Keith Chan beat out the Porsche 997 Cup 3.8 of Kenji Kobayashi in both sessions. Kobayashi of Hitotsuyama Racing has qualified faster in the two rounds at Suzuka. It will be interesting to see the race between the duo.

The GT Asia Series continues with Round 9 held on Saturday, 1st October 2011 at 4.15pm local time. Round 10 will be held on Sunday, 2nd October at 11.50am local time.

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