The Audi R8 LMS of Edoardo Mortara set a blistering pace this afternoon when he set 2:21.675 at the Guia Circuit during the first Qualifying session of the Star River Windsor Arch Macau GT Cup.

The Italian was 4.189 seconds faster than two time Macau GT Cup winner, Keita Sawa in the upgraded Lamborghini LP-560 GT3.

The McLaren MP4-12C driven by Le Mans Series driver, British Daniel Watts set the third fastest time, whilst the Ferrari F458 GT3 of current GT Asia Championship leader, Mok Weng Sun was fourth with 2:32.213.

A second Audi, driven by Japanese, Akihiro Tsuzuki was fifth, followed by Macau driver, Rodolfo Avila and Briton Richard Meins in sixth and seventh. A trio of GT Asia drivers, Frank Yu in the Ford GT GT3, Eddie Yau in the Porsche 997 GT3 R and Dilantha Malagamuwa in the Lamborghini LP-560, completes the top ten.

Nigel Farmer was the fastest of the GT4 Asia Cup drivers in his Ginetta G50 crossing the line four seconds ahead of newly crowned 2011 GT4 Asia Cup Champion, Mark Williamson in the Aston Martin N24.

A total of 33 participants are taking part in the race this weekend with some interesting addition to the usual GT Asia Series lineup. There are a total of three Audi R8 LMS, one is driven by the reigning Formula 3 Euroseries Champion, Mortara, the second by Super GT driver Tsuzuki and the third by British Touring Car Championship driver Meins.

Also to watch are the McLaren MP4-12C driven by Watts, the debut of the 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 R with Avila and the Aston Martin DBRS9 GT3 driven by Tomonobu Fujii. The Craft Eurasia Racing’s DBRS9 was slightly damaged this afternoon when Fujii misjudged the Fishermens Bend, hit the barricades and lost his rear wing.

“The funny thing was, the owner of the car, Frank Yu, could not avoid the wing that was on the ground, and drove over it” said Mark Goddard while smiling in disbelief at the coincidence.

Wayne Shen also had a shunt in his Ferrari F430 GT, taking the Mandarin Bend, the fastest turn at the Guia Circuit, too fast and getting caught in a spin that resulted in him hitting the wall, ending his session. The Modena Motorsports team was confident at being able to repair the damage before the second session on Saturday.

The GT Asia Series’ 2011 Season Finale is held as part of the Star River Windsor Arch Macau GT Cup during the 58th Macau Grand Prix. There will be two Qualifying sessions held, one on Friday, 18th November 2011 at 1.55pm local time and another on Saturday, 19th November at 12.50pm. The Star River Windsor Arch Macau GT Cup race will be held on Sunday, 20th November at 9am.

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