It was a one-two finish for Porsche 997 GT3R in Round 4 of the GT Asia Series today at Sepang International Circuit. Chinese national Li Zhi Cong claimed the race win for Asia Racing Team while Japanese Hisao Shigeta took second for Direction Racing in a scorching race.

“This weekend is good. I want to thank my team manager, my engineer and my team for setting up a good car for me.

“Today I had good tyres and I managed to set the best time and in the last few laps of the race, my laptimes were good. I improved a lot this weekend, my time was good so I managed a good position” said Li at the Post Race Press Conference.

For the upcoming races, Li is expecting another great battle at the front for him and his team. “I will try my best in the next race and maybe in Japan I can get good laptimes too”.

Shigeta was leading the first half of the race but lost the lead when he made a mistake at the pit-stop. “Second is good enough for me because I made a mistake at the pit. I stalled the engine. It was my fault and it cost me four to five seconds, but its ok. I’m satisfied with second and my teammate Peter (Li) won the race and it’s a Porsche one-two, which is good”.

“It was a tough race for me but the competition is good, there were good battles and it was so fun for me”.

“The next race is Japan, my home circuit. I have to win in Fuji and Suzuka. I will!” he remarked assuredly before adding, “Dilantha, he is so fast and he has good experience in Japan. I am afraid to race him – so afraid” he ended cheekily, drawing laughter from the room.

Dilantha Malagamuwa in the Lamborghini LP560 managed to overcome engine woes that he faced from the start of the season and yesterday’s fuel leak to claim third. The Sri Lankan was happy with the result but is cautious with a long season still to go.

“The first race was a disaster and after that there was always a problem with the car. Yesterday we went out and there was a petrol leak, I didn’t want to take a risk so I stopped.

“Today was better but as you can see, the car was a little bit slow and the last nine laps the shifter didn’t work so I couldn’t go to third or second so I only had sixth, fifth and fourth working. Then I saw Samson coming so I was trying to do my best to go fast around the corners”.

Speaking of the next three Japan weekends, Malagamuwa said “In Japan the car will have to be competitive, so I can win. But it is good to see these youngsters winning races. That’s how it should be”.

Team Clearwater Racing’s Ferrari F458 finished fourth after a pit-stop mistake that caused the team to pick up a one second stop-go penalty. Mok Weng Sun dropped down to sixth and had to make his climb back up the ranks, making a final dash taking fourth from Samson Chan in the Craft Eurasia Racing’s Ford GT3. 

The Audi R8 LMS Ultra pairing of Jeffrey Lee and Marchy Lee had a troubled start when a turn four incident with David Lai in the Ferrari F458 caused them to spin before rejoining the race down at the back of the grid. But Jeffrey drove well to climb to ninth before handing over the car to Marchy, who brought it home in sixth.

Once again, Eric Lo claimed the win in the GTM class finishing the race in seventh overall. “”It was great. Today was hotter and the tyres have less grip, causing me to slide. It was a little bit difficult to drive like yesterday but I was able to avoid the mess at turn four although I picked up a small puncture on the left tyre but luckily it didn’t effect my car. I am lucky”.

Ferrari Owner’s Club Indonesia’s Bob Irawan and Andrea Garbagnati took their F458 to eighth, despite a small mistake towards the end of the race. They finished the race ahead of second placed GTM class finisher, Hideki Onda in the F430 and Steven Chian in the Porsche 997 Cup 3.8 in tenth.

Three cars did not finish the race including the Porsche 997 Cup 3.8 of Shim Ching, Lamborghini LP600 of Billy Fung and David Lai’s Ferrari.

Frank Yu was disqualified from the race, the Ford GT3 driver ignored the stop-go penalty and subsequent black flag. The Hong Kong driver was running in third at the time. 

GT Asia Series continues in Fuji Speedway Circuit in Japan from 13-15 July 2012.

Drivers taking part in the first six rounds of the GT Asia Series are eligible to collect Championship points for a special AAMC Macau GT Cup Trophy, which will be awarded to them at the end of the Season during the Finale in Macau this November.

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