Press Release
 

Race Results- Round 1 & 2

Asia¡¯s best Supercars finally landed in Shanghai International Circuit, as a support event for China¡¯s premier national motorsports championship, the China Circuit Championship.The Asia GT Challenge 2005 promoted by FRD, Supercar Club, and Ghiasport attracted drivers from around the world, including HK, China, Taiwan and Malaysia to compete at the demanding Shanghai Circuit. The hot favorites included Matthew Marsh, 2004 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion in his SPS Porsche 911 GT2 and veteran Malaysian driver Jimmy Low in his CAM BSA Porsche 911 GT3. There were also three Ferrari 360 CS driven by Philip Ma, Francis Tjia and Wayne Shen to lead the Italian contingent against the Porsche delegation of Ray Li, Michael Lee, Siu brothers and many others.

Qualifying Report

Matthew Marsh had the benefit of previous racing experience at Shanghai from last year¡¯s PCCA race, so he scored a brilliant pole position of 2¡¯0.However, Jimmy Low was not far behind despite losing 2nd gear. Third place was Philip Ma, closely followed by Wayne Shen. Two Porsches occupied the front row, with a pair of red Ferraris on second row. There were three fast cars which would start from the back of the grid, including Tom Cham¡¯s Lotus Elise and Francis Tjia¡¯s Ferrari.

     
         
     
 

Race One

The drivers had a long wait for their first race in late afternoon on Saturday. Worse still, the weather was changing rapidly with occasional rain and sun. The front row Porsches started well, but the second row Ferraris faulted badly with their launch control, and Philip Ma lost quite a few positions. The following pack was fighting each other for positions; this allowed Matthew and Jimmy to open a considerable gap after only two laps. The race became an easy race for these two experienced drivers. However, there was much action further down the field as Kenny Lo, Siu Tit Lung, Philip Ma, Siu Yuk Lung, Michael Lee were racing for the final podium position and also Class A positions. 		 
     
 

Race Two

The grid position was based on the race results from Race One, so Matthew and Jimmy again started on the front row. Again, Matthew made a clean start, but Jimmy was immediately pestered by Siu Yuk Lung¡¯s Cup car. Furthermore, Jimmy was handicapped by no second gear, so his efforts were quite remarkable. However, a broken clutch on Lap 9 for Jimmy meant that he was finally lapped by other faster drivers and he finished in 6th place overall. Siu Yuk Lung took 2nd place, and Philip Ma scored the final podium position with his Ferrari 360. Things turned even worse for Jimmy who was disqualified for forgetting to weigh his Porsche after the race. Further down the grid, the two Ferraris of teammates Wayne Shen and Francis Tjia were involved in an unavoidable accident, whilst last year¡¯s Group B champion Tom Cham had to park his Lotus Elise due to mechanical problems. So Matthew Marsh is in acommanding position at the top of the drivers standings with Siu Yuk Lung in 2nd place, Philip Ma is 3rd place.       		 
     
         
     
         
     
         
 
 
  The next rounds of the Asia GT Challenge will be held on June 10-12th at Shanghai International Circuit.Thanks to FRD, Supercar Club and Ghiasport, this race will be a support event to the first Australian V8 Supercars Race in Asia.