Asian Formula Renault Championship (AFR) comes to Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) again on 4 th October 2008, as a support race for the China Circuit Championship (Zhuhai Round). It is jointly promoted by Formula Racing Developments (FRD) and Zhuhai International Circuit.
Due to tropical storm ¡°Higos¡±, Zhuhai's weather is highly unstable. Sometimes there is sunshine and sometimes there is rain. The changeable weather makes qualifying results difficult to predict. In the morning free practice session, Champ Motorsports' Indonesian driver Ryan Hayranto recorded a surprising fastest time of 1:38.073, while Jim Ka To, who won both races in the last round, only managed 1:39.252. Jim Ka To states that he has spent two days setting up the car and he used old tyres, therefore his speed was not as quick. He will use new tyres for qualifying.
At 4:50pm, Asian Formula Renault's qualifying begins. Right at the start, ART Motorsports' Rio Hayranto immediately goes out and set some quick times. PSR Team's Cao Hong-Wei, from Changsha , Hunan , also shows his skills by following him closely. Compared to these two, Jim Ka To and championship leader, no. 26 Geoffrey Kwong are very low key. Jim Ka To even runs off the road at one point.
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Finally, ART Motorsport's Rio Hayranto sets the fastest lap 1:37.458 for pole position. This is also his first ever pole position in this year's championship. He is very pleased with the result. ¡°I concentrated fully on the car, trying to improve my time. I hope in tomorrow's race I can perform well.¡± PSR Team's Cao Hong-Wei sets a 1:37.798 to take second place on the grid. He said his car is set-up well, it is just that the weather is too hot and tyre temperature is too high and affected his car's grip. He is just trying to gain experience this year and will be very happy with a podium result. Third on the grid is Jim Ka To. He said, ¡°The wind was too strong in the afternoon, it affected the car's speed. Although I am 20 points behind in the championship, I hope to win it this year, this will allow me to go to the Formula Renault V6 test in Europe . I have tested Formula Renault 2000 in Europe before when Red Bull provided me the chance. I really hope to test more powerful machinery.¡±
Equally eye catching is no. 19 Galaxy FRD Racing's celebrity driver Chin Ka-Lok. He will start from 9 th place on the grid. For this performance, he said, ¡°I have only driven a Formula Renault 3 or 4 times before. The last time was more than a year ago in Shanghai . This qualifying result is what I expected. I will be happy if I can improve to 1:40s .¡±
I n the race tomorrow, two 15 year-olds will line up on the front row. This will be a highly anticipated battle. Asian Formula Renault Race 11 will be held at 10:45am on 5 th October, while Race 12 will start at 4:45pm . Please take note to watch the most promising Asian young drivers' performances.
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