Porsche Carrera Cup Asia defending champion Christian Menzel got the perfect start to his 2010 season as he took pole position ahead of the opening race, setting a lap time of 2:07.725 around the 5.5km Shanghai International Circuit finishing the session just 0.292 seconds in front of two-time champion Darryl O’Young.
Leading the remaining 21 drivers off the grid will be Red Bull Racing’s Marchy Lee of Hong Kong along with New Zealand racing legend Craig Baird.
Menzel was delighted with his pole position and very optimistic for the race. “My experience tells me that all points are important in this series. My car was very good, and this is a result of good team work. I enjoyed every minute.”
He went on to explain how he set the fastest lap in the opening stages of the qualifying session. “From my experience, the first five minutes on track are very fast if the Formula 1 cars have been out just before.” Despite his optimism he remained quiet about his strategy for the race. “Don't ask about strategy as it is changing moment by moment. And anyway, it's a secret!”
Daryll O’Young lined himself up to take his first win on the Shanghai track after a solid session placed him second, despite missing the first official test of the season. “To win here would be fantastic. It's a tough circuit for me. The car feels quite different, with a lot more power. The grip seems to be a tough one this weekend too.”
Marchy Lee struggled to find the perfect setup after an 8-month hiatus from racing.“My race pace will be good, and the setup is OK now. It wasn't good enough before, but starting from the second row is OK.”
In Class B the honours fell to Mok Weng Sun of Team PCS Racing with an impressive lap of 2:09.605 which places him sixth on the overall grid. Ringo Chong finished the session second in class with Francis Tjia finishing third. Mok Weng Sun commented after the session “I'm happy with my qualifying. I had a good first session, and then I came in to see how everything was going. When I saw Ringo doing well on an old set of tyres, I said to my mechanic, 'put a new set of tyres on and let me go!'”
Class B rival Chong joked “Mok is getting too quick, so I guess I have to drive faster. Mok and I are going to try and keep up with the front group. The goal is to keep looking forward and not look back!”
Series debutant Francis Tjia impressed many with his eighth place on the grid and was happy with some sibling rivalry as he out-qualified his brother. “It's going to be a great year, and there's always going to be someone to battle with. In my case it may be my brother (Christian) as he's two positions behind me!”
Pos. | # | Driver | Cls | Entrant | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 99 | Christian MENZEL (GER) | A | Team StarChase (CHN) | 2:07.725 |
2 | 55 | Darryl O'YOUNG (HKG) | A | LKM Racing (HKG) | +0.292 |
3 | 38 | Marchy LEE (HKG) | A | Red Bull Racing (HKG) | +0.852 |
4 | 32 | Craig BAIRD (NZL) | A | Team PCS Racing (SIN) | +1.237 |
5 | 20 | Rodolfo AVILA (MAC) | A | Team Jebsen (HKG) | +1.550 |
6 | 33 | MOK Weng Sun (SIN) | B | Team PCS Racing (SIN) | +1.880 |
7 | 11 | Ringo CHONG (SIN) | B | Team Kangshun (CHN) | +3.061 |
8 | 21 | Francis TJIA (HKG) | B | OpenRoad Racing (HKG) | +3.527 |
9 | 5 | Yuey TAN Yuhian (SIN) | B | Wimobilize McElrea Racing Team (SIN) | +4.297 |
10 | 25 | Christian CHIA (CAN) | B | OpenRoad Racing (HKG) | +4.370 |
11 | 8 | Michael CHOI (HKG) | B | Dyna Ten Motorsport (TPE) | +4.846 |
12 | 7 | Jeffrey LEE (TPE) | B | Team Pauian Archiland (TPE) | +4.887 |
13 | 64 | Jean Marc MERLIN (FRA) | B | Team J2M Racing (FRA) | +5.522 |
14 | 16 | Wayne SHEN (HKG) | B | Modena Motorsports (HKG) | +5.554 |
15 | 12 | Morris KU (HKG) | B | Team DAYCRAFT (HKG) | +5.835 |
16 | 98 | Max CHEN* (TPE) | B | Max Chen (HKG) | +5.991 |
17 | 68 | MAK Hing Tak (HKG) | B | OMAK Team (HKG) | +7.194 |
18 | 2 | Kenneth LAU (HKG) | B | Dyna Ten Motorsport (HKG) | +8.092 |
19 | 28 | John SHEN (HKG) | B | Modena Motorsports (HKG) | +8.303 |
20 | 77 | Jacky YEUNG (HKG) | B | Jacky Yeung (HKG) | +8.422 |
21 | 18 | Marcel TJIA (HKG) | B | OpenRoad Racing (HKG) | +8.979 |
22 | 59 | Philip BRIANDET (SIN) | B | Shift2Neutral Racing (SIN) | +9.537 |
23 | 88 | Ross LAU (HKG)* | B | Ross Lau (HKG) | +13.247 |