Macau Cup: Lamborghini event summary

LAMBORGHINI DRIVER CLAIMS MACAU GT CUP WIN

Lamborghini's season of racing successes continued in Macau this weekend when Keita Sawa secured the Macau GT Cup victory on 21 November 2010 in his Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560 GT3. The Japanese driver led the race from start to finish, taking the chequered flag almost 15 seconds ahead of his closest rival.

Sawa was quick from the start and put his Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560 GT3 on pole after setting a fastest lap time of 2:25.386 on his first flying lap during qualifying. Second on the grid was the Audi factory backed Audi R8 LMS of Marchy Lee, whose qualifying time was 4.9 seconds short of Sawa's fastest lap.

"This was my strategy from the beginning," said Sawa, of team LSM-SPS sponsored by Blancpain. "I knew the session would be interrupted by several red flags on this track: I configured my set-up so that I could do my best laps right from the beginning. This worked well, as the track was blocked by accidents afterwards, as expected."

The race started under the safety car, with the lights going green on lap 3. Sawa got a good start to take the lead, holding the opposition behind as he lapped the 6.2km Circuito da Guia in front of 150,000 spectators. The Japanese driver set the fastest lap of the race on lap 3, then pulled away from the pack and led the 10-lap race from start to finish, crossing the line 14.814 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Lee.

"I'm feeling emotional right now," said Sawa. "I came into this race feeling a lot of pressure; pressure that I think I put on myself. For me, having a safety car was good because there was no need to control the pace. On the first lap without the safety car I pushed and attacked to the maximum, as if I was qualifying, and then after two or three laps I could see Marchy in the distance and I backed off."

Sawa wasn't the only Lamborghini driver to contest in the Macau GT Cup: a total of seven Lamborghinis took to the Circuito da Guia, with four finishing in the top ten.

Manfred Fitzgerald, Director of Brand and Design at Lamborghini, added: "We're almost at the end of the season, and what a season it has been! Not only has Lamborghini had several excellent showings in series across Europe, but it's also making a mark as far afield as Macau. And with the race being as prestigious and competitive as the Macau GT Cup, it's a great and satisfying feeling to win."

-source: lamborghini