AP: Rodolfo Avila Shanghai summary

Avila close to the podium at Shanghai

Rodolfo Avila finished in fourth place twice in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia races at the Shanghai International Circuit (China) this Sunday. The second place on Friday's Free Practice gave hopes of one more outstanding weekend performance but Avila began to struggle with understeer in the day after. On Saturday's qualifying Avila was just fourth fastest at the end of the single 30-minute session. Having made significant changes to the set-up in advance of the races, The Venetian Macao driver had hoped for a better finish but the number 20 car's handling had been evil all weekend.

After 11 laps of thrilling excitement, 22-year old Avila of Asia Racing Team, finished the morning race in fourth. Early morning rain left parts of the circuit slightly wet, affecting the drivers on the inside off the start. As a result, Avila lost one position, getting it back two laps after an excellent overtaking maneuver at the hairpin.

In the afternoon 12-laps race the driver sponsored by The Venetian Macao, BNU, Macau, RPmacau, PAL Asiaconsult, Fat Siu Lau Restaurant, Sujika Crafts, Asia Creative Group (Thailand), TsingTao Beer/San Chon Hong Macau, Sands Macao and The Plaza initially battled hard with last year PCCA champion, with the Macanese ace ultimately letting his opponent go in the latter half of the race instead of taking unnecessary risks.

Avila, commenting on the races, said "We've changed many things, but the car still behaves the same. I believe everyone in the team did his best to solve the massive understeer but we couldn't find a solution. Of course I am a bit disappointed as I was eyeing a podium result this weekend and I know what I can do in this track but I still have a chance to win again this season. That's my goal for the last round. One last word to thanks The Venetian Macao and Sands Macao guests for their support, and for leaving a positive message on the PCCA paddock."

In the end of the weekend Asia Racing Team's Race Engineer Duarte Alves shared the same feeling with Avila: "We definitely can do better than fourth but Rodolfo had an unpredictable car during the weekend. We used the same setup of the past Shanghai race weekend when he got the Pole-Position. We tried everything on the car and the response was always the same or worse. Something is definitely wrong with the car but we need time to understand what it is."

2009 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season finale will happen next month at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, where Rounds 12 and 13 will be run as part of the Malaysian Super Series from December 5-6.

-credit: rodolfoavila.com