Asia: Series Zhuhai preview

Two-Way Battle for Championship Honours

Reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion Christian Menzel of Germany and Hong Kong's Marchy Lee will do battle for the 2010 title in what promises to be two epic races at the Zhuhai International Circuit on November 6 and 7.

For the first time, Asia's premier sportscar championship will support the Inter- continental Le Mans Cup, and it will be a true Porsche family affair in the southern Pan Delta Region as the Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid, which impressed at the Nurburgring 24-hour race earlier this year, will be racing in the 1,000km of Zhuhai.

But for two, intense 12-lap races, all eyes will be on the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title fight. Racing for Team StarChase in his third season in Asia, Menzel leads Red Bull Racing's Lee by 23 points, but will be acutely aware that the slightest error could put an end to his aspirations of taking a second championship in his fiercely competitive series. Menzel, a former Carrera Cup Germany champion and Porsche Supercup runner-up, has so far notched up six victories and four pole positions in 10 rounds in what has been a masterful season so far.

Lee meanwhile, one of Hong Kong's most talented and experienced racing drivers, won both races in Zhuhai earlier this year. He has been on the podium six times this season, and will be going all out to clinch what would be the second champion- ship title of his career.

While the focus will be on Menzel and Lee, there are plenty of other drivers equally determined to shine at the season-closing double header. Team Jebsen's Rodolfo Avila of Macau was on the podium in Shanghai last month, so will arrive in Zhuhai buoyed by his recent success.

Adding extra excitement in the professional category will be Japan's Keita Sawa, competing for LKM Racing. This will be Sawa's third outing with the series this season; he finished on the podium in Beijing in May, and notched up two second place finishes in Zhuhai the following month.

Team PCS Racing's Mok Weng Sun has already clinched the Class B honours, with an extraordinary run of 10-straight victories, and other commitments mean he will not be racing in Zhuhai. However, with a record number of entries in the category, the battle for honours will be a thriller.

Mok's on-track rival and off-track friend Ringo Chong of Team Kangshun is a hot favourite, but series newcomer Jean Marc Merlin, third in the category championship will be a tough adversary. Exciting newcomers Francis Tjia of OpenRoad Racing and Modena Motorsports' Wayne Shen of Hong Kong will also be gunning for victory, having excelled in their first season with the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

Hong Kong racers and former Porsche Carrera Cup Asia regulars Alain Li and Siu Yuk Lung will be making a welcome return to the series for the final meeting of the 2010 season, while Benny Lim, who competed in Shanghai last month, will take over driving duties from Philip Ma at Jacob & Co Racing.

Unable to make the season finale are Team PCS Racing's Craig Baird, who has other racing commitments in Australia and his native New Zealand, brothers Marcel Tjia and Christian Chia, and Shim Ching.

-source: pcc asia