Malaysian star Alex Yoong of Audi TEDA Racing Team has done it again; claiming an unprecedented third consecutive championship in the Audi R8 LMS Cup, just one point ahead of Alessio Picariello of MGT Team by Absolute.
The title race that had been raging all year between the two drivers culminated in suitably dramatic circumstances – a collision on the penultimate lap of the final race. The incident saw Yoong forced out of the race and Picariello slapped with a 30 second penalty that proved pivotal, relegating the Belgian into 13th place in Round 12, out of the points-scoring positions he needed to be in to reclaim first place from Yoong.
“I thought about defending during the last charge from Alessio in Round 12, but unfortunately the hit broke the steering column on my car straight away. But it’s been great racing in the Cup all year round. The car is superb. It’s only onward and upward from here,” shared Yoong.
The young Belgian can reflect on a highly impressive first season in the Cup dominating the headlines alongside Yoong with seven podium finishes and one victory.
“We had two worthy champions, but in the end, there could only be one. Thanks to all of our drivers and teams for an incredible fifth season of the Audi R8 LMS Cup,” said Bernd Goeres, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “Looking ahead, we will kick off the 2017 season in Malaysia and return to China in the second half. More details will be released soon.”
Another young star, Martin Rump of Champion Racing Team, also made history in Shanghai, sweeping back-to-back wins and becoming the first Cup driver ever to top the podium carrying 50 kilogrammes of race success ballast. Those victories took Rump’s season total to four – three in Shanghai – the highest number of any driver this year. The Estonian finished the season in third place overall in the championship.
“Today we saw an extraordinary spectacle with the young guns showing their potential and the established stars, their experience. This is a great championship and it’s all based around the Audi R8 LMS,” said Christopher Reinke, Head of Audi Sport customer racing.
Audi TEDA Racing Team finished the season in first place for the Team Cup classification, ahead of MGT Team by Absolute in second and Champion Racing Team in third.
Jeffrey Lee of Team Audi Volkswagen Taiwan, who had secured the class title in Round 9, was joined on the final classification podium by Vincent Floirendo of EN Sport by Absolute in second and Absolute Racing’s Sun Jingzu in third.
Daniel Bilski of B-Quik Racing – last year’s Am Cup champion – was crowned winner of the Masters Cup, ahead of the J-Fly by Absolute Racing driver Kevin Chen in second, and Phoneix Racing Asia’s Rick Yoon in third.
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