Mortara Joins Star-Studded Sepang Line-up
All sights are set on the Sepang International Circuit as the Audi R8 LMS Cup heads to Malaysia. Qualifying will take place on Saturday August 13, with Rounds 5 and 6 to be held on Sunday August 14. Racing with team Audi Hong Kong for the weekend, Audi Sport driver Edoardo Mortara will further intensify the competition that has raged so far this year between the established stars and the young rookies in the Cup.
Coming to Malaysia, only four points separate the top three drivers. Alessio Picariello (65 points) of MGT Team by Absolute has pulled into an overall points lead with three second-place finishes from the first four races of the Cup’s fifth season. The gifted young Belgian will look for his first season win at the 5.54 kilometre long circuit on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Former F1 driver and reigning Cup champion Alex Yoong (62 points) of Audi TEDA Racing Team is second overall after his Round 3 win in Thailand. The Malaysian can surely bet on strong support from his enthusiastic home crowd under the scorching south Asian sun.
Martin Rump (61 points) of Champion Racing Team travels to Sepang as the only driver to have recorded two wins this year. The young Estonian and last year’s Formula Masters China Series (FMCS) champion has managed the transition from single-seater racing to GT3 cars in remarkable fashion thus far.
Fourth overall is Marchy Lee (49 points) of team Audi Hong Kong. Joining his team for the weekend will be Mortara, who returns to the Audi R8 LMS Cup as the current third-placed driver in the 2016 German Touring Car Championship (DTM). During his previous appearance with the Cup, Mortara won the first race of the triple-header in Taiwan in 2015. The Italian is known in motorsport as “Mr. Macau” for winning the Macau GP Formula 3 race twice, before securing an Audi R8 LMS Cup race win and a hat trick (2011-2013) of GT Cup victories on the demanding street circuit.
“The Audi R8 LMS Cup has had three different winners out of the four races so far this season, proving the competitiveness of the series,” said Bernd Goeres, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “It’s a pleasure to be back at the Sepang International Circuit for our fourth year in a row.”
After sweeping back-to-back wins in Thailand, Jeffrey Lee of Team Audi Volkswagen leads the Amateur Cup classification ahead of Sun Jingzu and Johnson Huang, both of Absolute Racing.
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