Swiss female driver Rahel Frey drove a brilliant race from 15th on the grid to take her first victory of the Audi R8 LMS Cup 2015 in Round 4 at the Korea International Circuit. Following a disappointing Round 3 that forced the Castrol Racing Team driver into early retirement, Frey stormed through the field to cross the line second, before being promoted to first, following a penalty to Jean-Karl Vernay.
Taking points for second place was hometown hero Kyong-Ouk “K.O.” You, who also recovered from a disappointing Round 3 to finish on the podium in Round 4. Third was India’s Aditya Patel of Team Audi R8 LMS Cup, while Chinese Taipei driver Jeffrey Lee finished fourth. Malaysia’s Ashraff Dewal of Team AsiaSport took the Amateur Class victory ahead of Alex Au and Daniel Bilski, and finished eighth overall.
With the win, Frey now leads the drivers classification by two points, with Patel in second. Denmark’s Thomas Fjordbach of Federal-Mogul Motorparts Racing Team, fifth in Round 4, is third, a further six points adrift. With the category victory, Dewal leads the Amateur Cup standings, ahead of Bilski.
Round 4 began with a standing start – a new innovation for the Cup in 2015 – with Vernay on pole and newcomer Andrew Kim of Korea alongside him. At the start, Fjordbach got past Vernay to take the lead, with the Frenchman and Round 3 winner following closely behind. Contact between Kim and You collected Japan’s Ryo Fukuda of Audi Hong Kong Team in the process, ending Fukuda and Kim’s races. Patel, who started from sixth on the grid, jumped up to third and began battling with Fjordbach and Vernay.
Frey, meanwhile, had already begun to mount her attack, making her way up from 15th at the start to seventh by the end of the first lap.
As Vernay fought to retake the lead, he made a move on Fjordbach on lap four, resulting in contact between the pair and sending the Dane down to fifth. Vernay would later be penalized 30 seconds for the move and was classified seventh.
Vernay led with Patel piling on the pressure and You and Frey, who by lap four was up to fourth, quickly closing in. You made his move first, getting by Patel on turn four on lap seven. Frey followed suit a lap later, with Patel only having five remaining Push-to-Push.
While Patel had used the majority of his Push-to-Passes in the beginning stages of the race, Frey, however, had opted for an alternative strategy, saving her Push-to-Passes for later in the race. On the penultimate lap, she powered past You to go second.
Said Bernd Goeres, Head of Racing Operations & Sports Cars, Audi China: “Congratulations to Rahel Frey on a fantastic effort in Round 4 and a determined drive from 15th on the grid to take a well-deserved win. The exciting action throughout both Rounds 3&4 highlights the competitiveness of the championship throughout the field. We’d like to thank our partners at Audi Korea for their support and a thrilling weekend of racing at the Korea International Circuit.”
While Frey leads the championship, the competition is set to heat up when the Audi R8 LMS Cup next resumes in July in Chinese Taipei for its debut at the Penbay International Circuit. As Frey looks to extend her lead in the drivers classification, she’ll have to contend with not only the likes of Patel and Fjordbach, but also the return of Cup regulars Alex Yoong, the defending 2014 champion, 2012 champion Marchy Lee and Chinese motorsport star Franky Cheng. The three missed Rounds 3&4 to race at the Nürburgring 24 Hours along with Audi Sport TT Cup driver Shaun Thong and as they return to Cup duties in July, they’ll be on the hunt for victory – and valuable championship points – in Rounds 5&6.
Rahel Frey : “For sure it was an unlucky day yesterday, but maybe it happened for a reason. I had a really good start today, I was lucky in the first corner and then I tried to do a clever race, to save the Push-to-Pass until the end when I needed to use them. I thought maybe there would be a Safety Car after the incident at the start and that would help close up the field, but in the end there wasn’t so I had to do everything on my own. It worked out well. I have to thank all of my mechanics who worked really late last night to repair my car and this win goes to them.”
Round 3 Results 1. 9/Jean-Karl VERNAY/FRA/4R/FAW-VW Audi Racing Team/30:28.574 2. 54/Thomas FJORDBACH/DEN/Federal-Mogul Motorparts Racing Team/+9.076 3. 27/ Ryo FUKUDA/JPN/4R/Audi Hong Kong Team/+22.016 4. 8/Aditya PATEL/IND/4R/Team Audi R8 LMS Cup/+32.473 5. 7/Jeffrey LEE/TPE/4R/Team Audi Volkswagen Taiwan/+33.265 6. 59/Daniel Bilski/AUS/Am/B-Quik Racing/+36.263 7. 28/Miles MARONEY/USA/Michelin Racing Team/+39.730 8. 5**/Andrew KIM/KOR/Am/E-Rain Racing Team/+43.176 9. 69*/Ashraff DEWAL/MAL/Am/Team AsiaSport/+58.941 10. 77/Jacky YEUNG/HKG/Am/Tiger Racing Team/+1:12.851 11. 6***/Kimi QIN/CHN/SCC Sportscar Club/+1:39.891 12. 36/Sam LOK/HKG/Am/Starspeed Racing/+1:44.105 13. 98/Jed TSAI/TPE/Am/Team Chengdu New Elements/+2:05.018 14. 12/Alex AU/HKG/Am/CTVS Racing Team/1 Lap Not Classified 11/Kyong-Ouk YOU/KOR/4R/Audi Korea 18/Jake PARSONS/AUS/Audi TEDA Racing Team 66/Rahel FREY/SUI/Castrol Racing 39/Stefano Montesi/ITA/Team Betterlife * 69: 30 second penalty added to driver’s time for causing a collision ** 5: 30 second penalty added to driver’s time for causing a collision *** 6: 30 second penalty added to driver’s time for causing a collision
Round 4 Results 1. 66/Rahel FREY/SUI/Castrol Racing/27:17.332 2. 11/Kyong-Ouk YOU/KOR/4R/Audi Korea/+2.676 3. 8/Aditya PATEL/IND/4R/Team Audi R8 LMS Cup/+3.188 4. 7/Jeffrey LEE/TPE/4R/Team Audi Volkswagen Taiwan/+12.676 5. 54/Thomas FJORDBACH/DEN/Federal-Mogul Motorparts Racing Team/+14.673 6. 39/Stefano Montesi/ITA/Team Betterlife/+25.850 7. 9*/Jean-Karl VERNAY/FRA/4R/FAW-VW Audi Racing Team/+28.802 8. 69/Ashraff DEWAL/MAL/Am/Team AsiaSport/+29.744 9. 12/Alex AU/HKG/Am/CTVS Racing Team/+32.091 10. 18/Jake PARSONS/AUS/Audi TEDA Racing Team/+57.868 11. 59/Daniel Bilski/AUS/Am/B-Quik Racing/+1:06.434 12. 77/Jacky YEUNG/HKG/Am/Tiger Racing Team/+1:10.609 13. 36/Sam LOK/HKG/Am/Starspeed Racing/+1:54.150 14. 98/Jed TSAI/TPE/Am/Team Chengdu New Elements/1 lap Not Classified 28/Miles MARONEY/USA/Michelin Racing Team 6/Kimi QIN/CHN/SCC Sportscar Club 5/Andrew KIM/KOR/Am/E-Rain Racing Team 27/ Ryo FUKUDA/JPN/4R/Audi Hong Kong Team * 9: 30 second penalty added to driver’s time for causing a collision
2015 Audi R8 LMS Cup Overall Classification after Round 4 – Top 10 1. Rahel FREY – 44 2. Aditya PATEL – 42 3. Thomas FJORDBACH – 36 4. Jean-Karl VERNAY – 32 5. Alex YOONG – 25 6. Jeffrey LEE – 22 7. Kyong-Ouk YOU – 20 8. Ryo FUKUDA – 15 9. Marchy LEE – 12 10. Franky CHENG – 10
Press release Audi R8 LMS Cup
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