Cref Motorsport’s Keita Sawa of Japan dominated the qualifying session for tomorrow’s Round 5 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, grabbing Class A pole position with a lightning lap of Indonesia’s 3.965km Sentul International Circuit, and then following up with a scorching 1:30.845 lap just to be certain of his starting position.
Second quickest at the end of the session was championship leader Tim Sugden of GruppeM Racing, followed by SCC Racing’s Christian Jones and series returnee Marchy Lee. Although all lapped in less than 1 minute 32 seconds, none were able to touch Sawa’s incredible pace. A disappointed Jones was plagued by traffic at the crucial point in his session, when his tyres were at their best, while Sugden simply pointed at Sawa when asked for comment, obviously impressed with his fellow driver’s pace!
Sawa, who lies second in the Class A championship standings and won round Round 4 last month, is keen to capitalize on his advantage to get his championship campaign back on track. “The win last month gave me confidence, but it had a lot to do with good luck. So I have to prove my speed again this weekend,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow as it’s very important to my championship aspirations. If I can get a good start and be first into turn one, maybe – just maybe – I can win.”
Class B pole-sitter for the first of tomorrow’s two 15 lap races will be Hong Kong’s William “Chip” Connor, who grabbed the top spot from Australian Peter Boylan in the closing seconds of the session: “The race will be determined by a good start. Peter and Tunku (Hammam) are good at starts, so it’s a matter of me trying my best to get a good start,” he said.
Malaysian Tunku Hammam is racing on the Sentul track for the first time this weekend, and finished second in the category in the last round: “This is not a difficult circuit,” he said. “But it’s really hard to do well on a simple track. I hope my bad luck is behind me now, and that I can continue the good results from the last round.”
Rounds 5 and 6 will be run over 15 laps each of the Sentul International Circuit, located outside Jakarta, tomorrow.
Supporting the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia are two of the most recognised names in international motorsport, Mobil1 and Michelin. Mobil and Porsche have been partners since 1996. Close co-operation in research and development has led to every new Porsche engine being filled with Mobil1 high-performance lubricant. Porsche Carrera Cup Asia drivers also have the advantage of racing on cutting-edge tyres supplied by series partner Michelin. The consistent performance and leading technology of Michelin tyres constantly improve the performance of many teams in international motorsport. The partnership between Michelin and the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia has emerged from a worldwide agreement signed between
Porsche AG and the Michelin group.
