REIGNING CHAMPION DARRYL O'YOUNG MAKES COMEBACK

3 October 2007

Serving as a support race to the weekend's F1 race in Shanghai, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia is welcoming back last year's champion Darryl O'Young for Rounds 9 and 10 of the series.

O'Young of Team Jebsen has just completed his tenure at the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup championship and became Hong Kong's first driver/team to partake in the highest level of international one-make sportscar racing. Team Jebsen has also announced its participation in the final five rounds of the 2007 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in China.

The penultimate meeting of the season, Rounds 11 and 12, is scheduled for Zhuhai International Circuit at the beginning of November part of the Asian Festival of Speed weekend. After that we move on to the 2007 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia grand finale and scene of O’Young’s memorable victory in 2005, the Macau Grand Prix.

Says O’Young: “After a truly amazing season competing all over Europe, it will be fantastic to return to China. It’s a tremendous opportunity to race in front of all our fans and partners who have been so supportive of our pioneering Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup campaign all season.”

O’Young will be up against some old adversaries, such as Japan’s Keita Sawa (left), second runner-up to the Team Jebsen ace in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia last year and currently leading the championship, and some new faces such as Christian Jones, son of former Formula 1 world champion Alan, who is racing a Porsche for the first time this year and is third in the points.

Having won races at Zhuhai and conquered Macau’s demanding Guia street circuit, victory in Shanghai has so far eluded Team Jebsen, and next weekend provides two opportunities to add to their impressive tally of wins in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

O’Young is on the hunt for a win and has thrown down the gauntlet to the regular Porsche Carrera Cup Asia drivers: “I have quite a lot of experience of the Shanghai Circuit as an Official Porsche Instructor, during the Porsche Road Shows, as well as driver for Team Jebsen, but so far I haven’t been able to win there. Last year I took pole position, but was denied the victory. I fully intend to rectify the situation next week, and although the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia field is strong, I’ll be going all out.”

Two races will be run in Shanghai and Zhuhai, with a final race in Macau.

Also returning to the series in Shanghai, having missed the last rounds due to A1 Team China commitments, is fellow Hong Kong racer Marchy Lee supporting the Child’s Dream charitable foundation.

Although also not in contention for the title having only competed in two events, Lee (right) is equally determined to win races on home ground.

Lee and O’Young last raced against each other at the end of the 2005 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series at the Macau Grand Prix where O’Young took a memorable victory.

With five more races to go, the 2007 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title is still wide open. Going into Round 9, Sawa tops the leaderboard in Class A, demonstrating that consistency is everything in this close-run series. He has only won one race so far, but podium finishes in all but one have given him a six point lead over GruppeM Racing’s Tim Sugden.

At the start of the season Sugden (left), holder of 17 FIA GT Championship career podiums, had not experienced a standing start for almost 12 years and, after a determined Sawa kept him firmly at bay in the last race, has sworn to improve in his area.

SCC Racing China’s Jones continues his impressive Porsche racing debut this season and comes to Shanghai with three successive wins under his belt, while Team Vertu’s Nigel Albon (right) has been consistently quick all season.

Australia’s Geoff Morgan, who graduated to Class A at the start of this season having won the Class B category on his Porsche Carrera Cup Asia debut last year, has made an impressive transition to the professional level. Currently five overall on the leaderboard Morgan, like Sawa, has shown that consistency is everything in this series.

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia runs as part of the Asian Festival of Speed, organized by Malaysian-based Motorsport Asia Limited.