PETALING JAYA: The Jalur Gemilang flag flew high at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China as Alex Yoong capped a perfect double in the inaugural Audi RM LMS Cup yesterday.

The 35-year-old took a dominant victory in Race 1 on Saturday with a trouble-free pole-to-flag run and setting the fastest lap of the race for good measure.

Alex, driving for Audi GQ team, chalked a repeat performance in Race 2 yesterday for a fitting Malaysia Day celebration.

Alex claimed pole position in the qualifying session on Saturday as championship leader Marchy Lee of Audi Ultra could not better his Malaysian rival’s time of 1:34.014 around the 4.3km circuit, despite a keenly contested session which saw the top six all within a second of each other.

Strong performance: Audi RM LMS Cup winner Alex Yoong is flanked by Hong Kong drivers Marchy Lee (left) and Adderly Fong in Zhuhai yesterday.

Marchy and KLM Team’s Adderly Fong finished second and third respectively in both races out of 16 participants.

Alex was pleased to have come away with a strong performance throughout the entire weekend after a tough outing in Ordos, Mongolia last month.

Alex finished second in Race 1 but retired from Race 2.

“I knew this was going to be a tough race and it was going to be all about consistency.

“I needed to get a good start and luckily I did, and then from there it was just to knuckle down and be consistent.

“I didn’t even look at the lap boards until I had a bit of a gap,” said Alex from Zhuhai.

The former Formula One driver has now closed in on the championship title after moving to third in the points standings and just two points behind leader Marchy.

“After my DNF in Ordos, there was a big pressure on me to perform this weekend and I knew I had to win both races.

“I was very tense on Friday because I still did not understand the new tyres completely but by the end of the day we had tried a few things and I understood what they needed,” added Alex, who also won the opening race of the season in Shanghai earlier in the year.

The event will move to the Shanghai International Circuit for Round 9 and 10 for the final two races of the season.

The Audi R8 LMS Cup is the first ever ‘One-Make’ racing championship from Audi.

At the end of the season, three titles will be up for grabs, namely the Audi R8 LMS Cup overall title, an Amateur Category and a Team award, based on points accumulated throughout the series.

Results

Race 7 (21 laps): 1. Alex Yoong (Mas) Audi GQ 34:06.983, 2. Marchy Lee (Hkg) Audi Ultra 34:08.737, 3. Adderly Fong (Hkg) KLM Team 34:10.637.

Race 8 (21 laps): 1. Alex Yoong (Mas) Audi GQ 34:32.490, 2. Marchy Lee (Hkg) Audi Ultra 34:36.003, 3. Adderly Fong (Hkg) KLM Team 34:38.772.

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