Audi Sport customer teams are set to contest the sixth and final stop of the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia with three strong Audi R8 LMS driver-line ups. The mix of local and international talent enters the season-closing double-header hoping to make their wealth of experience at the Shanghai International Circuit count.
Lining up for Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute from September 26 to 28, will be the in-form duo of Weiron Tan of Malaysia and Estonian Martin Rump, both looking to add to their tally of success in the overall and Silver categories. They will be joined by stablemate and fellow Audi Sport Asia driver Cheng Congfu, who reunites with Sun Jingzu in the Pro-Am class.
At Audi Sport Asia Team TSRT, Audi Sport Asia driver David Chen will once again join forces with Swiss Audi Sport counterpart, Rahel Frey, for the season curtain-closer. The duo made their debut together in Fuji in July, taking three top-five finishes in the four races they have contested together since then.
“This has certainly been a rollercoaster Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia season for our Audi Sport Asia teams. We saw great results and also set-backs. Now everybody is focused on finishing the season on a high,” said Martin Kuehl, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia.
FIA WEC LMP2 race-winner Tan and former Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup driver Rump have made runs through the pack their signature this season, most recently when Tan stormed from fifth to victory in the closing stages of round eight in Fuji.
Although out of the running by a whisker for the Silver Cup title, the pair remain in mathematical contention for the overall championship, and Rump counts the Shanghai track as one of his favourites having taken several career race victories there.
Chinese Pro-Am duo Cheng and Sun will be looking to end the year with a strong result on home turf. Both drivers are vastly experienced of the circuit and have strong records there.
Audi Sport Team TSRT’s Chen and Frey, meanwhile, could well prove a winning combination at the 5.541km Hermann Tilke-designed track, home of the Chinese F1 Grand Prix, having narrowly missed out on a podium finish in round nine in Korea. Frey has put in a number of laps at the Shanghai circuit in her four-season stint in the Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup, while Chen and TSRT would like nothing better than a victory on home soil to build momentum ahead of their FIA GT World Cup debut in Macau this November.
Rounds eleven and twelve of the 2019 Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia begin on Thursday, September 26 with an hour-long free practice session starting at 13:40. On Friday, September 27, a one hour official practice session at 09:00 is followed by two, 15-minute GT3 qualifying sessions at 12:52 and 13:14. Round eleven of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia starts at 16:15 the same day. The final, 60-minute race of the season roars to life at 11:55 on Saturday, September 28 (all times are UTC +8).
Both qualifying sessions and races will be broadcast live on the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia Facebook page and SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.
Source. Audi
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