Ferrari Challenge APAC - Double win for Merckx and Victory for Cheung and Chen at Singapore
18 settembre 2016
Singapore, 18 September 2016 – Despite the storm in the early hours of the morning, the weather was bright and sunny when the 2016 Ferrari Challenge Asia-Pacific fifth round race 2 started at 4.00PM local time. All the Challenge drivers made their final preparations in eager anticipation of the final race of the weekend. The 5.065 km Marina Bay Street Circuit welcomed even more spectators as they started to fill the various grandstands around the harbourside track.
Trofeo Pirelli. Due to the packed weekend Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix schedule, qualification for Race-2 was set by the Race-1 results from Saturday. Florian Merckx from Belgium once again started from pole position with Renaldi Hutasiot from Indonesia throwing down an early charge for the lead. However Merckx had a clean track in front of him and opened up a commanding lead that he held throughout the race also setting the fastest lap of the race. Behind him, Hutasoit and Alexander West from Sweden were locked in a battle for points, neither able to close up to the leader. Unfortunately, West spun out of control during lap 8 and Ringo Chong from Singapore grabbed the opportunity to secure third place overall. It was a clear win for Merckx, his second of the weekend. Hutasoit drove a strong race to hold down the second position.
Pirelli AM. Eric Cheung from Canada found himself standing atop the podium steps. He gained his lead ahead of Max Go from Japan in the early laps and never looked back. Go maintained his pace to finish second behind Cheung while Xin Jin from China was in third position for the Trofeo Pirelli AM class being also able to collect the point for setting the fastest lap.
Coppa Shell. Sky Chen from China finished at the top of the podium in the Coppa Shell class today after a fierce battle with fellow compatriot Yuan Yang. It was very much a repeat of yesterday’s race drama where all the drivers battled wheel to wheel in a nail-biting race. In the end, Yang could not find any opportunity to overtake Chen on a track with very tight corners and had to settle for second position. Alan Yeo from Australia closed off the winners’ podium in third position. Tamotsu Kondo from Japan took the Gentlemen’s Cup while fastest lap was set by Paul Montague.
Next Rounds. From here, the Ferrari Challenge drivers head for the final Asia Pacific race at Fuji Speedway in Japan (15–16 October), in support of the WEC (World Endurance Championship) race, thereafter converging in Daytona, USA, for the Finali Mondiali from 1 to 4 December, where they will join drivers from the Europe and North America Series for the traditional end-of-season celebrations.
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