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GT3 Asia Challenge R9 & R10 Sentul August

2009-08-20

15/8/2009 AFOS

Modena Motorsport driver, Francis Tjia, claimed the round 9 win of the GT3 Asia at Sentul International Circuit during the Asian Festival Of Speed.

The Hong Kong native’s pole to flag win also gained him 19 vital points to place him in the lead with a seven points gap over the absent Sam Yau.

“The beginning was relatively straightforward, I started on pole and had a good start and was able to build up a lead over Tunku. The last three or four laps got a little more difficult, I picked up a puncture. The car was starting to handle very strangely and my left front tyre was going down, later on I also found out that I had a leak in my radiator. Within two laps I had Tunku right on my tail again.

“The last two laps was very difficult and I have to say at the last corner, we went through it side by side and I think it was very disappointing for Tunku because I was driving quite erratically trying to keep my car on the road and I think I may have contributed to his spin which I want to apologize for, it was not intentional. But it was a very close finish to what was a straightforward race”

Tunku Hammam who was poised for a second placed finish had a spin at the last turn of the last lap, allowing W.Shen to drive past him to claim the second spot on the podium. Hammam is now just two points adrift of S.Yau on the championship points table and five points ahead of W.Shen.

“I had a terrible start. On the formation lap I tried to spin my tyres but it didn’t actually spin so at the start I thought I had to give it a lot more throttle so unfortunately it did spin and a lot of people passed me” said W.Shen with a laugh. After the spin, W.Shen managed to climb back up the ranks to third behind Hammam.

“After that it was an uneventful race because Francis and Tunku were clearly faster so I thought instead of risking going off, I would just drive a conservative race and get as much points as I can. I am very lucky to get second place today” concluded W.Shen.

“I didn’t have a good start, I botched it up a little bit but I did have a little bit of a handling problem, I had a big off during qualifying so the team repaired the car but the car was not handling as well as this morning.

“Anyway, I tried to follow Francis but he was a little bit too fast for me so I though I would just hang on to second for a while until the last few laps when I saw Francis slowing down and I thought something must be wrong with his car. So I tried to catch up, which I did and we were side by side on the last corner then I spun and that was it” he said with a laugh.

In the GT4 category, Christian Chia had a good start and led the category all the way to the chequered flag ahead of Team Road & Track teammate and elder brother, Marcel Tjia and the American driver, Shim Ching.

“It was a good race overall, a pretty clean race. The track was challenging, it started to rain a little bit halfway through the race but not too much problems and overall it was a good result. I had a lot of fun” said Chia after the race.

“The race was eventful, at the last corner, Tunku spun right in front of me, it was kind of a wakeup call at the end of the race” said M.Tjia with a laugh. “Overall it was fine, I had some decent times and I just came in second so I am quite happy”.

“The race went very well and I had a lot of fun today, its good to be here” said Ching.

Wayne Shen received a great Birthday gift today when he claimed the win in Round 10 of the GT3 Asia at Sentul International Circuit.

Pole sitter Francis Tjia got away really well from the rolling start of Round 10, maintaining his lead while Tunku Hammam got past W.Shen into second and started to give chase to the race leader.

Hammam maintained his vigil driving closely to F.Tjia until lap ten when the duo started to pass back markers around the 3.9km circuit. Then disaster struck at the start of lap 14 of the race when Hammam struck the back of F.Tjia’s Ferrari and the duo ended up in the gravel.

“Tunku was just trying to make a pass and it was just a braking incident. I was just an innocent bystander but that’s racing, so be it” said F.Tjia after the race.

It was race over for F.Tjia but Hammam managed to keep his car going and continued the race despite having his windshield blocked by his opened bonnet. Hammam continued the final lap despite his limited vision and having lapped back markers meant he still managed to finish the race in third, behind John Shen who passed him as he rejoined the race.

This left W.Shen to claim the race win, followed by his elder brother J.Shen across the line. Hammam made a most spectacular end to the race without even being able to see the chequered flag.

“It was quite an interesting race, not quite what I expected as Tunku and Francis were both driving very well and they gradually pulled away. Their pace was such that there was no way for me to pass them, so I adopted the strategy of bringing the car home for third and getting the championship points I needed.

“As it turned out, on the last few laps they had a coming together at turn 3 and that’s how I got into the lead and finished the race that way.

“The Championship is very interesting with the top four drivers all within a handful of points. And with the weight ballast situation, it will be quite interesting and we will be on a new circuit so the next race will be a lot of fun” ended W.Shen.

Elder brother John Shen also commented on how fortunate he was to be on the podium but was glad of the good fortune.

“I know I am not as fast as the lead cars so the best I can do is relax, be safe, follow as close as possible and hope for the best. I guess luck turned and I finished second.

When asked if he saw the accident in front of him, J.Shen commented “As I approached turn 1, I heard on the radio that there was a big accident so I was very cautious and I did not know what to expect. Then when I approached turn 2 and 3 I saw Francis in the gravel.

I feel sorry for him but at the same time I said, ‘OK, now I have a shot’. Approaching turn 4, I saw Tunku’s car with the bonnet on his windshield and he was driving like a blind bat. So I tried to be careful passing him and I also felt sorry for him”.

For Hammam, the incident had a bittersweet outcome “I was really fighting with Francis from the first lap and we were very close then he pulled away by the fourth or fifth lap. I managed to catch up to him with about four to five laps to go and we were very close. On the second to last lap as we were approaching turn 3, I could not stop in time and hit him right in the back.

“I am really sorry for that, it was not done intentionally. We both ended up in the gravel but I managed to rejoin the race. My bonnet came up and I could not see anything, I was trying to see through a corner of the screen”.

In the GT4 class, it was a clean race with no incidents and a repeat of the race the day before with Christian Chia once again claiming the GT4 win with elder brother Marcel Tjia taking second ahead of Shim Ching in third.

The trio were happy, but the look of concern could be seen on their faces as they digested the ending of the race for their brother, Francis, who has lost his Championship lead to Modena Motorsport teammate, W.Shen.

F.Tjia was disappointed to lose the points that he would have collected to further cement his lead in the Championship citing the absent Sam Yau “my close competitor in the championship did not get any points and unfortunately for me Tunku managed to finish the race, so that’s disappointing.

“I just hope I can come back to Autopolis Japan in the final two races of the season and do really well. I am definitely looking forward to it”.

GT3 Asia Challenge

2009 GT3A Championship Points R10

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