Matthew leads Ringo Chong over the chicance kerbs during practice
PICCA Rounds 4 & 5 - Bira, Thailand
(20th June 2004)
Three Fourths…
Just over a second covered the top four at the end of round five of the championship; the gap was only a little greater at the end of round four. Malaysia’s Rizal Ramli took pole position and won both races. The qualifying order was Ramli; C. Nattavude; Charles Kwan and then me.
In the first race the qualifying order did not change despite the top four running nose to tail and some distance away from the rest of the field. In the second race Nattavude took the lead off the line and led until making a mistake. He ran onto the grass letting past both Ramli and defending champion Kwan. Other than this the narrow Bira circuit and almost equal pace of the front runners made overtaking impossible.
The manufacturer of A-Ha coffee, President has a local company in Thailand called Uni-President. They used the event in Pattaya to promote their local version of A-Ha. For the first time this year the team had grid girls and we gave away to fans signed posters of the Porsche.
We were visited by senior members of President’s management team who enjoyed a high-speed ride in a Carrera Cup car on Saturday.
Matthew leads Ringo Chong over the chicance kerbs during
practice
The Chinese side of the A-Ha Racing car - and a wheel in the
air!
Matthew: happy after a close race with defending champion
Charles Kwan
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Rolly (left) and Tomy take a break from working in Pattaya's
hot conditions
A-Ha Racing team publicist Winnie Choy prepares the car's
livery before qualifying
Matthew demonstrates how to drink A-Ha coffee...
Mr Yang Tezen, managing director of Uni-President Thailand,
waits for his ride in the Porsche GT3
Automobile magazine's Baby In Car sticker has its uses!
The A-Ha car attracted more attention than usual this weekend
Matthew and the A-Ha Racing grid girls