Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia Rounds 9 & 10

PICCA Rounds 9 & 10 - Taebaek, Korea
(16-17th October 2004)

Matthew is closer than ever to the lead of the Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup championship points after winning both races held at the Taebaek circuit in Korea on Sunday. He lies just one point behind championship leader Charoensukawattana Nattavude. The 41-year old Thai finished second in the first race but spun in the second race and so finished in sixth place.

Charles Kwan finished fourth in the first race – dropping back from second place after missing a gear and damaging the clutch. He took third in the second race and remain in third place in the points, albeit 14 points behind.

“At 13 points the gap was quite large when we came here,” said Marsh on Sunday night. “I told Charles that we must follow those government adverts on the buses: ‘Hong Kong bounces back’! With hard work and a bit of luck we’ve done just that. It would be great to retain the Carrera Cup trophy in Hong Kong.”

The next and final round of the series will be held at the Macau Grand Prix on November 21^st. Kwan is the reigning champion having won the inaugural Carrera Cup Asia last year by finishing second at Macau – behind former F1 driver Alex Yoong and ahead of Marsh. “For Hong Kong people Macau is a home race,” said Kwan. “Perhaps that gives us some advantage.”

In Korea Marsh continued his streak of pole positions which began in Beijing in August and continued in Shanghai at the Chinese F1 Grand Prix. His wins in Korea bring his tally of victories to five in the Carrera Cup series. “It’s amazing really,” admits the 36-year old. “I won the Maserati race supporting the British Grand Prix in July – and I haven’t lost a race since! It would be nice to make it seven in a row at Macau, but I’ll be thinking mostly of the championship.”

High resolution photographs can be found at: www.matthewmarsh.net/resources/resources.htm (see item 14)