PCCA Rounds 5 & 6 - Beijing, China
(Asian Festival of Speed - 10-11th June 2006)
 

Thanks to Thomas Lam from Create Images for the excellent photographs!

Silver medals in Beijing

The Beijing Goldenport circuit is at the other end of the spectrum to the Sepang circuit in Malaysia where Gates GR Asia raced in May - but it is a real challenge. It’s only 2.4 kilometres long (actually 2.318, according to the MoTec data logger!) and in qualifying it took just 66 seconds for the top seven to cover this distance.
 

The Beijing Goldenport Circuit - 2.39kms

Qualifying is very important at Goldenport because it is very difficult to overtake – almost impossible without some degree of assistance from the guy you’re passing.

Nigel Albon’s race engineer Steve Waudby told me after qualifying that Darryl O’Young and his engineer Sven Schnabl had looked rattled when I took pole position in the middle of the session – by 35/1000ths of a second from Darryl. It can’t have been that bad for them because Darryl put on another set of new tyres and immediately went 4/10ths faster – and back to the top of the sheets.

Nattavude also jumped from nowhere to second on the grid – pushing me down to third. We’ve seen him do this so many times that it’s no longer a surprise: he’s invisible during the practice sessions and suddenly puts in a lap (usually just one!) that’s very fast. It’s similar in the races where he often starts from fifth or sixth on the grid but frequently ends-up on the podium.

Behind me was Keita Sawa, Nigel Albon, Vutthikorn and then, something of a surprise, Dilantha Malagamuwa. It’s obvious that Dilantha is benefiting considerably from the advice given by driver coach Andy Pardoe who also works closely with some of the Formula BMW drivers. I had passed Andy my data logging and comparing it with Dilantha’s he found that his pupil was losing 3/10ths of a second in one corner alone. This is an example of how useful data (and a good interpreter, like Andy) can be for a driver who is keen to learn.

Equally mysterious was the lack of pace of the two Tomo team drivers. Kazuyuki Nishizawa had a crash in the second free practice session (and thus missed Friday’s final session) but this did not explain his eighth place on the grid. Shinichi Yamaji, the winner of round 2 at Sepang and thus far always quick, was ninth.

At Turn 3 on the first lap of Round 5, Nattavude made a move to overtake Darryl. It failed and Nat lost momentum which allowed me to pass him before Turn 4 and take the second place I would hold until the end. The order remained static at the front until the final lap when Nat made an attempt to pass me into Turn 7. He had the inside line but needed to brake late to get past me and seemed to lose control on the dusty surface. His spin dropped him from third to ninth position.

Sawa inherited third place but behind him it all went horribly wrong for Nat’s team mate, Vutthikorn, and Nigel Albon who came together in the fourth gear turn 8 chicance. Both cars were heavily damaged and Vutthikorn was taken to hospital with a suspected broken shoulder and ribs.

The weather stayed warm and sunny for Sunday’s second 20-lap race. As earlier in the day, I had good pace in the early laps with my car seeming to go around the tight corners rather better than Darryl’s. After five laps the race was stopped to allow the car of Max Chen to be removed from the gravel trap of the final corner. 

At the restart Darryl and I made a break and spent the next eight or nine laps close together. He was ultimately about one tenth of a second per lap faster than I could manage and finished the race 1.5 seconds ahead. Qualifying is critical in Beijing – but being quickest in the race is still very important important. It was a good weekend for Hong Kong’s drivers – and the Gates GR Asia team which now lies second in the championship. 

RESULTS
ROUND 5:
1. Darryl O’YOUNG                Team Jebsen
2. Matthew MARSH               Gates GR Asia
3. Keita SAWA                       Cref Motorsports
4. Shinichi YAMAJI                 Tomo Racing
5. Kazuyuki NISHIZAWA        Tomo Racing 

ROUND 6:
1. Darryl O’YOUNG                 Team Jebsen
2. Matthew MARSH                Gates GR Asia
3. Keita SAWA                        Cref Motorsports
4. Shinichi YAMAJI                  Tomo Racing
5. Dilantha MALAGAMUWA  Team Hayashi 

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS:
1. Darryl O’YOUNG                 114 points
2. Matthew MARSH                 96 points
3. Shinichi YAMAJI                  90 points
4. Kazuyuki NISHIZAWA         65 points
5. Nattavude C.                        64 points

Photographs courtesy of Thomas Lam - www.createimages.com.hk