Race Report - PCCA - Rounds 9 & 10 - Shanghai GP

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, headed to the Shanghai International Circuit for rounds 9 & 10 of the premire motorsport series in Asia.

This was the second time that we were here at the Shanghai International Circuit in 2010. Following on as a support race for the Shanghai F1 GP Weekend, PCCA once again was at the beautiful circuit supporting the newly established CTCC (China Touring Car Championship) 

Unfortunately, this weekend went wrong in many ways, having a bad qualifying session to begin with. Throughout practice over the weekend, I was often one of the first cars to line up inside the pitlane, so that we could get out on some clean track. During the qualifying session however, we went out a little later, getting caught in traffic for the first 2 laps of the session. As the session progressed, and I had cleared the traffic, the heavens started to open up and the rain became heavier at a rapid rate. The chances to put in a faster lap time was simply impossible. We ended up qualifying in 16th place, with my teammate only achieving 18th place. Both of us made costly errors by not taking advantage, of the drier conditions at the beginning of the session.

Only one driver in the field, posted his fastest lap toward the end of the session, that being, 23 year old Portuguese driver, Rodolfo Avila. It was a fantastic effort from the Jebsen driver.

Race 1 brought horrendous weather, heavy rain hitting the circuit as Englishmen, Jon Flinn piloted the Porsche Carrera S safety car from the start of the race. Due to the hugely wet conditions, the race started as a safety car start, leading the field through the first two laps of the race. 

On lap 3, the safety car lights went out along the middle of Shanghai's famous back straight, being the longest straight in Formula 1. The water was simply unbelievable as the car continuously aquaplaned on the front and back straights. Vision was severely impaired, often not being able to see any of the cars, in front of my own windshield.

I spent much of the race, just nursing the car through the water, after our unfortunate accident in Singapore last month. The conditions were tough, and I only managed to make up one place in the end, finishing in 15th place.

Race 2 was a little drier, a massive improvement in vision, being the big difference between the two races. I got off to a pretty good start and was running as high as 12th at some stages of the race. During the second period of the race, my tyre pressures were going through the roof, disallowing the car to get any proper rear end grip. After a big fight over 6 laps with Francis Tjia, the Canadian residing driver took me around over the outside, along the end of the back straight. It was a great move, and one that was gutsy. I ended up finishing in 14th place.

All in all, this weekend was one for the experience. The rain at that level was hard to deal with at times, and for the first time in a while, I felt some fear during the race. Judging from the way we handled these conditions in Shanghai, there is still plenty of room for improvement as we target to finish inside the top 10 in wet races, as well as dry ones. The wet races in Shanghai and Singapore have cost me dearly in the championship standings. 

The team and I are all looking forward to the final race weekends for rounds 11 & 12 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2010 series. This will take place on Nov 5 - 7 at the Zhuhai International Circuit.