NOVEMBER 13 2023 – RACE REPORT MACAU
Paul POON recovered from drama at the second annual TCR Asia Challenge race at Macau’s Guia Circuit at the weekend, driving from 12th to finish fourth in the final race in his Teamwork Motorsport Audi RS 3 LMS gen II.
The eight-time Macau winner sadly missed out on a new record this year, after his weekend went awry after qualifying when he tapped the wall during the first part of the session.
Despite having set the fourth fastest time on his run early on in the session and with plenty more pace left in the car. Though he safely progressed to Q2, there was no time left to repair the car this left him locked into 12th place on the grid for both of Sunday’s races.
Race 1
The first race was held early on Sunday, and when the team arrived at the track, they found a circuit that had been hit with overnight rainfall, leaving very tricky conditions for the field. All of the teams opted to start the race on wet Michelin tyres.
The officials also concluded it was safest to start the race behind the safety car, but a number of cars between the lead group and Paul POON weren’t clear on the starting procedure, and cruised around to start line to take part in a standing start, so when the race started with the safety car pulling in and with the field at pace, the lead pack had already established an unassailable lead.
POON percevered in the race however, and had made his way up to seventh by lap four before contact forced him to pit with damage, and record a DNF in the first race.
Race 2
Conditions had improved by the afternoon’s second nine-lap race, and POON again was showing fantastic pace, having made his way up from 12th to sixth by the end of only the second lap.
POON continued to revel in the dry conditions in the fast-paced race, and was completing a overtaking move at the famous Lisboa right-hander at the start of lap six on a rival Audi, which then lost control and hit the barriers, causing a safety car deployment. This reduced the available laps for POON to take on the leading trio.
With just one lap of green flag running left, POON was immediately on the attack, battling with the Hyundai of LO Sze Ho ahead of him for the final podium position, and was lining up to pass when the race was red-flagged and stopped short when a backmarker crashed hard into the barriers, causing a multi-car pile-up.
With the race counted back to the previous lap, POON would finish the race in fourth place, a valiant recovery from his middling grid position in an action-packed race.
The team worked hard to get the best out of the car all weekend, and are extremely proud of the performance of POON’s RS 3 LMS in the final race, which had clearly shown it was the fastest car on track, but POON will have to wait at least another year to build on his Macau race-winning record.
