MARSH STARS AS SUGDEN STRIKES BACK

GruppeM Racing’s Tim Sugden took a brilliant win in Round 8 of the Porsche Carrera Cup today at Indonesia’s Sentul International Circuit. Second across the line was championship-leader Darryl O’Young, followed by Christian Jones of Australia.

However, if there was a “man of the match” award, it would go to SC Global Racing’s Matthew Marsh who held off a furious Christian Menzel of Team StarChase in a superb display of defensive driving, right up until just two laps before the flag. That’s when the German made a controversial move on Marsh, 2004 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Champion, and he spun. Fortunately Marsh managed to control the spin and save the car from hitting the barrier.

O’Young arrived in Indonesia with a slim margin of a single point at the top of the Class A leaderboard, but leaves with a more comfortable lead of 11 points over Jones. Sugden’s win puts him one point behind Jones, and ahead of Menzel, Team BetterLife’s Marchy Lee and Matthew Marsh.

Said Sugden following his win: "For this race I changed the tyre pressure so the car would come in quicker. Darryl was a bit off line at turn one, so I managed to take the lead. After that, Darryl was defending from Jones so I managed to pull away."

O’Young, beaten the Briton in the previous round, was nevertheless full of confidence that his campaign to capture a second championship title is on track: "Tim drove a great race and his strategy worked. I managed to close the gap at the end of the race, but that was too late! This is my eighth podium in a row, so I hope to carry this form on to Singapore."

Jones, who set the fastest lap of the race, was upbeat: "I had a very good start and got past Marchy (Lee). Then at turn 1 Menzel went wide and I found myself in third. I was in the top three during practice, but my qualifying was terrible. I changed the set up and it’s much better today. Although I’ve lost points to Darryl in this race, I still believe I’m in a position to fight for the championship."

O’Young got away well from pole, but came under pressure from Sugden from the start. Jones, meanwhile, wasn’t losing sight of the leaders. Team BetterLife’s Lee began closing in on the leading trio, while Marsh and Menzel began their tense battle behind him.

Sugden, who finished runner-up to O’Young in Round 7, wasn’t about to let history repeat itself, and made his move on lap four to grab the lead. With Jones and O’Young caught up in their own battle, Sugden was able to pull out a gap at the front.

Meanwhile, Marsh continued to put in perfect laps, unrattled by the increasingly frustrated Menzel behind him. Flashing headlights and a few nudges still couldn’t force the cool-headed Hong Kong racer into making an error and move off the racing line, but it was obvious something had to give. Give it did, and Marsh was fortunate to leave the track with an undamaged car, but he had earned the admiration of the enthusiastic Indonesian crowd.

Despite his disappointment, Marsh was upbeat about the race: "The performance today is another step towards building on what we achieved in Zhuhai, and it makes me confident that I can put on a good show for SC Global Developments in Singapore. It’s also great that after the disappointment in qualifying the team kept a positive spirit and made changes to the car which clearly had a positive effect."

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia is back in action in September at the inaugural Singapore 2008 FORMULA 1 SINGTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX, where the drivers will be amongst the first ever to compete on the exciting new Marina Bay street circuit on September 27-28.

Round 8 Result:
Pos. Comp No. Driver Entrant Time

1 88 Tim SUGDEN (GBR) GruppeM Racing (CHN) 23:08.062
2 55 Darryl O’YOUNG (HKG) Team Jebsen (HKG) +0.953
3 18 Christian JONES (AUS) Christian Jones (AUS) +2.600
4 8 Marchy LEE (HKG) Team BetterLife (CHN) +9.661
5 99 Christian MENZEL (GER) Team StarChase (CHN) +13.934
6 7 Matthew MARSH (HKG) SC Global Racing (SIN) +24.594
RLT.