Cebu Pacific Air by KCMG continued to make progress during Formula Masters’ second event at Shanghai International Circuit over the weekend. The team along with Akash Nandy and Ronald Wu arrived at the renowned F1 circuit early last week with expectations of a successful weekend.
The 16 year old Malaysian driver set the fastest time during Formula Masters second qualifying session, clinching his first pole position of the season. The team went through a series of highs and lows as the race weekend produced varied results.
Nandy qualified in 6th place while his Hong Kong Chinese team mate took 10th position in Formula Masters’ first qualifying session. During the second session later that afternoon, Wu took 11th position on the grid while Nandy secured an impressive debut pole position for Round 6. The Malaysian driver pulled off an incredible lap that went two tenths of a second faster than his top contender’s time.
Nandy’s superb driving in Round 4 cinched a place on the podium after finishing the race in 3rd position, while Wu spun off track defending a strong 8th place. During Round 5, the Hong Kong Chinese driver finished the race in 9th place while Nandy retired from 4th position with a broken throttle body after an intense battle against Eurasia’s Matt Solomon and Meritus GP’s Aidan Wright .
Undeterred by this drawback, the team maintained its optimism and remained focused on top positions for Race 3. Starting from pole position in damp conditions, Nandy used slick tyres for Round 6. After another fierce drive to defend his position, the Malaysian driver secured his second podium for the weekend by finishing in 3rd place after an intense battle with Meritus GP’s Afiq Yazid and Meco Motorsport’s Raj Bharath during the final laps of the race.
After six races with four podium finishes under his belt, the results from last weekend have fired Nandy’s determination to gain his first victory in the championship. According to Nandy, “Pole position and another two podiums are positive but I’m a little disappointed not to come away with at least one win. I made some mistakes and we had some bad luck in Race 2 with the throttle body issue but these things can happen in racing. The most important thing is the car is fast and I’m more motivated than ever to get my first win in Ordos.”
Meanwhile, Ronald Wu concluded his Shanghai outing by finishing in 7th position during Formula Masters’ Round 6. The Hong Kong Chinese driver conveyed his satisfaction over the results that he delivered on his home track. He states, “Shanghai was a massive development curve compared to Zhuhai. Starting off with the pace, the team and I were able to crawl back into competition. In terms of driving, getting to grips with the car and feeling familiar is big progress. Race 3 was incredible despite difficult conditions but I managed to take four places in the rain. I’m overall very happy with my improvement.”
KCMG Deputy Managing Director John O’Hara stated his confidence in the team and sees these challenges as temporary hurdles as the team works their way towards victory. He was quoted, “Shanghai was a positive turning point for both drivers, Akash was fast all weekend and secured his maiden pole position while Ronald’s progress has been huge since he first tested with the team. Two 3rd positions and a 7th was a little disappointing but lady luck was not with us on this occasion. We are looking forward to Ordos now where we were very fast in 2012 and victory is our aim when we return in July.”
The team is looking forward to Formula Masters 3rd event which shall take place at Ordos International Circuit in Northern China on June 28-30.
For more information about KCMG, visit www.kcmg.com.hk. To keep track of latest updates, please like KCMG’s Facebook page or follow @KCMotorgroup on Twitter.
