Team Jebsen on Hunt for Third Title with Exciting New Talent2010 Season Preview
Team Jebsen, the most successful China Porsche dealer racing team in history, is gearing up for its 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia campaign with exciting new driver Rodolfo Avila on board. At just 23 years-of-age, the Macau SAR driver already has an impressive international racing pedigree, and as he and Team Jebsen prepare for the opening rounds at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai this weekend, all eyes will be on the powerful new partnership.
Flying the flag for China in Asia’s premier sportscar championship for the seventh year, Team Jebsen will be going all out to capture a third title in the ultra-competitive series. As every championship point is crucial, the opening rounds will be important to the team’s campaign success. So closely matched are the drivers, that on two occasions the title has been won by just a single point.
Says Avila, who impressed on a spectacular Porsche Carrera Cup Asia debut last season: “I was the first driver to ever win a race in Shanghai when the circuit opened in 2004, when I was racing single seaters. Last year, I took pole position and two podiums finishes in my first ever outing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. This year I would love to shine once again at this wonderful state-of the-art circuit.”
The team is backed by the Jebsen Group, the largest and longest-established Porsche dealer in China and across Asia, with a diverse portfolio of business interests. Says Jebsen and Co Ltd Group Director, Mark Bishop: “We’re very much looking forward to starting the 2010 season in Shanghai with Rodolfo. The record field of 23 cars mean this will be a very competitive line-up, but with Rodolfo’s talent, professionalism and dedication, combined with Jebsen’s unrivalled knowledge of Porsche and success on the race track, we are certainly well equipped to mount a strong challenge.”
The brand new Team Jebsen-liveried Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car will take to the track in anger for the first time in Shanghai. The new race car is faster, stronger and wider than ever before and, for the first time, based on the street-legal 2010 GT3 RS. The awesome new race car will makes its Asian debut in Shanghai this weekend.
Despite being at the wheel of a brand new car, Avila will have no problem adapting quickly given his impressive racing CV. Having developed his fledgling skills in karting, becoming Macau Karting International A Group B Champion at just 15, in 2003 he won both the China and Asian Formula Renault Challenge Championships. He progressed to the highly-respected British Formula 3 Championship, competing in the prestigious FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup at the Macau Grand Prix on several occasions.
A switch to sportscar racing in 2008 saw Avila continue his stellar career, becoming Asian Super Car Challenge Champion in his debut season. The following year, he stepped up to the challenge of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia’s highly-competitive international field, and more than held his own against vastly more experienced GT specialists to finish 4th in his debut season.
In 2010, Avila will compete with a truly winning team. Making its Porsche Carrera Cup Asia debut in 2004, Team Jebsen learned fast and dominated the 2006 season, clinching the title with the highest margin in the series’ history - a whopping 30 points. Two years later, they took a second, record-setting championship title, rounding out the season with victory in the inaugural Macau GT Cup.
Eight of the 11 races in the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season will be held in China. Following the curtain-raiser in Shanghai this weekend, Jebsen will continue the charge to Beijing in May for the Fascination Porsche weekend at the Goldenport Circuit. In June, the series travels to the Pearl River Delta Region and the Zhuhai International Circuit, before two fixtures outside China: At the newly-constructed Formula One circuit in South Korea, and as a support race for the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix in September.
Team Jebsen and the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia return to Shanghai for the season grand finale in October as part of the China Touring Car Championship.
Background:
Team Jebsen is backed by the Jebsen Group. Established in 1895 in Hong Kong, the Group has since expanded its activities into a comprehensive business network throughout China, Taiwan and South Korea. Today, the Jebsen Group is structured around four strategic business units targeting the consumer, industrial, beverage and luxury sectors.
Jebsen is a name synonymous with Porsche in the region, having first brought the marque to Hong Kong in 1955. Since then, the Jebsen Group has become the largest and longest-established Porsche dealer group in Asia. In addition to Porsche Centre Hong Kong, the group operates Porsche Centres in Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
4/15/2010