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Team Jebsen Earns Podium Finish in KoreaTeam Jebsen, Round Up – Rounds 8&9, 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, Inje Speedium International Circuit, August 2-4 2013


Team Jebsen and Rodolfo Avila took home a podium finish from Asia’s newest circuit, the Inje Speedium International Circuit in South Korea, with third-place in Round 8 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia seeing them retain third place in the championship points standings with three races remaining in the 2013 season.  

The impressive 4.208 km circuit has quickly earned a reputation as a fast and technically challenging track with its many elevation changes and tricky corners. While Team Jebsen overcame several challenges as they worked to quickly nail the perfect set-up on the new track, their hard work paid off with their fifth podium finish of the season in the Team Jebsen Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.

Saturday’s single qualifying session did not quite go as planned with Avila wrestling with oversteer. His two quickest laps put the team on the fourth row of the grid for both Rounds 8 and 9, meaning he had everything to do in the races.

Plenty of drama at the start of Round 8 gave Avila the opportunity to move up from the fourth row into podium contention. He maximised the chance, finishing third in the Safety-Car interrupted race, and critically outscoring both of his rivals in the championship points standings.

Knowing there was still more time to be found, Team Jebsen made significant changes to the car ahead of Round 9, hoping to find further success. Avila got off to a strong start as the lights went out, moving up to seventh on the opening lap. He dropped back to eighth on lap 4, before retaking the position mid-way of the race. From there, Avila set to work on the rival in front of him and got past with two laps to go.  But on the penultimate lap, as Avila was fighting for fifth place, he pushed too hard and spun, dropping him back to ninth overall by the flag.

Despite the dramatic finish to the weekend, Team Jebsen remains third in the championship points standings and in title contention. Just three races remain, so the pressure is on to take as many of the remaining points still up for grabs, starting with next month’s Round 10 in support of the FORMULA 1 SINTEL SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX on the Marina Bay street circuit.

Quotes from Team Jebsen
Rodolfo Avila

“It wasn’t the best weekend for us, but I’m happy we reached the podium and took home some valuable points in Round 8. Qualifying was tough as we struggled with a lot of oversteer. In the first race, there were a lot of cars in front of me so I was lucky that I was able to stay away from all the incidents and then make the most the opportunity when it came.

We made quite a few changes to the car from the first race to the second as we looked at the data and found some places where we could improve our race pace. The changes worked and even though we were on old tyres for Round 9, we were quicker. The spin was unfortunate. I caught up to the drivers in front of me, passed one and was in sixth trying to find up a way to fifth. I pushed a bit too much and on the penultimate lap and spun. I tried to rejoin as quickly as I could, but fell back to ninth. It’s good to know that the car is better, but we are definitely capable of winning and we’ll need to get it right in Singapore next month.”

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia 2013

Provisional Race Calendar

Date Circuit, Country Event Round(s)
March 02 – 03 Sepang Intl. Circuit, Malaysia Test Days
March 22 – 24 Sepang Intl. Circuit, Malaysia Formula 1 Support Race Round 1
April 12 – 14 Shanghai Intl. Circuit, China Formula 1 Support Race Round 2
May 03 – 05 Zhuhai Intl. Circuit, China Asian Le Mans Series* Round 3 & 4
July 05 – 07 Ordos Intl. Circuit, China Asian Le Mans Series* Round 5 & 6
August 02 – 04 Autopia Intl. Circuit, Korea Asian Le Mans Series* Round 7 & 8
September 20 – 22 Marina Bay Circuit, Singapore Formula 1 Support Race Round 9
October 25 – 27 Shanghai Intl. Circuit, China Shanghai Sportscar Champions Festival Round 10 & 11

* subject to confirmation of commercial agreement.

About Rodolfo Avila
Car No: 20

Avila began his career in karts, attending the Macau Karting School at 14, and winning the Macau Karting International A (Group B) a year later. In 2002, he graduated to single seater racing, becoming the youngest driver ever to compete at the Macau Grand Prix, racing in the Formula Renault event.

He took the Asian Formula Renault Challenge championship title the following year, making his Formula 3 Grand Prix debut at Macau in 2004. His career continued its extraordinary ascent, with Rookie honours in the Asian Formula 3 Championship in 2005, finishing 5th overall. A season in the prestigious British Formula 3 Championship saw him end the year 4th in the National Class for newcomers.

Avila made the switch to sportscar racing in 2008, when he became the youngest ever Asian Supercar Challenge Champion. He made his Porsche Carrera Cup Asia debut in 2009, taking pole position and a podium finish in his very first race. In 2011, Avila was just two points away from winning the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia title, while last season he finished third in what was the strongest entry in the series’ history.

About Team Jebsen
For Team Jebsen, 2013 marks the ninth full season in the series, having taken the championship title in 2006 and 2008. Along the way, the team has earned 18 race wins together with 62 podiums.

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.

8/7/2013