AP: Shanghai round ten race report

Round 10 Shanghai International Circuit, China

Sugden Takes Championship Lead with Second Shanghai Victory.

GruppeM Racing's Tim Sugden took a lights-to-flag victory today in Round 10 of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, inching ahead of Japan's Keita Sawa with whom he was tied on the leaderboard after his win yesterday. The Briton now has a six point margin at the top of the Class A classification, but with three races to go the title remains wide open with the top four drivers in the category still in the running.

SCC Racing China's Christian Jones was second, followed by reigning champion Darryl O'Young of Team Jebsen who was disappointed to have once again not clinched a win on the Shanghai track.

A well-deserved Class B win went to William "Chip" Connor. Connor had taken pole position for yesterday's race and was leading for the majority of the event until a spin put him back. Today was a different story and he took the victory ahead of Melvin Choo and Mok Weng Sun.

Mok now tops the Class B leaderboard, three points ahead of Peter Boylan and four clear of Connor.

Said race winner Sugden: "The race wasn't as easy as it looked. The outside didn't have any grip. After the start, I concentrated on pulling out a gap. In that situation it's better if it's wet as you're more careful not to make a mistake."

On a drying track, the field elected to race on slicks, although the black clouds overhead indicated it was a gamble.

At the start, Sugden got away well with Marchy Lee, who started from the 2nd row, following him through and passing O'Young. However, Sawa was almost immediately past Lee and up to 2nd, leaving the Hong Kong racer to take the chase to the Japanese as well as fend off the hard-charging O'Young and Jones.

Lee made a successful move on Sawa but a mistake saw him run off the track, rejoining behind O'Young who then spun while challenging the Japanese. Although Lee was briefly promoted back to 3rd by the incident, Jones nipped past and it was the Australian's turn to find a way by the Cref Motorsports ace. Having applied some intense pressure, Jones got by to go 2nd and immediately set about putting some track between himself and Sawa.

As Sawa was defending, O'Young was able to catch the chasing pack and was soon on Lee's tail, making his move with just four laps to go. O'Young continued his charge, getting by Sawa to go 3rd.

To add to the excitement, the heavens opened and suddenly the field was faced with little grip while pushing to the max. Sawa was a casualty, spinning and losing a place on the final lap. Boylan, who was relieved his mechanics had discovered the problem which had plagued him all weekend, also spun. The action continued right to the chequered flag with Geoff Morgan and Sunseeker Asia's Alain Lee of Hong Kong dicing it out for 8th and 9th place.

Team Vertu's Nigel Albon made a superb comeback having started from the back of the grid after a puncture meant he failed to finish yesterday's race. The Briton ploughed his way through to finish 5th.

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia next moves to Zhuhai International Circuit for the penultimate meeting of the 2007 season on November 3 and 4.

Supporting the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia are two of the most recognised names in international motorsport, Mobil1 and Michelin. Mobil and Porsche have been partners since 1996. Close co-operation in research and development has led to every new Porsche engine being filled with Mobil1 high-performance lubricant. Porsche Carrera Cup Asia drivers also have the advantage of racing on cutting-edge tyres supplied by series partner Michelin. The consistent performance and leading technology of Michelin tyres constantly improve the performance of many teams in international motorsport. The partnership between Michelin and the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia has emerged from a worldwide agreement signed between Porsche AG and the Michelin group.

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia runs as part of the Asian Festival of Speed, organised by Malaysian-based Motorsport Asia Limited.

-credit: porsche.com/carreracup