New Zealand’s Craig Baird remains upbeat at still holding second overall in the 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series despite being taken out of the weekend’s first race at Zhuhai International Circuit in China.
The two-race weekend in China’s Pearl River Delta region covered rounds five and six of 11 on the 2010 calendar. With Baird having been fastest in early qualifying, his run of bad luck began with being baulked on his last flying lap despite having set fastest sector times.
Relegated to third for the opening 12-lap race the 39-year-old Queensland based Kiwi was gridded behind Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila and Red Bull Racing’s Marchy Lee, but ahead of series leader Christian Menzel. Getting a better start than his rivals, he’d moved to second by the second lap. That dropped pole sitter Rodolfo Avila to fourth, when the Macau racer made a dive-bomb move on Baird and Menzel. Out-braking himself, he drilled in to the right-side of the Baird VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and then Menzel, to force all three in to the retirement of the gravel trap.
Surprised at the move, Baird said it was the bigger picture that mattered.
“Having Menzel alongside as a retiree meant the championship was still alive,” he said.
“I’ve had to moderate my thoughts on what happened; we’re here for the title – so have to take each race as it comes.”
Starting from the back of the grid for the second 12-lap race with championship leading rival Menzel, it was a case of collecting as many points as possible. Void of the earlier race antics, Baird finished fourth overall, one behind Menzel.
“It was the best of a bad situation - the Triple X Motorsport guys worked tirelessly in the two-hour timeframe between the races to get the car ready after the accident. The impact was so severe there is quite a shift in the chassis. So while they got the wheels straight, they didn’t have time to try getting it balanced and setup as they’d have liked. It was a great result to only lose two points on Menzel’s lead following the afternoon race.”
“And it was hot – humid – every bit of uncomfortable you could imagine. The cool suit and helmet blower got a great test.”
At the calendar half-way mark, Baird is second overall in his first full season of the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia series, 18 points behind defending champion Christian Menzel (GER).
With a two-month break until the seventh and eighth rounds for the 2010 title, Baird and his Auckland based crew will again have a new venue to learn – the Korean International Circuit, based in Yeongam County, South Korea (27 – 29 August).
Race two (round six) results – top ten.
Pos, Driver, Country, Team, Time
1, Marchy LEE, HKG, Red Bull Racing 20:04.536
2, Keita SAWA , JPN, LKM Racing +2.252
3, Christian MENZEL , GER, Team StarChase +3.049
4, Craig BAIRD, NZL, Team PCS Racing +15.259
5, Rodolfo AVILA, MAC, Team Jebsen +15.465
6, MOK Weng Sun, SIN, Team PCS Racing +18.693
7, Jeffrey LEE, TPE, Team Pauian Archiland +24.249
8, Wayne SHEN, HKG, Modena Motorsports +25.994
9, Philip MA, HKG, Jacob & Co Racing +27.313
10, Francis TJIA, HKG, OpenRoad Racing +27.890
2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia – points after six (of 11) rounds – top five.
1, Christian MENZEL , GER, 98
2, Craig BAIRD, NZL, 80
3, MOK Weng Sun, SIN, 74
4, Marchy LEE, HKG, 74
5, Keita SAWA , JPN, 55
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Third time lucky for Baird in China
For the third time in as many months Kiwi Craig Baird heads to China for another learning weekend as the under-dog in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race series against a German defending champion.
Currently second after two race events totalling four rounds, the 39-year-old Baird and his VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car again head to a venue new to the New Zealand based team. Rounds five and six (of 11) are being contested at the 4.3 kilometre Zhuhai International Circuit in China’s Pearl River Delta region this weekend (18 – 20 June).
“It’ll be about hitting the setup from the get go,” says Baird of the plan to win races and close in on the 16-point championship lead. “We need to be ahead of the pace and Christian Menzel (the series leader). Getting pole position is goal number one. Once we’ve done that the racing becomes a lot simpler and it’s really the start and tyre strategy that become variables.”
“We’ve got a good handle on the setup and are now just fine-tuning our plan on how the Michelin tyre works in these hotter climates.”
“At Beijing we had the car working better early in the race, but didn’t have enough toward the end when Menzel was making mistakes from the pressure I was applying once I’d made up the start-grid gap difference.”
With the additional reward of a championship point for setting fastest time in qualifying, Baird says the start grid illustrates the difference between first and the rest.
“The starting position between the cars is a diagonal and car length behind, so starting anywhere but on pole is a huge backward step. Even with a mega start you’re not going to make up that gap by the first turn – you need to start from the front if you’re going to do anything but win.”
“Qualifying at Beijing showed how we could influence the opposition. With three sets of new tyres available for the weekend we had Menzel’s team sitting in the pits having used two sets already in setting fastest time. They were ready to run their last set just to keep us from starting ahead of them. So we know we’re all but caught up to a defending champion who’s prepared to try anything.
The weekend’s Pan Delta Super Racing Festival will feature a 12-lap Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race on Saturday and Sunday, following an intense 30-minute qualifying shootout on the Friday. Part of the record 23-strong field, Baird says the identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars have made his job a lot more rewarding.
“We’re right out of our comfort zone. With different cultures, new venues and the extremes of temperature and humidity it’s a whole lot tougher than anything else you could do.”
The Queensland based Kiwi is joined by Triple X Motorsport’s Todd Bickerton and Ian McNabb who prepare and run the New Zealand funded VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
Currently second after two race events totalling four rounds, the 39-year-old Baird and his VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car again head to a venue new to the New Zealand based team. Rounds five and six (of 11) are being contested at the 4.3 kilometre Zhuhai International Circuit in China’s Pearl River Delta region this weekend (18 – 20 June).
“It’ll be about hitting the setup from the get go,” says Baird of the plan to win races and close in on the 16-point championship lead. “We need to be ahead of the pace and Christian Menzel (the series leader). Getting pole position is goal number one. Once we’ve done that the racing becomes a lot simpler and it’s really the start and tyre strategy that become variables.”
“We’ve got a good handle on the setup and are now just fine-tuning our plan on how the Michelin tyre works in these hotter climates.”
“At Beijing we had the car working better early in the race, but didn’t have enough toward the end when Menzel was making mistakes from the pressure I was applying once I’d made up the start-grid gap difference.”
With the additional reward of a championship point for setting fastest time in qualifying, Baird says the start grid illustrates the difference between first and the rest.
“The starting position between the cars is a diagonal and car length behind, so starting anywhere but on pole is a huge backward step. Even with a mega start you’re not going to make up that gap by the first turn – you need to start from the front if you’re going to do anything but win.”
“Qualifying at Beijing showed how we could influence the opposition. With three sets of new tyres available for the weekend we had Menzel’s team sitting in the pits having used two sets already in setting fastest time. They were ready to run their last set just to keep us from starting ahead of them. So we know we’re all but caught up to a defending champion who’s prepared to try anything.
The weekend’s Pan Delta Super Racing Festival will feature a 12-lap Porsche Carrera Cup Asia race on Saturday and Sunday, following an intense 30-minute qualifying shootout on the Friday. Part of the record 23-strong field, Baird says the identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars have made his job a lot more rewarding.
“We’re right out of our comfort zone. With different cultures, new venues and the extremes of temperature and humidity it’s a whole lot tougher than anything else you could do.”
The Queensland based Kiwi is joined by Triple X Motorsport’s Todd Bickerton and Ian McNabb who prepare and run the New Zealand funded VnC Cocktails Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
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