Audi’s ‘R8 Cup’ winds up to its finale this weekend in Shanghai (31 Oct – 1 Nov) with the closing round of a long and tough season and with B-Quik Racing ready for what promises to be a sensational title showdown which in fact comes on our debut season in the pan-Asian one make series that’s reserved for the Audi R8 LMS Cup.
It’s been a long and hard fought inaugural year in the ‘R8 Cup’ for B-Quik Racing and our driver Daniel Bilski, kicking off in Zhuhai (China) back in March before taking in rounds at Yeongam (Korea), Penbay (Taiwan), Sepang (Malaysia) and Fuji (Japan). That brings us up to the season closer which will see the series return full circle to China this weekend, this time though it’s to the Formula 1 Grand Prix-hosting 5.5-km, 16-turn Shanghai International Circuit.
For B-Quik Racing the whole season boils down to the two races in China coming up this weekend with nothing less than the prestigious AM Cup title up for grabs.
Daniel has been right in the thick of the front running action all season in the ‘R8 Cup’s hotly-competitive Amateur Cup (AM), bagging wins and making a string of visits to the podium. A combination of raw speed and dogged consistency culminated in the Australian driver moving to the top of the AM points’ rankings after a super weekend in Sepang back in September.
During the penultimate round of the year, held at Fuji International Speedway earlier this month, Daniel however suffered a very tough weekend as he battled to avoid incidents playing out on the track and worked hard to secure vital championship points.
Despite the two races in Japan throwing just about everything they could at him, Daniel really dug in, never gave up the chase and in the end he scored a decent tally of championship points in both races. That means, while the second placed driver in the AM championship has narrowed the deficit somewhat to 19-points, Daniel still retains a very handy lead in the points classification to take into the season closing double-header this weekend.
Daniel in fact has 159 points while his closest rival, Alex Au, has 140 points, while the third placed driver in the classification, Johnson Huang, has 124 points. Daniel thus retains quite a decent margin at the top, but it’s less than we would have liked and there’s simply no margin for any errors.
Driver and every single member of the team will have to be right on top of their game if we are to bring home a major title in our first season of international competition, an achievement that wasn’t even considered when the ‘R8 Cup’ year kicked off at Zhuhai Circuit in China back in March.
Daniel Bilski (#59 B-Quik Racing Audi R8 LMS Cup):
“As the clock counts down to the season ending races in Shanghai final preparations are in full swing. Since the last round in Fuji, I’ve been working on improving my fitness even more and spending hours in the Sideways Driving Club Simulator to work on my track knowledge. Having raced in Shanghai only once before a few years ago I can’t wait to get back to the circuit and get the first practice session underway.
“The final weekend will be exceptionally tough, and I expect my fellow competitors to throw everything including the kitchen sink at me, but we will be ready, waiting and up to the challenge.
“It’s been an great campaign with B-Quik Racing this season. I’m proud to be flying the team’s flag in the finale in Shanghai, and we will be pushing to finish in style. It all comes down to the final two races of the season. The gloves are off, the team is ready, and we will spare nothing in pushing for a top-step finish.”