Hong Kong’s Matt Solomon is closing in on the championship points lead in the Formula Masters China Series after an outstanding weekend in the testing conditions of Sepang in Malaysia, the 18-year old adding two more series victories to his name on a weekend that also saw him campaigning his Audi R8 for Audi Hong Kong.
Like much of the field in the FMCS, Sepang is Eurasia’s test circuit which provided the experienced teenager little advantage against title rival James Munro, but after practice and qualifying it was clear that Solomon would be the man to beat in Malaysia and he took that advantage to turn three races into two victories and a second placed finish to close down Munro’s championship points lead.
“Overall I think it was a fantastic weekend for us,” Solomon reflected. “”Definitely in the Formula Masters, and even in the Audi. The results didn’t really show our full potential, but I think my performance in the Audi was just as strong at some points.
“We came into the weekend knowing we’d be quick, because Sepang is our home track. It’s where we develop the car, it’s where I started my racing career and laid my foundations – in fact I’ve been labeled the ‘King of Sepang’ by my team coming into the weekend! We were very confident, and showed we had great pace straight out of the box. Even on old tyres we could run with the leaders, so it was a very, very good start to the weekend.
“In qualifying one we discovered an engine problem which cost us quite a lot going down the straight. In Q2 we took a different approach and ran the tyre pressures differently so I ran all the way to the end and managed to get my fastest lap, in fact I had two laps which were good enough for pole, so I was very happy with that – it was a very strong effort by the whole team.
“On Saturday for race one, the heavens opened as we were leaving the grid and the rain started to fall, so we knew it was going to be tricky, but I got off to a good start and held on to second behind Jake Parsons. He led for the first two laps, but luckily I know Sepang quite well in the wet, and he hit a puddle which I managed to avoid and he ended up spinning which gave me the lead.
“James Munro caught me a few laps later, but then I got my head down and focused on the job at hand, and beat him to the line by nine seconds, in the process setting the fastest lap of the race by half a second so I was very, very happy with that, my first win in single-seaters in the wet.
“In race two, as a result of setting the fastest lap in race one I had pole, but I didn’t manage to get such a great start and James [Munro] got through at turns one and two. It was a good close battle, he pulled a gap of around a second, but we knew the car was quick and that I was capable of matching him for pace so I sat behind him and managed to get the tow and lunged into the final corner. It was tight move, but clean, and allowed me to take the lead and I put my head down again and drove away to a comfortable win, so very happy with that too.. Four straight wins coming off the back of Korea was fantastic.
“Race three was in the afternoon, immediately after my Audi race. From pole I got off to a really good start and grabbed the lead into turn one and started to pull a gap to the guys behind. I think we probably had slightly higher tyre pressures than some of the others, so Jake Parsons managed to get past me.
“They were clearly running a different strategy to us and he was very strong in the high speed corners. Dan Wells also tried to get past me, but he made a mistake in the final turn and ran off which gave me some breathing room to focus my attentions on Parsons.
“I knew though that Jake was a guest driver and not really part of the championship, so there was no need to push too hard and get into a fight with him and risk a DNF, so I stayed in second and finished the race that way, and was given the news post-race that my title rival James Munro had finished fourth.
“So since the start of the Inje round to now, we’ve narrowed the points gap from 48 to just 14 which is a fantastic result for the team and a fantastic result for me. With seven races to go now I’m really looking to strike and go after this championship.
“Overall it was a fantastic result and I’d like to thank the team for all their efforts, they gave me such and amazing car and worked so hard for it, so thanks to them and to my family and supporters.”
Top five again on the cards for Solomon in Audi R8 LMS Cup
Rnd#3 Audi R8 LMS Cup
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia – 14-17 August
Any driver that contested two events at Sepang had their work cut out for them in the intense heat and humidity, but the challenge of campaigning two different cars was made even more challenging for Hong Kong’s Matt Solomon who contested both the Formula Masters China Series – open wheeler – and his Audi R8 LMS Cup.
“We knew it wouldn’t be easy jumping between the two cars, especially jumping from the Formula car to the Audi, partly because the Formula car is a little bit like muscle memory for me and I’m still learning the Audi and adapting to GT racing.
“Qualifying was never going to be the easiest of tasks, because we missed two practice sessions. It didn’t help that it was wet, and I’d only driven the car once previously in the rain, but I still managed to have a pretty good qualifying run and qualified eighth. I didn’t think that was too bad considering I’d just jumped straight out of the Formula car.
“From eighth in race one I got into fifth by the last lap, but Kyong You lunged me into turn one and spun me around with quite an aggressive – and I’d say unfair – move. That was unfortunate and very disappointing because another top five finish would have been fantastic.
“My lap times weren’t as fast as I would have liked, because I was still learning the Audi at Sepang, so I could only manage the ninth fastest time, which was my starting position for race two. I had a good race although unfortunately I had a ‘sticky’ start and got pushed around a little bit and Sun Jing and Jeffrey Lee both took turns at playing bumper cars with me. We all had a bit of contact so it was a very messy race. After things settled down I moved up the order a few places, and ended up finishing the race eighth with a very reasonable lap time and I was quicker than some of the guys up the front.
“As long as the times are there and the speed is there, then the results should handle themselves, so I was very happy with my speed in that last race and happy to have another top ten finish and get some points, but that’s not really what the focus is right now – I’m just focusing on doing the best I can in the Audi race by race. We’re not really in contention for the championship, so we just want to focus on making the podium for the remaining three races and see what the championship presents us after the final round.”
For Matt it’s a four week break now until both the Formula Masters China Series and Audi R8 LMS Cup return to China with race events on two consecutive weekends. Matt will return to Zhuhai and the wheel of his Eurasia ‘HULK’ for the fifth race on the calendar on September 19-21, before heading to Guangzhou the following weekend for the fourth event of Audi R8 LMS Cup for Audi Hong Kong.
2014 Formula Masters China Series – Rnd#4,
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia (14-17 August)
Qualifying Race #10
1. Jake Parsons (Meritus GP) – 2:08.556
2. Matt Solomon (Eurasia Motorsport) +0.384
3. Dan Wells (Cebu Pacific by KCMG) +0.428
4. James Munro (Cebu Pacific by KCMG) +0.961
5. Anderson Martono (Meritus GP) +1.004
Qualifying Race #12
1. Matt Solomon (Eurasia Motorsport) – 2:08.166
2. Dan Wells (Cebu Pacific by KCMG) +0.203
3. Jake Parsons (Meritus GP) +0.264
4. James Munro (Cebu Pacific by KCMG) +0.523
5. Bao Jin Long (Zen Motorsport) +0.943
Race#10 (10-laps)
1. Matt Solomon (Eurasia Motorsport)
2. James Munro (Cebu Pacific by KCMG)
3. Dan Wells (Cebu Pacific by KCMG)
4. Jake Parsons (Meritus GP)
5. Darma Hutomo (Humpuss Jnr Racing Team)
Race#11 (6-laps)
1. Matt Solomon (Eurasia Motorsport)
2. James Munro (Cebu Pacific by KCMG)
3. Jake Parsons (Meritus GP)
4. Darma Hutomo (Humpuss Jnr Racing Team)
5. Yasuo Iriawan (Humpuss Jnr Racing Team)
Race#12 (10-laps)
1. Jake Parsons (Meritus GP)
2. Matt Solomon (Eurasia Motorsport)
3. Dan Wells (Cebu Pacific by KCMG)
4. James Munro (Cebu Pacific by KCMG)
5. Philip Hamprecht (Super License)
2014 Championship points (after round four of six)
1. James Munro (155 points), 2. Matt Solomon (141), 3. Dan Wells (101), 4.
Darma Hutomo (52), 5. Jake Parsons (39)
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2014 Audi R8 LMS Cup – Asia
Rnd#3 – Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
Qualifying:
1. Andre Couto (Brothers Racing Team) – 2:26.859
2. Alex Yoong (Audi TEDA Racing Team) – 2:27.426
3. Cong Fu Cheng (Audi R8 LMS Cup Team) – 2:27.646
4. Adderly Fong (KAMLUNG Racing) – 2:27.782
5. Marchy Lee (Audi Michelin Racing Team) – 2:28.698
8. Matt Solomon (Audi Hong Kong Team) – 2:29.294
Round #5 (15-laps)
1. Andre Couto (Brothers Racing Team)
2. Marchy Lee (Audi Michelin Racing Team)
3. Zheng Sun (Brothers Racing Team)
4. Rahel Frey (Castrol Racing Team)
5. Aidan Wright (Audi GQ Racing Team)
11. Matt Solomon (Audi Hong Kong)
Round #6 (15-laps)
1. Cong Fu Cheng (Audi R8 LMS Cup Team)
2. Alex Yoong (Audi TEDA Racing Team)
3. Andre Couto (Brothers Racing Team)
4. Marchy Lee (Audi Michelin Racing Team)
5. Rahel Frey (Castrol Racing Team)
8. Matt Solomon (Audi Hong Kong)
Points: (after round six of 12)
1. Alex Yoong (84 points), 2. Rahel Frey (82), 3. Cong Fu Cheng (79), 4. Andre Couto (75), 5. Marchy Lee (65), 6. Kyong-Ouk You (49), 7. Adderly Fong (47), 8. Zheng Sun (33), 9. Matt Solomon (22)