Formula BMW Asia Series - July 28, 2003 - Qualifying Round 6 - Johor Circuit, Malaysia - Tung takes pole, but Pastor makes his mark

Tung takes pole, but Pastor makes his mark

Tung Ho-Pin's domination of the Formula BMW Asia Series continued as he
comfortably clinched pole position for Round 6 to be held tomorrow at the Johor
Circuit in Pasir Gudang, Johor. Such was his superiority on the track that he
only needed three laps to clock the best time of 1:33.691, leaving the rest of
the field to do battle until the end of the session.

"I felt that I set a good time, which is why I came in after 3 laps and waited
to see if anyone would close in," said Tung. "Since I didn't have to go out
after that, I managed to save my tyres for the race tomorrow."

Lining up alongside Tung will be Don Pastor from the Philippines who managed to
break Team Meritus' stranglehold of the front row of the grid with an excellent
time of 1:35.133. "I'm extremely happy with my 2nd place," said a delighted
Pastor. "Obviously, my second run was far better than the first earlier in the
day as we made a lot of improvements to the set-up of the car and hopefully I
can finish on the podium tomorrow, which will be a great birthday gift for my
mother," he said.

Pastor, one of five BMW scholarship drivers in the series, is reaping the
rewards of his participation in the comprehensive Formula BMW Education and
Coaching Programme. The programme is available to any driver in the series,
and is provided to all scholarship recipients. It covers every aspect of
racing, including physical fitness, driving technique, technical education, and
media and PR training, and is designed to nurture young drivers to become
professional racers at the highest levels.

Commented Paul Spooner, coach of the BMW programme, "I'm extremely encouraged
by Don's progress since he joined the programme in March this year. He is
training hard physically, and asking all the right questions about his
driving."

Spooner is in no doubt that the training contributed to Pastor's performance
today, adding, "In these extreme conditions of heat and humidity, fitness is of
premium importance."

Six of the top seven qualifiers are participating in BMW's Education and
Coaching Programme.

Taiwanese driver Lin Po-Heng had to settle for 3rd on the grid after a
disappointing session in which his progress was hindered by traffic. "I had a
very bad start to the qualifying session where I used the old tyres so that I
could preserve the new ones for the race," said a rather disappointed Lin. "I
pitted for some changes and with the weather conditions changing throughout, I
found more grip and my performance improved," he added.

Japanese lady driver Keiko Ihara was 4th quickest, ahead of fellow countryman
Tohru Jitsukawa.

Tyson Sy of the Philippines and Team India Racing's Ajit Kumar made notable
improvements to their previous qualifying sessions. Tyson improved on his
Round 5 qualifying position moving up a notch to 7th, while Ajit moved up two
places from earlier in the day to start 8th in Round 6.

The Team Meritus pair of Malaysians Ferhan Fauzy and TJ Chin did not make much
progress in the session, finishing 15th and 16th respectively, which switches
their positions from the earlier session. Both drivers were familiarising
themselves with the circuit and the weather conditions. "I had a lot of
oversteer and I really need more laps to sort out my driving technique," said
Fauzy. "But I'm confident that I can achieve my target tomorrow," he added.

The Formula BMW Asia Series is part of the Asian Festival of Speed (AFOS)
organised by Malaysian-based Motorsport Asia Limited, which also includes the
Asian Touring Car Series, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and the Asian Formula 3
Series. In addition to Malaysia, AFOS will visit Thailand, Korea, Japan and
China throughout the season.

Qualifying Results - Round 6

1. No. 58 TUNG Ho-Pin (CHN), Team Meritus 1:33.691
2. No. 18 Don PASTOR (PHI), Team TEC 1:35.133
3. No. 88 LIN Po-Heng (TPE), Team Meritus 1:35.140
4. No. 14 Keiko IHARA (JPN), TeamYellow Hat 1:35.249
5. No. 27 Tohru JITSUKAWA (JPN), Autosport Racing 1:36.030
6. No. 61YOU Kyong-Ouk (KOR), BMW Korea E-Rain 1:36.078
7. No. 3 Tyson SY (PHI), Goddard-QHR 1:36.374
8. No. 6 Ajit KUMAR (IND), Team India Racing 1:36.452
9. No. 11 N. HORTHORTHONGKUM (THA), Three Crowns Racing 1:36.551
10. No. 83 Rajvirdhan VIJAYAKUMAR (IND), Team India Racing 1:37.069
11. No. 2 Dado PENA (PHI), Goddard-QHR 1:37.776
12. No. 41 Ryo NAKANO (JPN), Team Forty-One 1:37.902
13. No. 16 Gary SHAM (CHN), Three Crowns Racing 1:38.092
14. No. 55 Akiko KOBAYASHI (JPN), Auto Bacs 1:38.322
15. No. 7 Ferhan FAUZY (MAL), Team Meritus 1:39.064
16. No. 8 CHIN TZER JINN (MAL), Team Meritus 1:39.940
17. No. 9 LEE Doo-Young (KOR), E-Rain Racing 1:40.942

# # #
June 28, 2003
Issued by Motorsport Asia Limited. For further information please contact
Kumaran at Motorsport Asia Limited in Kuala Lumpur on kumaran@afos.com.my
/telephone (6019)+ 337 6765.