Small technical problems have really given me trouble this weekend in Zhu Hai. I guess I can’t complain though, because small problems that make me a bit slower is much better than big problems that would cause a DNF!!

The tough part was that the problems were minor, but everytime, it was just enough to keep me from having a better result. For example..

On the 2nd lap of the race, an oil pressure light came on. This really scared me as I immediately thought this may cause us to have a technical failure. Thinking of the championship, I slowed the car down a little and scanned through the temperatures and readings on the dash. After seeing that everything seemed ok, I began to drive hard again on lap 3. A bit cautious, but I really felt it was the smart thing to do in case I may have been losing some oil from my engine.

I lost 3 seconds on the opening laps due to the problem, but I was exactly on pace for the rest of the race matching the leaders lap for lap and able to keep my 3rd place position.

Also, my brakes had been feeling strange and very spongy the whole weekend, especially during the race. Maybe with a longer run in the sprint race, this would cause more temperature and therefore, making the problem I had in qualifying more noticeable.

After the race, the team reviewed all the problems. It seems the oil pressure light was caused by hard acceleration at low rpm's. We did have a small oil leak during qualifying, so maybe it caused some problems with the oil levels. The team will have to look into it. Also, after the race, we found the brake master cylinders were slightly leaking. This was the problem with our brakes and I was so glad to finally find it. We changed the master cylinders in between the races.

After fixing all these probelms, I had high hopes for race 2 of the day. Immediately, the brakes felt much better and after the formation lap, I was really looking forward to challenging Jones and Sugden, the two cars ahead of me.

Unfortunately, at the race start, for some odd reason, my car felt very low in grip. We don't exactly know the reason yet, but I suspect it could be that our tire pressures were too low as the track temperature had changed slightly. I will have to look into it with my team, but I am not very satisfied with the race results as I really came into this weekend with hopes of taking a double victory.

The best part of the weekend is that we were able to continue our streak of podium finishes to 6, so I was able to overtake the championship leader, Menzel, after he spun in turn 1 giving him a DNF. I now lead the championship with 100 points, which is great!

I feel that winning championships is about overcoming tough weekends. Based on the probelems we had to overcome this weekend, I can look back and be glad that we were able to leave with two podium finishes and leading the championship table.

Lastly, great job by Keita Sawa bringing home the #16 LKM-Schnabl Engineering home in 14th position overall in the Porsche Supercup. I'm sure the team will still want to push further up the field, but it was a good debut peformance for Keita.

My next race will be in Silverstone back in the Porsche Supercup. Can't wait to get back over to the European tour for some more great racing! Talk soon!

Photos courtesy of Thomas Lam of Create Images

I would say that it has been generally a good weekend, but just not good enough. Practice yesterday was great and the cars handling felt fantastic. I also know this circuit very well, so I didn't have to worry about that side, but I put all the focus onto the setup of the car.

Michael Sauer from Schnabl Engineering has again done a great job, and the setup of the car is near perfect. Where I am struggling is with stopping the car properly. This circuit in Zhu Hai needs perfect braking and it is essential for a great lap time! There are numerous times we brake from over 200kmh to slow 2nd gear corners. This puts the drivers in a position where we are very dependent on the brakes to stop well and to be perfectly balanced.

The great thing is, after reviewing alot of data and analysing everything in detail, my team and I have discovered the problem with the brakes after the qualifying today. Unfortunately, that won't help my position on the grid, but hopefully it will give me a great car to fight with tommorrow.

The times were very close in the qualifying, but I feel I should have bettered my time today had I not struggled so much with the brakes. So yes, you can say its disappointing, but 3rd position is not too bad and with a good start in tommorows race, should put us in a good position to score good points in the championship. I look forward to tommorrows race as it will be a big fight among the top cars in the field.

Here's the top 5 for todays qualifying:

1. Christian JONES (AUS) 1:39.607

2. Tim SUGDEN (GBR) 1:39.633

3. Darryl O’YOUNG (HKG) 1:39.839

4. Marchy LEE (HKG) 1:39.848

5. Christian MENZEL (GER) 1:40.011

Lastly, best of luck to my Supercup team this weekend in Magny Cours. In qualifying, Jiri Janak put the car in 15th position, followed by the LKM Porsche with my replacement driver, Keita Sawa, in 16th position.

The racing in Supercup is again fierce with the top 16 cars within 0.5 seconds and an even more amazing statistic, the top 10 cars within 0.2 seconds. Great racing..

I wish I was there with my team in France, but just as well, I am very glad to be at my home race in Zhu Hai with my long supporting, Team Jebsen Blue Girl Beer.

Come back for the results tommorrow! Oh, btw, my neck is still sore, but doing very well. It will be fine for tommorrow's two races!

I've arrived in Zhu Hai today and have checked into my hotel. I got up pretty early this morning and went to the airport train station to meet my engineer, Michael Sauer, who flew in from Germany.

Sven Schnabl, my regular engineer, is with my LKM-Schnabl Engineering Supercup team this weekend in Magny Cours, so one of the engineers from his team has come to assist me in China for the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

We arrived at the circuit around 11am this morning and we went to work right away. We examined the car with my EKS mechanics who service my car at the track. We looked at everything very carefully as I want this weekend to be perfect for Team Jebsen.

We discussed and finalised our strategy for the weekend, made sure all the neccesary things were serviced correctly, and most importantly, worked with the team to put the perfect setup on the racecar. I remember from last season, our car was very quick here, so I'm hoping that we can again have a great car for the weekend.

My neck is slowly feeling better but still hurts when I turn my head. I'm a bit worried about how strong my neck will be through the weekend, but I'm just going to have to focus on the driving and forget about the pain. Thats the update for now...

I have two practice sessions on Friday, then the qualifying session on Saturday, followed by 2 races on Sunday. Team Jebsen and many other supporters/fans will be out at the track on Sunday, so I hope to start the weekend off well in practice tommorow!

Its been a little while since I've added an entry. I wanted to give everyone a quick update since my crash in Spa.

After Spa, I rested in Germany for about 5 days before heading over to London for a test at Silverstone.

As I had said before, my body was fine, but I had some pain in my neck. My neck started to recover rather quickly though and by the time I was in Silverstone, it felt pretty good.

Just a quick review on the test day in Silverstone. As I was in London a couple days before, the weather was beautiful and nearly 28 degrees. But of course, the morning of our test day, it began to rain!! Not very lucky with weather lately! The test day was wet and dry for most part which again, disturbed our test plan with the Supercup car. On the very last session, the track became dry, but 2 laps into the session, an LMP car dropped oil all around the circuit. It took them nearly 30min to clean it all up, and at the end, we only got 3 more laps to finish the session. Arghh..

The next day, after the test session was over, my neck felt really bad. I guess that because I used my neck muscles during the practice, it became injured again because it wasn't fully recovered.

Since coming back to HK, I've gone to see doctors about my neck. They have said that the good thing is that it is only my muscles, so it will just have to take time to recover.

I have a race this weekend in Zhu Hai for the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. I think my neck should be ok in a few days, but I'm a bit worried that after practice on Friday, it will become re-aggrevated. This may cause me to have alot of neck pain through the weekend, but I guess I will just have to tough it out. My championship results in the Carrera Cup Asia are counting on a good result this weekend, and I can't wait to get back onto the track.

If you are from Hong Kong, try to make it over to Zhu Hai this Sunday to show some support. We will be racing together with the Pan Delta Race Championship and it includes some touring car and motorcycle racing. Should be a fun weekend.

I will keep you updated through the weekend as to my condition and my results. Keep posted and see ya soon!

The past couple days, I have been over in Europe practicing. The test over in Hockenheim two days ago went pretty well. I have been focusing on changing my driving style a little in order to suit the Supercup car better. When I say to suit that car more, I basicly mean adapting myself to use the Carbon Ceramic brakes more effectively in order to feel more comfortable in the car.

Currently, when I drive the Carrera Cup Asia car with the steel brakes, I feel very comforatable and drive it with ease. When I change over to the Supercup car, I am locking brakes, fighting the car, and just not able to drive consistently.

I made big changes in Hockenheim as to how I drove the car, and I feel I made alot of progress.

The very next day, I went over to the Spa Francorchamps, in Belgium, for another day of testing. Of course, the rain followed us there and the morning was wet on the circuit. I had put in a new clutch, so in the morning, I did a few laps in order to check the car, but nothing more. In the afternoon, the track began to dry. I went for a check lap on the rain tires and saw the track was dry, so I came in and put on slick tires.

After the first 5 laps, my times began to steadily improve. I was trying some new things from what I had learned in Hockenheim. I came in for a quick check, then went back out for another few laps. On about the 10th lap, I tried to improve my time. In the famous corner Eau Rouge, I spun at the top in fifth gear and slid off the track. Because the outside of the circuit was wet, it didn't slow me down very much and I impacted the wall at around 175km/h.

It was the biggest crash I've had in my carrer so far. I went into the hospital for a checkup, but the doctor said I was fine and cleared me within 30minutes. I have a sore neck today and a slight headache, but the rest of my body feels good. Just thankful that God was watching over me yesterday!!!

The shell of the car is pretty much destroyed, the engine also took some impact, but should be ok after Porsche has a look over it. It hit the tire barrier on the left 3/4 rear of the car.

I'll need to rest in Germany the next couple days before I travel again. I had a test planned next week in London, but not too sure if the car will be fixed in time. The team will work hard to try to have a car ready for me because I want nothing more than to get back in the race car next week. Will keep you posted on the progress. I guess it's not only good news here on my blog! haha. I have had lots of messages of support from family, friends, and sponsors. I just want everyone to know that I am 100% fine and thanks so much for your concern. I greatly appreciate it. Thanks also the the Schnabl Engineering team as they will work hard to put the new car together for me.

This is a picture of the corner Eau Rouge. I enter the first left kink in 6th gear, down to fifth briefly and head up the hill. As it goes up hill, the bend goes back to the left. I spun right before the left at the top of the hill, spinning off to the right of the track and into the tire barrier.