Marsh crowned at Macau

Matthew Marsh from Hong Kong is the 2004 Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia Champion. He took the series crown at the Macau Grand Prix meeting in a tense ten-lap encounter with championship rivals Charoensukhawatana Nattavude of Thailand and Charles Kwan from Hong Kong.

Marsh withstood massive pressure in the race to take the crown in the decider to this 11-race series. Marsh took the lead off the startline from the pole sitter Rizal Ramli and led in the early going. Ramli hit Marsh up the rear at the Melco hairpin on lap one and later passed him on the approach to Lisboa Bend. Ramli went on to win the race in a time of 32 mins 29.365 seconds.

Matthew Marsh then came under pressure from Darryl O'Young who succeeded in passing, only to fumble his approach at Melco and clout the barriers, letting Marsh back into second place. O'Young got going again and eventually finished seventh

Championship rival Charles Kwan really woke up in the second half of the race, passing Nattavude and setting the fastest lap of the race in his last Macau appearance. He is retiring from sprint racing after many years but may appear with Matthew Marsh at Le Mans next year. Nattavude eventually finished fourth

The championship leader going into the final round, Charoensukhawatana Nattavude, never really got to grips with Marsh and watched his slender one point lead melt away as he conceded the last podium position to Charles Kwan.

The race finished under the safety car as Scott Miau had a car- destroying accident across the start finish line on lap eight.

Final points:

Matthew Marsh 179
Charoensukhawatana Nattavude 176
Charles Kwan 162
Razil Ramli 152