The cooling weather at the Yas Marina Circuit did little to calm the atmosphere at the season finale of Audi's one-make race series - the R8 LMS Cup. Held over the weekend at the venue for the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix, the last two races of the season saw mounting competition as top drivers vie to snatch the remaining points to clinch the championship title.
Round 11, which was held on Saturday, 13th December, saw Andre Couto finish top spot on the podium. Taking the lead from start-to-finish in the series' first ever night race, the Portugese driver from Brothers Racing Team (bearing the purple and gold livery) grabbed crucial points to retake the lead in the championship with 175 points - nine points ahead of championship rival Alex Yoong.
Under new regulations, which specified race winners to bear additional weight ballast to even out the competition, the winner of the previous round, Yoong, had to put on an additional weight of 60kg in Saturday's race.
Unfortunately, although Yoong managed to cross the line in third, he was handed a 25-second penalty for a false start, which made him give up the final podium spot to ex-DTM (German Touring Car Championship) race driver Rahel Frey. Yoong had to settle for sixth place.
The results put Yoong and Couto, the most prominent drivers in the 2014 series with five wins each, to rival for the championship down to the last race of the season.
Expectedly, Round 12 saw intense competition between the two championship contenders. The race was filled with numerous overtaking manoeuvres, and saw both of them taking turns to lead the 35-minute race.
Couto started from pole position, but had a 60kg weight disadvantage due to his win in the previous round. Yoong then seized the chance and took the checkered flag.
Despite finishing in a close second place, Couto was handed a 25-second penalty after the race for overtaking Yoong while off the track. This caused him to drop back to ninth position in his final standing for Round 12.
As a result, Yoong clinched the overall championship with 189 points while Couto and Rahel Frey came in second and third places in the final classification with 177 and 148 points respectively. In the Amateur category, Steven Lin came in first, ahead of Ashraff Dewal and Jacky Yeung.
