Marchy Lee Ying-kin would not drive again for Team China this season, a team official said, and their A1GP partnership appears to be at an end because, at 31, he is considered too old. Lee, one of Hong Kong's top drivers, has served as the team's practice-session driver, but had been expected to play a more prominent role in this weekend's Zhuhai leg because of his familiarity with the circuit. Instead, he is not even at the Zhuhai International Circuit and Frankie Cheng Congfu, 23, remains in his lead driving role for today's two races. Lee (pictured) has been unavailable for comment. An unnamed Team China official said yesterday Lee would not be returning for the rest of the year and the team would start searching for a new second driver after today's race. Team owner Liu Yu said he was unaware such a decision had been made, but admitted members of his team often received news before he did. 'As we know, Marchy is an experienced driver, but also a little bit old,' Liu said. 'If we always keep him as a second driver, maybe he's not happy. I didn't think Marchy would leave us like this, but he also has to manage [what's best] for himself.' Lee was selected as the team's second driver in September, with his role to drive in the rookie practice session and provide data for Cheng. 'He [has driven] a lot of races and he can drive the car safely and not damage the car,' Liu said of his reasons for choosing Lee. Team China said reports that Lee stood a chance of racing in yesterday's qualifying session in Zhuhai were inaccurate, although they had previously said they would not rule out the opportunity for the second driver to race. Cheng, however, has been driving well and yesterday qualified fourth for today's sprint and sixth for the feature race. Team China are 10th in the 22-team standings before the fourth of the 10 legs. On pole for this morning's sprint is Germany's Michael Ammermuller, while series leader Neel Jani of Switzerland has pole position for the feature race.