After finishing in third yesterday and fifth last weekend (18 May) in the season-opener of the GT Asia Series, the #97 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Craft-Bamboo Racing leaves the Korean International Circuit in third place overall in the driver’s championship standings. The’s mid-afternoon race was filled with action at the start, with Frank Yu (HK) in car #97 making up two positions as soon as the lights went out. Behind him, starting from sixth in the #99, Natasha Seatter (MY) kept the car out of trouble in the rush for turn one and confidently maintained her position.
From there, the duo stayed with the front-running pack engaging in a three-way Aston Martin battle with Jiang Xin, who changed positions with Seatter a few times before making it stick on lap five. Seatter, running in sixth position, spun on lap eight to lose four spots before rejoining in tenth. However, the Malaysian driver was unfazed and quickly recovered a position in the next lap to continue in ninth. Meanwhile, up ahead, Yu in fourth position continued to be pursued by Xin, who finally found a way past the Hong Kong driver on lap nine, forcing the #97 back into fifth place. The positions remained until the pit-window opened for the driver change.
Warren Luff (AU) took over from Yu and rejoined the race in sixth after the team was given a four second time penalty as compensation time for finishing third in race one. However, Luff finished the race in fifth as the Audi driven by Alex Yoong dropped out of the race on lap 21. In the #99, Seatter handed the car over to Tacksung Kim (KR) who managed to set a good pace but left the pits with a big gap between him and the car ahead. Kim managed to maintain his position all the way to the end of the race to finish in ninth.
The team was happy with its first outing in the GT Asia Series and with the points collected. Car #97 scooped a total of 23 points to place third on the championship points. Team Manager, Russell Eeles commented: “All in all it was a very successful season opener in GT Asia for Craft-Bamboo Racing. We were happy with the performance of all the drivers and the team gelled well together.
We are looking forward to our next outing in Autopolis where we are looking forward to building on all the positives achieved this weekend. Excellent performance by all involved, right through the team”. Craft-Bamboo Racing will return to the circuit for round two of the GT Asia Series on Sunday, 18th May at 15:00 KST. The team will then pack up for rounds three and four, to be held at the Autopolis International Circuit, Japan from 30th May to 1st June 2014. Craft-Bamboo Racing was formed as the result of a merger between two renowned race teams – GT and endurance series participants Craft Racing AMR and touring car series participants Bamboo Engineering – to make Craft-Bamboo Racing. The partnership was announced early April, prior to its first outing at the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Europe. Craft-Bamboo Racing’s campaign in the 2014 GT Asia Series can only be made possible with the continued support of the team sponsors; Gravity Partnership, POAD, Motul, Racerlink, Tunewear and Vortex Racewear.
