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Australia

Craft-Bamboo Racing ready to launch GT Asia podium assault at Okayama

Both the #88 and #91 Porsche 911 GT3 Rs will be hunting for the GT Asia Series podium

#88 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R: Richard Lyons, Frank Yu

#88 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R: Richard Lyons, Frank Yu

GT Asia Series

#88 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R: Richard Lyons, Frank Yu
Race start
#88 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R: Richard Lyons, Frank Yu
#88 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R: Richard Lyons, Frank Yu
#91 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R: Darryl O'Young, Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi
#91 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R: Darryl O'Young, Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi
Start: #37 BBT Ferrari 488 GT3: Davide Rizzo, Anthony Liu leads
Atmosphere in the pitlane
Phoenix Racing garage
Darryl O’Young, Craft-Bamboo AMR
Craig Lowndes and Richard Lyons
#91 Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R: Darryl O'Young, Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi
Race 2 start action
#13 Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3: Franky Cheng, JingZu Sun
Start
Race action

Craft-Bamboo Racing is ready to launch an all-out GT Asia Series podium assault this weekend at the Okayama International Circuit in Japan. With their continued development, both the #88 and #91 Porsche 911 GT3 Rs will be hunting for the GT Asia Series podium in a bid to close the gap in the drivers’ championship standings.

The team has worked tirelessly to prepare themselves for the first Japanese round of the season and is ready to fight for the front row of the grid when the first qualifying session gets underway on Saturday. Both cars have shown a steady increase in pace since the first round and with the team’s record of success and experience at the Okayama circuit, both Porsche’s should be in with a shot for some good results this weekend.

Richard Lyons and Frank Yu

#88 Interush Porsche drivers Richard Lyons and Frank Yu have a great track record at Okayama, claiming a 2nd place podium together there last year. Lyons has been a regular competitor at the Japanese circuit over the last fifteen years during his career as a Japanese GT driver, which gives him a sizeable advantage over anyone else in the competition.

The GT ace managed a front row start position last year and he is focused on utilizing his knowledge to secure the #88 car another good position this weekend. Frank is also no stranger to Okayama, taking an incredible double win in 2013 before scoring a second place podium with Lyons last year. Both drivers have a very strong history at the Japanese circuit and with the increase in pace of their #88 Interush Porsche, they show great promise for the third race weekend of the year.

Darryl O’Young and Naiyanboh Bhirombhakdi

The #91 VLT Porsche has been on the rise and is determined to enjoy a weekend of consistent results in Japan. Darryl O’Young was also able to enjoy success at Okayama in 2015, scoring a podium in race two, which helped him towards his 2015 drivers’ championship.  His intricate understanding of the circuit should allow him to make an impact during the first qualifying session, which will be crucial for the #91 VLT Porsche's quest to get ahead of the competition.

O’Young will be lending a helping hand to his young teammate, Naiyanboh Bhirombhakdi. The Thai GT3 rookie has yet to race at Okayama but has been putting in countless hours on the simulator in preparation. Combined with O’Young’s advice, he should be able to make a strong challenge in Japan this weekend. Bhirombhakdi’s performance has steadily improved since the start of the season and Okayama could provide the perfect place for him to make his first stand on the GT Asia podium.

#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R

Frank Yu

“I am looking forward to the championship going into Japan. It has always been a great country for us and Okayama has some great elevation changes. We have done a lot of work with the car and with a better Balance of Performance we have a really good chance this weekend.”

Richard Lyons

"Okayama is one of my home circuits as I have raced there for the last 15 years. We have been on a steep learning curve ever since we received our new cars just over a few months ago. Last year, both Frank and I were competitive there so we think with the extra knowledge and time we've had with our new Porsche we have a chance to shoot for a podium."

#91 VLT Porsche

Darryl O’Young

“Really looking forward to Okayama; the team has been working really hard since the first race and we keep learning more and more each weekend. We are looking to capitalize on everything we have learnt so far to achieve a better result. We had some good fights at the last race but our pace was off so we are going to focus on our speed in qualifying. Hopefully that will help us move further up the field and allow us to achieve better results in the race.”

Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi

“After Buriram, I came back home and looked at my data and then jumped straight into the sim to prepare for Okayama, which I am really excited for. This is another track that I have yet to drive but I have been putting in a lot of time into the simulator and have been talking to Darryl (O’Young) and my engineer Phil to gain as much information as possible. I have been getting feedback on how to approach the track and how best to learn the circuit. I am extremely excited and hopefully we can come away with a good result in Japan.”

Richard Coleman, CEO of Craft-Bamboo Racing

“Okayama has been a good circuit for us in the past, with us having scored both wins and podiums there. Our drivers have a great deal of experience in Okayama and we will be aiming to continue our record of top results this weekend. The team has continued to work hard on developing our cars and we aim to be fighting at the front of the field in both qualifying and the two races.”

Craft-Bamboo Racing

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Edition

Australia