Craft-Bamboo Racing show promise during challenging weekend in Okayama

The #91 VLT Porsche of Darryl O’Young and Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi showed some excellent pace in qualifying, which continued in race one. The #91 was running in a high of P4 before finishing the 50 minute race in P9. A racing incident during an overtaking move caused them to lose track position in the latter part of the race but they were able to quickly get back up to speed and back in the fight.

Their second race began brilliantly with Bhirombhakdi making his best ever start and moving up three places to P9 where the #91 pair would stay until the end of race two. The #88 Interush Porsche’s weekend was a little more difficult after they made contact with another car at the first corner of race one, which dropped them to the back of the grid. The pair of drivers rallied and did what was necessary to climb back up to P10 by the end of the race, showing some good pace in the process.

After an initially strong charge in race two, a drive through penalty for contact prevented the #88 Porsche from being able to challenge the competition and forced them to finish in P10 once again. With more setup testing and development of both cars, Craft-Bamboo Racing is looking ahead to Fuji, where they will be aiming to best the front runners in two weeks’ time.

Qualifying

#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R

Richard Lyons was out first in the #88 Interush Porsche and went out with a new setup in the hopes of securing a spot at the sharp end of the field. The setup did not work as hoped and Lyons completed the Okayama circuit in 1:30.326s to take P9.

Frank Yu was out next in Q2 and stayed on the set of tyres that Lyons had used for his session. The #88 crew tried another setup for Frank, which helped him match the pace of the other Bronze drivers. He set a time of 1:33.859s that would see the Interush Porsche start P13 for race two.

#91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R

Darryl O’Young put in a strong qualifying session at Okayama and was able to bring out some of the fastest pace of the season from the #91 VLT Porsche. Thanks to the Hong Kong driver's efforts, he went fifth fastest with a 1:30.139s, to set himself up for a good run later that afternoon in the first race.

Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi was focused on putting in a strong qualifying lap but pushed a little too hard during his session and sent the #91 car off the track, putting an end to his stint. The Thai driver was able to set a time of 1:33.599 to see him start in P12 for the second race.

Race One

#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R

Richard Lyons was in charge of getting the #88 Interush Porsche’s race weekend underway from P9 on the start grid. He made a good rolling start but as he entered the first corner he made contact with the #8 Bentley, slowing him down and dropping him to P11. From here, Lyons began his pursuit and put his head down to focus on upping the performance. He was setting a good pace and as the laps fell he continued to set his best laps of the race. Once the pit window was open, Lyons remained out on track for as long as possible and was up to a high of P7 when he changed over to his teammate.

After a flawless stop by the Craft-Bamboo Racing crew, Frank was on track and began his push to the chequered flag. He put in a confident drive in the #88 and was able to push the Porsche in pursuit of greater performance. Frank’s pace was strong but just couldn’t challenge the other competitors as hard as he would have liked. As the flag fell after the 50 minutes of racing, Frank crossed the line in P10 to score four more championship points for their 2016 campaign.

#91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R

Darryl O’Young had a good start in the #91 and was able to get ahead and into P4 on the first lap. He was showing good pace and began to create a small gap to those behind. As the race progressed, the #91’s tyres began to drop off a little and resulted in a loss of speed for O’Young. He showed great defence against the Audi of Alex Yoong but eventually had to concede the position to him and the Ferrari of Gianmaria Bruni. O’Young continued his fight and maintained his P6 position until the driver change, giving Bhirombhakdi a chance to secure a good finish.

Bhirombhakdi put in a solid performance over the course of his stint, showing yet more improvement in the GT3 Porsche. Unfortunately, Bhirombhakdi had contact with the Bentley of Inthraphuvasak Vutthikorn during an attempted passing manoeuvre, which dropped Bhirombhakdi down the order. Bhirombhakdi made a good recovery and forged ahead, bringing the #91 VLT car over the line in P9 to give the pair another top ten finish.

Quotes from #88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R on Race 1

Richard Lyons, Driver #88: “Didn’t have a great start, I had some contact with another car and that compromised the race. From that point on we were hanging on a bit but we got some positives out of it with some direction on race setup.”

Frank Yu, Driver #88: “We tried another setup and new tyres on the rear during my stint. The car felt a lot better and I started to push and just finished up the race. Thanks to Interush for all the support this weekend, we will keep pushing to find the performance.”

Quotes from #91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R on Race 1

Darryl O’Young, Driver #91: “Race one started pretty well and I was able to overtake Alex Yoong and get up to P4. We had good pace early on, so I was able to hold the gap and stay with the front cars. Unfortunately, the pace dropped off as the tyres went away. I couldn’t hold the pace and this lost us a lot of time. Toy took over and drove a stint without any mistakes but we are still losing too much time at the moment, so at the end we couldn’t hold the position.”

Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi, Driver #91: “Darryl got off to a great start in race one and when I took over we were running P8 and kept the time steady and tried to maintain our current position but the car started to have a lot of oversteer, so I had to dial it back a bit and bring the car home.”

Race Two

#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R

Frank began the race in P13 and made a clean start, giving chase to the Audi of Alex Au. The Hong Kong driver’s pace was showing signs of improvement and by the tenth lap was locked in a fierce battle with three other cars. After making an excellent pass to take P12, Frank began to line himself up for his next attack. He made a bold move down the inside of the Ferrari of Mok Weng Sun but was caught out when the Ferrari turned into him. Frank made the pass but was given a drive through penalty for his actions, which dropped him back down to P13.

After the #91 Porsche finished their pit stop it, Frank headed into the pits and swapped to Lyons. Richard Lyons moved up into P12 after the field had settled into position after their driver changes. Lyons gave chase to the car ahead, which happened to be the #91 Porsche. The pair had a clean battle as the race entered its final stages. Lyons managed to make his way up to P10 as the flag fell and brought home another four points for the #88 pair's championship tally.

#91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R

It was Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi’s turn to take the wheel of the #91 and start race two from P12. He made the best start of the season and was able to take P9 by the end of the first lap. As the Thai driver got into a rhythm, the improvement was clear and Bhirombhakdi was lapping three seconds quicker than in race one. After completing a flawless stint, Bhirombhakdi handed over to O’Young in P10. After the pit lane shuffle was complete, O’Young got his race two charge underway.

As he headed to the finish, it was Lyons in the #88 Porsche would begin to challenge the VLT driver. The teammates had a good battle but Lyons was unable to find a way around, not having the opportunity to make a pass thanks to O’Young’s ability to keep the #91 Porsche’s pace on full boil. With zero minutes left on the clock, O’Young brought the #91 back in P9 to see them collect some more vital championship points for their 2016 season.

Quotes from #88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R on Race 2

Frank Yu, Driver #88: “For race two, we decided to test a final setup for the car and it felt a lot better than all the other sessions. I started with new tyres and I was able to push and pass a couple of cars before I handed the car to Richard. I had a little incident with the Ferrari and had a drive through penalty but I feel like we are heading in the right direction with the car now.”

Richard Lyons, Driver #88: “Took the positives from race one and used that for a setup change in race two. Frank got a good start and showed really good pace. Once I got behind the wheel I could see the changes from race one were a big improvement. We can look forward to Fuji now with a better understanding of the Porsche.”

Quotes from #91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R on Race 2

Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi, Driver #91: “We started in P12 and I had a great start where I managed to get up to P9 by turn six. I was able to hold this for most of my stint and handed over to Darryl in P10 after a really positive drive.”

Darryl O’Young, Driver #91: “Race two was pretty solid, still struggling with pace but I would say that Toy drove the best stint of his season so far. He was able to take some positions and pull away from some of the drivers. He passed it over to me in P11 and I managed to pass the Aston but that was it. I had my main battle with my teammate of the #88 sister car, Richard Lyons. It was a good fight but we don’t have the pace to stay with the other cars. Even with the safety car, we couldn’t catch up but we will just have to keep working hard and see what we can do.”

Richard Coleman, CEO of Craft-Bamboo Racing

“We showed some good improvements this weekend but are still off the pace compared to the leaders. We are continuing to work on our setup and development for the next round in Fuji, where we hope to stronger and be challenging for the podium.”

Craft-Bamboo Racing