Craft-Bamboo Racing aim for double endurance wins in a single weekend

Craft-Bamboo Racing is back at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia to participate in Asia’s biggest endurance race - the Sepang 12-Hour Endurance. Meanwhile, Craft-Bamboo Racing will also be entering the Asian Le Mans Series 3 hours of Fuji at the Fuji International Speedway on the same weekend of 28-31 August 2014.

The team is aiming for the top step of the podium with its #007 Aston Martin Vantage V12 GT3 entry, driven by a strong trio of drivers, all experienced and familiar with the car. Nicknamed ‘The Hulk’, the Aston will have, team owner, Frank Yu (HKG) who is one of Asia’s leading amateur GT drivers and regular at the MME. He will be making his return this year partnering with his GT Asia driving partners, Stefan Mücke (DEU) and Warren Luff (AUS).

Mücke and Yu competed at Sepang just a week ago in the GT Asia race, where the duo came out with victory in the one-hour race. Joining them will be Luff, an Australian V8 superstar, former V8 Rookie of the Year and current Australian Carrera Cup Championship leader.

Last year the team’s entry with Yu partnering Alain Li (HKG) and Richard Lyons (GBR) also in the Aston Martin, finished the race in ninth after a strong lead at the start of the race. The team suffered some bad luck in 2013 and is more motivated than ever to push on for a stronger finish to claim the crown from fierce on track rivals, Clearwater Racing.

Craft-Bamboo Racing had its first night practice on Tuesday with Luff at the wheel and the car has a good race pace and set-up. Yu said it best during an interview earlier this week, “we always prepare our cars down to the finest details, we will do the same this year but a 12 hour race is a 12 hour race, our fingers are crossed to finish the race free of trouble”.

In Japan, the trio of Kevin Tse (MAC), Samson Chan (HKG), and Mathias Beche (SUI) will be at the wheel of the team’s #77 Ligier JS-53 Evo CN Prototype. The team is preparing for a wet weather outing this weekend at Fuji Speedway with the temperatures expected to be between 18^o to 24^o Celsius.

Both Tse and Beche, along with Yu, raced with the team last month at Inje Speedium in Korea. The team collected maximum points during the outing overcoming numerous issues, showing great teamwork at every turn. This weekend will be slightly different during the three-hour race, with Chan, an experienced amateur GT driver taking the place of longtime friend, Yu. Chan, is a Series regular in both GT Asia Series and the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, he also participated in a number of races in the Asian Formula Renault in 2012 and 2013.

It will be an interesting weekend for the team with two endurance races and two groups of strong drivers battling for wins over the weekend.

Qualifying for the Sepang 12-Hour Endurance is scheduled to be held on Friday, 29 August 2014. Driver #1, at 2.00-2.30pm, driver #2 at 3.20-3.50pm and driver #3 at 4.40-5.10pm (Malaysian time). The race will be flagged off at noon on Saturday, 30 August and finish at midnight.

The Asian Le Mans Series qualifying will be held on Saturday, 30 August 2014 at 10-10.30am (Japan time) with race day on Sunday, 31 August at 2.30pm.

Craft-Bamboo Racing was formed as the result of a merger between two renowned race teams - GT and endurance winners Craft Racing AMR and WTCC Independent champions Bamboo Engineering - to form Craft-Bamboo Racing. The partnership was announced early April, prior to the teams first outing at the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Europe.

In the 2014, Craft-Bamboo Racing competes in three renowned race series from around the world - in Europe with the FIA World Endurance Championship, and in Asia with the GT Asia Series and the Asian Le Mans Series. The team also enters a variety of endurance races, including the 24 Hour of Le Mans, the Sepang 12 Hour and also the 24 Hours Dubai.

Craft-Bamboo Racing’s efforts are made possible with the support of team partners: Gravity Partnership, POAD, Interush, Ravenol, Kee Wah Bakery, Racerlink, Orangebus and Tunewear.

Craft-Bamboo Racing