Hong Kong driver tops every session at the GT3 event during first weekend in Macau
Craft-Bamboo Racing achieves three-peat victory at 70th Macau Grand Prix
Team shifts focus to upcoming two-car entry in the FIA GT World Cup
Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young kicked off the 70th Anniversary of the Macau Grand Prix in stellar fashion for Craft-Bamboo Racing, dominating the Greater Bay Area GT Cup (GT3) to claim his fifth win at Macau in a GT car. He topped the timesheets in every session in his #55 HK Asia Medical Group-liveried Mercedes-AMG GT3, eventually claiming a comfortable victory on Sunday of the first weekend of this two-week motorsport spectacle. Craft-Bamboo Racing also celebrated a hat-trick of victories at Macau in 3 consecutive years, now shifting their attention to the highly anticipated return of the FIA GT World Cup with a two-car entry this coming weekend.
This year’s Macau Grand Prix marked an incredible 19th participation for the Hong Kong driver who has celebrated his fair share of success around the Guia Circuit. His experience shone through, starting the weekend strong by topping the timing sheets during the first and only free practice session, setting a time of 2:21.076, over 2 seconds faster than the driver in P2. O’Young carried his fantastic form into qualifying later that afternoon, as he consistently improved his lap times on each lap during a red flag-filled session. The #55 Mercedes-AMG eventually claimed pole position for the race on Sunday, with a time of 2:19.304.
The unpredictability of the Macau Grand Prix brought with it a new set of challenges on Sunday, as rain in the morning washed away all the rubber and grip that was laid down. However, this did not deter O’Young from having a brilliant start to the 8-lap race as he took control of the lead by placing his Mercedes-AMG GT3 on the inside line at Reservoir bend to fend off the attacking car in P2. A Safety Car was brought out due to an incident at Lisboa Corner, neutralizing the race for the next 3 laps. As the race resumed, the 4-time GT class winner expertly controlled the race restart, maintaining the lead by fending off an attack from P2 going into Lisboa corner. He eventually crossed the line in P1, holding off any late advances from the runner-up, claiming his fifth overall victory at the Macau Grand prix and a third Macau GT victory in a row for Craft-Bamboo Racing.
The team now set their sights on the FIA GT World Cup, which is set to take place from the 16th to the 19th of November. The now 5-time Macau GT class winner will take his role as Team Director as they hope to secure the top step of the podium of the most anticipated event of the Macau Grand Prix event. The team would like to thank all the partners, HK Asia Medical Group, Theodore Racing, Macau Slot, Spark Models, Lisboeta, MPlus Live, L’Arc, Combustiveis Tak Wo Hong, Aspec, Izakaya Yabai, Evisu, FreeM and Gravity Partnership for their continued support.
Darryl O'Young | Driver, #55 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing
“It was a very good race today and I’m really happy to be able to take my fifth win here. It definitely wasn't easy today because the track lost a lot of grip due to the rain overnight and some oil at Melco, so we had to feel the car’s grip. But overall I managed to get a great start and I was able to hold the lead down to Lisboa. That was the key part of the race, from then on we just had to control the race and bring it back for the chequered flag. Thank you very much to the team for all the hard work preparing for this event, it's great to take our third victory in a row in the GT race. This weekend in Macau, we will try to claim our first World Cup title, but it won’t be easy with tough competitors throughout.”
