Craft-Bamboo Racing’s GT4 pair of Frank Yu and Richard Wee were victorious in Race 1 after a stellar drive in extremely challenging conditions! In the GT3 category, Maximilian Goetz scored a Pole Position for Race 2, but the team were unfortunate not to achieve more in Korea after several incidents that hindered the good progress made throughout the weekend. Daniel Au and Melvin Moh had a clean weekend, scoring points in the Pro-Am class after working well together to make great progress with each passing session. In the #99 Mercedes-AMG GT3, Darryl O’Young and Christina Nielsen had a tough but clean weekend at the highly technical Korea circuit, and managed to score points in the Silver Cup.
QUALIFYING RESULTS
#55 Mercedes-AMG GT3
Qualifying 1 | P18 – 2:25.374 – Daniel Au
Qualifying 2 | P12 – 2:08.764 – Melvin Moh
#88 Mercedes-AMG GT3
Qualifying 1 | P13 – 2:11.823 – Jeffrey Lee
Qualifying 2 | P1 – 2:07.442 – Maximilian Goetz
#99 Mercedes-AMG GT3
Qualifying 1 | P9 – 2:10.648 – Christina Nielsen
Qualifying 2 | P13 – 2:09.029 – Darryl O’Young
#77 Mercedes-AMG GT4
Qualifying 1 | P2 – 2:23.004 – Frank Yu
Qualifying 2 | P3 – 2:23.860 – Richard Wee
RACE 1
#55 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Daniel Au & Melvin Moh
Daniel Au took the start from 18th position, and his cautious start meant that he was able to avoid the first lap chaos, gaining 2 places on the opening lap. Despite this being the first time at the highly technical and demanding Korea Circuit, the Singaporean driver drove a clean stint and handed the car over to teammate Melvin Moh from 16th position.
When Moh took over, he immediately got to work making up time. With temperatures soaring, the Malaysian Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy instructor kept his head cool and proceeded to set personal best laptimes, but was unable to close up the gaps to the cars in front. The #55 car eventually crossed the line in 16th position.
#88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Jeffrey Lee & Maximilian Goetz
Taiwanese GT veteran Jeffrey Lee took the start for the #88 entry from 13th place, and taking care to avoid contact, only losing one position during the opening lap exchanges. He continued to push on, however on lap 7, contact with another car meant that he suffered damage. The team attempted to find a solution but the #88 was unfortunately forced to retire due to the damage sustained.
#99 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Christina Nielsen & Darryl O’Young
Christina Nielsen started the race from 9th position, and got off to an aggressive start, gaining one place on the opening lap. The young Dane defended well for 8th place for several laps, placing the car perfectly on the tight Yeongam circuit. However, right before the pit window, Nielsen was hit from the car behind, spinning her around and causing her to lose a few positions.
When teammate Darryl O’Young took over, he wasted no time getting on the pace. O’Young quickly moved up one place soon after taking over the controls, and made his way to 12th place with 10 minutes to go. Despite pushing hard for the remainder of his stint, the #99 car crossed the line in P12.
#77 Mercedes-AMG GT4 | Frank Yu & Richard Wee
After a qualifying session that saw Frank Yu barely missing out on Pole Position, the Hong Kong race driver started the race with his elbows out. Yu held his position, and set his sights on chasing the leader. His great pace meant that he was able to close down the gap, and with 10 minutes to go to the driver change, Yu managed to get past and took the lead of the race.
When Yu handed the car to Singaporean teammate Richard Wee, quick work from the pit-crew meant that the #77 car was still in the lead. The gap to the car behind was close, but Wee was determined to maintain his position. He kept his head down, and his consistent lap times meant that he managed to hold off the chasing car, and crossed the line to take an incredible debut victory.
RACE 2
#55 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Daniel Au & Melvin Moh
It was always going to be tricky starting mid-pack in P12, and Melvin Moh began the race for the #55 car, taking care to avoid contact during the opening lap scramble. In the ensuing laps, Moh kept his head cool in the hot conditions, methodically working his way through the pack, including daring overtakes around the outside.
His progress meant that when he handed the car over to teammate Daniel Au, the Singaporean driver emerged with a clear track. Keeping his focus on a clean and consistent stint, Au made good progress and eventually crossed the line in P17, and 8th in the GT3 Pro-Am class.
#88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Jeffrey Lee & Maximilian Goetz
After a great qualifying that saw Maximilian Goetz put the #88 car on Pole Position, a penalty from incidents in Race 1 meant that the German ace started from 6th place on the grid. At the start, Goetz almost made up 2 positions but was spun around at turn 1. This unfortunate contact dropped the #88 car to last place. Goetz wasted no time in recovering, and set to work fighting through the pack.
Hard work meant that he was able to recover to 8th place, and handed the car over to Jeffrey Lee with 25 minutes to go. After the pit-stop window, Lee found himself in the middle of the pack, scrapping for position whilst managing the slower GT4 traffic. Steady and consistent driving meant he was up to 12th place with 5 laps to go, and eventually crossed the line to score valuable points in the Pro-Am category.
#99 Mercedes-AMG GT3 | Darryl O’Young & Christina Nielsen
Darryl O’Young started the race for the #99 entry in P13, and immediately set his sights on making up places. An aggressive first lap meant that the Hong Kong GT veteran had worked his way up to P9 by end of first lap. Keeping cool under the intense heat, O’Young drove a clean stint, and maintained the gap to the cars in front.
After the driver change, Christina Nielsen emerged in P13 and had her focus on making up ground to the pack ahead. In the ensuing laps, Nielsen managed her tyres well whilst setting good laptimes, and managed to close up the gaps. Her progress during her stint meant that she worked her way past 2 cars, and eventually crossed the line in P11 overall, and 7th in the GT3 Silver Cup.
#77 Mercedes-AMG GT4 | Frank Yu & Richard Wee
Going into Race 2 off the back of a victory, Richard Wee start the race for the #77 car from 3rd position after a strong qualifying and looked set to have a good race. The Singaporean GT veteran got off to a cautious start, and drove a measured stint despite an issue with the car. The lack of pace meant that when he handed the car over to Frank Yu, the #77 car had dropped back down to 5th place.
Quick work from the pit-crew meant that Frank Yu emerged in P4. Yu pushed on despite the lingering issue, and managed to maintain the gaps to the cars in front. Despite the issue, Yu’s consistent and clean stint meant that the #77 car held on to his position and eventually crossed the line in P4, scoring more points in the GT4 class.
QUOTES
Daniel Au | Driver #55 Mercedes-AMG GT3
“It was a tough weekend, Korea was a very challenging circuit and the conditions were hot and I think that we have more pace than what was shown. Already looking forward to the season finale in Shanghai in a few weeks and we hope to end the season strongly!”
Melvin Moh | Driver #55 Mercedes-AMG GT3
“I’d say the weekend was fairly difficult as the circuit was new to me and Daniel. The layout of the circuit was very technical, and you need a lot of track time to get up to speed. Qualifying wasn’t what we expected and we struggled a little bit in some areas. Race 1 was okay, we had decent race pace. Race 2 was a bit of a missed opportunity as I was stuck behind some slower cars after avoiding the contact at the start. We’ll be working hard to analyse points from this weekend, and I think with the progress that we make every weekend, we should do better in Shanghai!”
Jeffrey Lee | Driver #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3
“Tough weekend for us, and we were not able to capitalize on the actual potential of the car. Maximilian showed what the car was capable of during qualifying, putting it on pole position, but contact in both races basically meant that we had an uphill battle. Looking forward to Shanghai where I have experience there, and hope to end the season on a high!”
Maximilian Goetz | Driver #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3
“Thanks to the team for providing a quick car, and we showed that with a pole position for Race 2. Was unfortunate to be caught up in the opening lap chaos, but that’s how racing is sometimes! It was nice to meet the team and set a good baseline for the Suzuka 10 Hour in a few weeks, and I’m really looking forward to being back with Craft-Bamboo Racing.”
Christina Nielsen | Driver #99 Mercedes-AMG GT3
“Obviously not the kind of result we wish to walk away with but those weekends are a part of racing. The focus will now be to return to the final round and leave with a strong result. Would be a nice way to finish of a season that included a double podium so far.”
Darryl O’Young | Driver #99 Mercedes-AMG GT3
“It was a really disappointing weekend for our car; the weekend started off well and we had good pace in practice but we couldn’t deliver in qualifying and the race. We’ll look to improve and find out what went wrong, and bounce back strong at the season finale in Shanghai.”
Frank Yu | Driver #77 Mercedes-AMG GT4
“After just missing out on a pole position was slightly disappointing, but we managed to score a win in the race on Saturday and it was a good feeling, especially with Richard as it was his first time in the car this season! Race 2 was a missed opportunity, and we didn’t achieve our potential due to an issue but I’m looking forward to the next round in Shanghai!”
Richard Wee | Driver #77 Mercedes-AMG GT4
“I really enjoyed my time with the team this weekend, and it feels great to score a win at the first time out on Saturday. Thanks to the team’s hard work to give us a car capable of the victory, we had hoped for a similar result on Sunday but it was not to be as there was an issue that hindered our pace.”