It was a successful first Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) outing for Aylezo’s Zen Low just last week when he participated in the ALMS 2015/2016 season with Atlantic Racing Team at Sepang International Circuit.
The team, with a combined pairing of Atlantic’s expertise and Aylezo’s capable crew, took the Prince Lubricans decked Wolf Racing GB08 CN to qualify first in class and then bringing it to the podium in the 3-hour race.
Being in the CN for the first time, Zen, a regular GT driver, had to quickly get used to the car before the race. He said, “it is a very different car as it does not have any driver aids. No power steering, no ABS, no traction control, nothing. So in terms of driving, it is more difficult to drive a CN.
“It was a good experience. The weekend did not go as smoothly as we were still new to the car and there was a lot of set-up needed and we also had to get used to the car. I would have been more comfortable in a GT car”.
Having said that, Zen was paired with two capable drivers and together, the trio made it a great weekend, securing pole in class and finishing the race on the podium. “I was lucky to be paired with two great drivers with Swedish GP3 driver, John Bryant and 2014’s Super Trofeo Champion (Am), Toshiyuki Ochiai. They too learnt the car fast, despite the limited time we had together in the CN and we made it work.”
The steep learning curve aside, Zen had the advantage of knowing his home circuit well and did not have the added pressure of having to learn the track. “It was a blessing in disguise that we missed the Fuji round, coming into the season here in Sepang gave us the opportunity to learn the car without the added pressure and our Aylezo mechanics also got the chance to really concentrate on learning the car. It was a great combination and we are all looking forward to further collaboration with the Atlantic crew for the rest of the season.”
The Asian Le Mans Series continues with two more outings, at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand on 8-10 January before heading back to Malaysia for the finale on 23-24 January 2016.