It was a challenging weekend for Craft-Bamboo Racing in Shanghai, with the team blighted by bad luck in both races, but they overcame the challenge to collect more championship points and valuable data regarding their two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs. Richard Lyons was on the pace in race one after starting in P6 and was looking like a strong contender until contact with another car. This forced a drive through penalty for Frank Yu after the driver change, ruining the #88 Porsche’s chance of a solid finish. Darryl O’Young made some good moves up the field in race one but after the compulsory pit stop change to Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi, the #91 VLT Porsche developed an electrical fault, which caused them to retire the car a few laps from the finish. The bad luck continued in race two with the unfortunate coming together of the #88 and #91 Porsches during an honest racing incident between teammates on the second lap. After the spin, both cars fought valiantly and with pure determination to regain as many positons as possible, with the #91 Porsche finishing in P12 and the #88 Interush Porsche in P16. While it wasn’t an ideal result, a lot was gained from the weekend in Shanghai, with more vital setup data now available for both cars as well as increased seat time for all four drivers.
Qualifying
#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R
Richard Lyons was out first in an attempt to snatch the front row of the grid for the #88 Inteursh Porsche. He set a quick time of 2:06.157, which was only 0.2s off P1. Even with his fast lap, Lyons secured P6 for race one, showing just how close this season’s competitors really are.
Frank Yu was tasked with securing race two’s starting position and he remained on the tyres that Lyon’s had used in the previous session, deciding to save a fresh set for the coming race. Frank set a time of 2:10.181, which would see him start P14 for Sunday’s race.
#91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R
Darryl O’Young struggled with a new setup in qualifying, losing pace compared with the practice sessions on Friday. He recorded a flying lap of 2:08.523 that gave him a starting position of P15 for race one and a big challenge to conquer later that day.
In Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi’s first ever qualifying session in Shanghai he managed to take the ninth fastest time, which was a solid effort given his lack of experience at the Chinese circuit. His top ten starting positon gave him a chance to make up places in the race and score some possible points for the #91’s campaign.
Race One
#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R
Richard Lyons got off to a good start from P6, making a smooth manoeuvre around the outside to slot into P5. Over the coming laps, Lyons was able to retain his position and keep pace with the front runners. He managed to stay ahead until lap eight, when the #88 Porsche began to drop off the pace. Lyons’ stint did not improve when he made contact with the #15 Lamborghini before heading into the pits to switch over to Frank Yu. Frank re-joined the race in P10 but was called back into the pits to complete a drive through penalty for Lyons’ earlier contact. This dropped the Interush Porsche down to P14 but Frank was undeterred; he used the rest of the race to further learn the car and the circuit, while gathering as much data as possible for Sunday’s race.
#91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R
Darryl O’Young started the #91 VLT Porsche from P15 on the grid, but was able to make a strong start and take P14 within the first few laps. The Hong Kong driver’s pace steadily increased, setting his best lap time of the race as he got settled into his stint. O’Young fought hard and managed to hand the car over to his teammate Bhirombhakdi, who left the pits in P11 and manged to keep pace with the other bronze drivers. Unfortunately, an electrical problem developed and began to cause a misfire, forcing the #91 VLT Porsche to lose power and force an early retirement just before the end of the race.
Quotes
#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R
Richard Lyons, Driver #88
“I had a fairly good start in race one, came from P6 to P5 and the car felt good for the first few laps but unfortunately we just didn’t have the pace. We then had some contact, which led to some other problems and a drive through penalty, which was perhaps a little unfair. In any case, we didn’t get the result we were hoping for.”
Frank Yu, Driver #88
“Richard passed the car onto me during the driver change and after I got in the car I was told to serve a drive through penalty for Richard Lyons’ contact with the Lamborghini earlier in the race. When I came out I was dead last, so I drove my own race and tried to gather as much data and experience as possible.”
#91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R
Darryl O’Young, Driver #91
“We decided to sacrifice this race due to our bad start position and save our tyres for race two, so we didn’t have good tyres under us. I’d say that the race started off ok, we were able to overtake a couple of cars, but towards the end of the race there was an electrical issue with the car, which caused a misfire. It was a shame to have to retire the car as we could have scored some points, so it was a disappointing end.”
Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi, Driver #91
“I took over from Darryl and we had some pretty good pace, after six or seven laps we started to develop some engine issues. Several cars began to pass us and unfortunately we had to retire the car to prevent any further engine damage.”
Race Two
#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R
It was Frank’s turn to get the #88 Interush Porsche underway for race two and after a clean start he began to advance up the field. By the second lap, Frank had taken two places and was up into P12. With his teammate in the #91 VLT right behind in P13 and challenging for position, an unfortunate racing incident eventuated at turn one. The pair of drivers touched, and with the subsequent rubbing on both vehicles, each driver spun around, dropping them back down the field and undoing their good work from the race start. Frank’s Porsche was unable to be restarted quickly, which lost him a significant amount of time and track positions. After Frank got back up to speed, he was no longer able to compete for position but with pure grit he pushed the #88 Porsche to its limit and put in his best lap times of the weekend before handing over to his teammate. Lyons put in a stellar performance as usual and worked to close the gap as much as possible, but there was not enough time to catch the rest of the pack. After gaining more vital data about the Porsche, Lyons crossed the line to end a tough weekend in Shanghai but one in which valuable setup information was gained from each session.
#91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R
Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi took the reins of the #91 VLT Porsche for the start of race two and gave chase to those ahead, hoping to carve his way up the field. On lap two though, contact between himself and Frank caused him to spin. Bhirombhakdi got straight back on the pace and continued his fight from P15. By the time the pit window opened, the young GT3 driver had made up another position and handed over to O’Young in P14. The 2015 drivers’ champion began his push to the finish and throughout his stint was able to take another two positions and complete the hour long race in P12. While it wasn’t the result the #91 pair hoped for, the team continues to move in the right direction with the collection of data at each track they visit. Craft-Bamboo will be looking ahead to the next round in Zhejiang to finish the season on a high note.
Quotes
#88 Interush Porsche 911 GT3 R
Frank Yu, Driver #88
“Started off with a new set of tyres and had a really good start and was able to gain a couple of good positions. I caught up to my teammate, and we had a little bit of rubbing and both spun at turn one. It was really difficult for the car to start, I wasted a lot of time trying to get the car started and then I was just running my own race. One positive was that I was able to produce my best lap times of the weekend before handing over to Richard.”
Richard Lyons, Driver #88
“It was very frustrating, we didn’t have a good starting position and Frank tried his best but he had a little contact, which set us back. He then had a little problem with his engine while trying to restart it, and then we were kind of out of it. On a positive though, we found good setup and car speed, so perhaps we can bring this forward to the final rounds in Zhejiang.”
#91 VLT Porsche 911 GT3 R
Darryl O’Young, Driver #91
“Race two was very positive; of course I’d say there is nothing you can do when Toy had an incident and a spin. It was unfortunate, but the positive side was that the car was quite quick and we made a lot of progress on the setup. I had the best car under me for the weekend. We are always continually looking forward to the future, we were able to have some good battles with the other cars and we are heading in the right direction.”
Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi, Driver #91
“Started race two but didn’t have the best start, I got blocked in but managed to make up some positions and then we ran into a racing incident with another car, which dropped us out of the running. I was able to make up some positions before handing over the car to Darryl.”
Richard Coleman, CEO of Craft-Bamboo Racing
“A very tough weekend for us that was hampered by bad luck and lack of pace, but we still managed to take away some positives. As reigning champions of this series we know that we are better than the results that we are currently achieving. We are in this for the long haul but we still have a lot of work to do regarding our pace and setup of both Porsches.”
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