After claiming their first round victory in only their third event with the GT Asia Series, the FFF Racing Team by ACM McLaren squad return to Japan this weekend to contest the fifth and sixth rounds of the series, carrying great momentum into Fuji after Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Tonio Liuzzi scored the team’s historic maiden victory in Okayama three weeks ago.
The team as a group carry plenty of momentum into Fuji, with Hamaguchi who is a former race winner for McLaren [2013] at the 16-turn 4.563-kilometre venue, whilst his team-mate Tonio Liuzzi has prior Super GT and Super Formula experience at the former F1 circuit, where he also finished ninth, just outside the points in the Torro-Rosso Ferrari in the 2007 Japanese Formula One Grand Prix. The Italian also enjoys previous sportscar experience at the popular circuit in the foothills of Mount Fuji, having contested the World Endurance Championship in 2012-2013 in a Lotus LMP2 car, so he has plenty of knowledge to draw on, although the Italian star admits it’s a tricky circuit.
“Sector three is very challenging, and the conditions are usually very hard to judge, especially this time of year, so there are a lot of things you need to consider at Fuji.
“It is a fantastic venue to race at, and the fans are especially passionate which makes it even more enjoyable, but it’s hard work as a driver to get the best out of the car, but we’re hoping our past experience as a team will carry Hiroshi and I onto another win for the year.”
Whilst Liuzzi’s experience at Fuji is matched, and perhaps bettered by Andrea Caldarelli, the Super GT and Super Formula regular has contested many miles at the Japanese circuit over recent years, however this weekend he will be stepping aside from his role with the FFF team as a driver, after a clash of dates with Super Formula, who are also competing at Fuji this weekend.
“As a result, we have drafted Andre Couto into the team to join [Sean] Fu Songyang,” Caldarelli explained. “Andre is a very experienced campaigner in Asia, and a former race winner and pole sitter in Audi R8 LMS Cup around here, so he will make a fantastic addition to the team.”
Couto though wasn’t the only new addition to the team, with the Jiang Xin/Max Wiser McLaren also enjoying a new crew, after the two Shanghai-based drivers committed to drive the Spirit of Race Ferrari at Fuji, after agreeing terms earlier in the season with car-owner Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo to run the car in their absence.
That vacancy has been filled by two more than capable drivers, with multiple Australian GT race winners Nathan Antunes and Rod Salmon joining the team.
Antunes has been the most successful driver in the 2015 Australian GT Championship, having claimed three wins in six races so far this season driving an Audi R8 LMS ultra owned by two-time Bathurst 12-Hour champion Rod Salmon. Salmon too has gained plenty of experience this year, having contested a number of races for Audi in Germany at the Nurburgring, including the recent 24-Hour event, so both are ‘race fresh’.
Antunes is no stranger to GT Asia, having campaigned the Dilango Racing Lamborghini of Dilantha Malagamuwa last season in both Autopolis and Sepang, however the former open-wheel star has an additional tie to the series, having been once managed by FFF Racing Team by ACM’s Alf Boarer.
“I’m really looking forward to returning to GT Asia and joining the FFF Racing Team by ACM squad,” Antunes admitted. “I enjoyed my time in the series last year, but felt that I had some unfinished business to take care of, and this opportunity gives me a perfect opportunity to battle at the front end of the field.
“Alf and I have known each other since I was in open-wheelers in Europe during my formative years as a driver, and rejoining him and my Australian engineer Rik Kemp – who has been engineering that car all year – is a great opportunity. To have Rod come along for the event too is almost the perfect!”
“Asia has been on my radar for a while,” Rod Salmon added. “The series is super competitive, and the cars are every bit as good as the best in Europe, so when I was given the chance to join Nathan and the FFF Racing Team, I didn’t have to think too long and hard about it.”
Whilst originally slated to take over the Xin/Wiser McLaren, the two Australians were ultimately drafted into the #5 car, after the #9 McLaren was heavily damaged in pre-event testing.
“As part of our commitment to McLaren, we made the car available for an experienced Japanese driver to test the car in order to assess it as an option for his 2016 plans,” FFF Racing Team by ACM Team Manager Alf Boarer confirmed.
“It was going very well, however the open test at Fuji saw drivers in road cars also circulating, and one of them turned in on the McLaren on the run into the high speed second turn having not seen the race car approaching. Contact was relatively light as they got together, but the McLaren was forced off into the barriers. Whilst it looks bad, it is repairable, but we can’t do the job 100% here, so we were forced to retire it for the weekend and put Nathan and Rod into Andrea and Sean’s #5 car.”
That decision meant another new addition to the team for Fuji, with Fu and Couto taking over the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 that contested a number of rounds of the 2014 GT Asia Series for the Japanese B-Max team.
And to add a further challenge to the Fuji round of the series – like 2014, a Typhoon is likely to impact the circuit during the event, with heavy rain predicted at times, although it was expected to clear ahead of the two 60-minute races scheduled for the weekend.
Both races will be available to view on YouTube, keep an eye on www.facebook.com/fffracingteambyacm for details, and also www.youtube.com/AFOSTV
2015 GT Asia Series – Championship Points
GT3 (after round four of 11)
1. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (57-points), 2. Adderly Fong/Keita Sawa (45), 3. Darryl O’Young/Jonathan Venter (42), 4. Richard Lyons/Frank Yu (37), 5. Piti Bhirom Bhakdi (34), 6. Hiroshi Hamaguchi/Vitantonio Liuzzi (28), 7. Richard Wee (27), 8. Jeffrey Lee (25), 9. Carlo Van Dam (24), 10. Jacky Yeung/Duncan Tappy (21), 11. Matt Griffin, Zen Low/Fairuz Fauzy (18), 12. Sean Fu/Andrea Caldarelli (17)