THE OD Racing Best Leader team head into the second race weekend of the 2016-2017 Asian Le Mans Series at the Fuji Speedway this weekend knowing it could be a make-or-break mission as they pick up the pieces from a bittersweet first round in Zhuhai.
A tweak to the drivers’ line-up sees Frenchman Philippe Descombes join Fairuz Fauzy and Jono Lester on board the team’s McLaren GT650S in Fuji.
The team will look to put behind them the troubled start to their weekend in Zhuhai on October 30, which saw set up issues to the new McLaren force OD Racing to miss the first practice session and then find more trouble on race day, where an early crash saw the car pitted for repairs, eventually robbing them of a classified finish.
Former Lotus Racing F1 test driver Fairuz sees the weather and temperatures playing a significant part this weekend, but remains confident of a good outing.
“First of all, I’d like to welcome Philippe on board and I’m looking forward to meet him in Fuji.
“For me, it is going to be very interesting. Especially the weather in Fuji is very cold. Currently it is snowing in Tokyo, so hopefully it won’t be snowing in Fuji. Hopefully we have very consistent weather,” said the 34-year old Malaysian.
“It is going to be challenging for everyone, especially with the weather. It’s going to be very cold and maybe wet at the same time. It is also going to be hard for us, but I believe with the experience between the three of us we are going to have a very good set-up, especially when we’ve never tested in cold weather for McLaren.”
Question marks are left about how the car will perform in expectedly cold temperatures, especially tyres, but Fairuz will have a pair of experienced teammates, with the technical awareness to bank on.
“So far the car has been good in the wet, but in the cold I think we will find out very soon after the first free practice,” said Fairuz.
“But I believe with the experience I’ve had in a few races in recent years, in GT Asia and SuperGT, the car has been good. Also with Jono, he has good experience. He has raced in Super Taikyu and also SuperGT, so I think we can share our experience to build a quick car for Fuji.
“I believe, for Fuji we can have a very good result. Judging from Zhuhai, our car is very competitive. We were always there. In terms of timing we were always there with the top guys. We only have to put everything together and hopefully we have a very good result there. I can’t wait and I’m looking forward to it.”
Despite their troubles in the 4-Hours of Zhuhai, the GT class qualifying saw OD Racing park the McLaren in ninth on the grid, 1.3 seconds off the pole time of the Spirit of Race Ferrari of Nasrat Muzayyin, Rui Aguas and Marco Cioci which eventually taking the class win from pole.
New Zealander Lester will dig deep into his experience of racing in Japan and hopes for improvements that could drive the team towards their first podium in the McLaren.
“We are focusing on each race now and Fuji is a chance for us to really perform. Personally, I have a lot of experience and success there and with many internal improvements in the team since Zhuhai and a new driver in our line up, I’m hopeful we can challenge for a podium result,” he said.
Descombes makes the shift to the GT class, having raced in Zhuhai on board the Wineurasia Nissan with Richard Bradley and William Lok.
The technically proficient Descombes, who has a successful track record of running single-seater development teams in Asia, is naturally confident of adapting quickly to the new environment in OD Racing.
“I am looking forward to this weekend. It is a new car for me to get used to, but I am confident of adapting quickly to it and I’m looking forward to a good result,” he said.