CRAFT Racing AMR have rebounded from a testing opening qualifying session for the 60th Macau Grand Prix to post some of the biggest improvements in the field during today’s second qualifying session for the City of Dreams Macau GT Cup.

Arguably the biggest improver in the field was Stefan Mücke, the German qualifying the new CRAFT Aston Martin Vantage V12 in position five, shaving well over two seconds off his best from session #1 and in the process jumping from eighth to fifth.

For team-leader Frank Yu, he too saw improvement, but it was only marginal after a red flag brought short his quickest qualifying run – testament to his speed was his pace in the final sector coming to what would have been his fastest lap – fourth fastest.

Whilst his pace remained consistent though, Yu was forced to settle for a 19th placed start for tomorrow’s feature event, whilst for Aston Martin’s John Gaw, he split the two CRAFT cars to claim the 12th fastest time on his Macau debut.

Whilst happy to have improved his lap times over his 2012 appearance, Frank Yu was measured in his comments post-session, clearly frustrated not to have been further up the grid.

“My sector three time is fourth overall, but I never got a complete clear lap – but that sector was clear,” he shrugged. “After the red flag I went back out but had five really slow cars to pass, and that took me two laps – by then it was too late and the session was over..

“The car feels great after yesterday – everything is fine [after the contact that shortened Q1], but overall I think the time is a bit disappointing.

“I should have banked a time in my first flying lap, but I was a little bit cautious because I didn’t know the grip level of the track, and I took it easy a little bit and that’s when I posted the 29 and then it was red flag.

“At this point the race strategy is to keep out of trouble – my track position is not ideal and there’s still valuable points in the GT Asia Series portion of the race, and I’ve dropped back to sixth in that field, so I have a little bit of work to do tomorrow.”

For team-mate Stefan Mücke, there was a broad smile etched on his face having improved by more than two seconds, but it was clear he also understood that he had the pace to match the leaders.

“I’m really happy I have to say. Before the red flag I was actually P3 so I was very happy with that, but we went out again, and actually I was a lot quicker, but in my first flyer I made a small mistake in the second last corner. I had some oversteer on the exit and the next lap there were yellow flags and a car went off, so I couldn’t finish that lap which would have been quicker again.

“There’s more time in the Aston and it could be good for top three, but I’m very happy. It’s my first time here and I’m improving a lot every session. I’m pretty happy to be so close to the front and I’m really looking forward to the race tomorrow and for sure, coming back next year will be another step up and we really can fight for pole position in qualifying then.”

So what’s the key to a quick lap of Macau.. “I’m still looking for it (laughs). I’m looking for it every lap, but you need the confidence. You have some really quick corners that rely on that confidence and you have to trust the car. This is also the first time we have been here with the Aston, so we have no experience, but we make a step forward every session and setting the car up correctly here is quite a significant point.

“The first sector has very high speed corners where you need good downforce, but there’s also long straights and then the very twisty part in the middle section – so these combinations are quite tricky for the engineers to find the right setup and that’s also one of the key things.

And what’s race strategy? “Finish it..”

“Definitely finish it, get more laps on the track and stay out of trouble would be the target – there’s no scratches on the car so far and I really hope it stays like that. So bring it home, have a lot of fun and if I can see the podium, for sure I will try and go for it but without taking too much risk.”

Whilst the CRAFT Racing AMR regulars were pleased with the result, so too was Aston Martin Racing’s MD John Gaw who was not only present overseeing the activities of the Prodrive run racing operation, but also to campaign his maiden Macau Grand Prix behind the wheel of a third Vantage GT3.

“It’s an incredible track, for sure it is,” he acknowledged. “You’re never going to learn it in the first year, I’m sure about that.

“For Aston Martin Racing it’s been a really encouraging weekend. We’ve delivered a brand new car to Frank – this is chassis #19 – and Stefan is doing an outstanding job to be in P5 straight out of the box. Looking at his predicted times, he could easily have been on pole, but he’s not taking any risks this weekend because the walls are close and he’s got a world championship in the balance in Bahrain in two weeks time [FIA WEC].

“So far as my time at Macau is concerned, this car came straight from Donington Park four weeks ago and we didn’t change a single thing on the setup and we just campaign it as is and we’re just outside the top ten so I’m very happy on my first trip to Macau.

“It’s great to partner with CRAFT Racing this weekend – they’re a proper team doing a proper job and they’re the ideal partner team for us. We’re also really excited about the program for next year. It’s great to have the second car now for Frank that he is looking to also use in the final round of the Asian Le Mans Series, and then we’re looking to partner with him for the Dubai 24-Hour and try to win both the Pro and Am championships.

“We’ll bring our own Pro drivers for the event for one car and we’ll partner with Frank in the other car, and if he gets a good result in the Asian Le Mans Series final, he can get the Le Mans entry for next year as well and that’s pretty exciting for all of us – it’s all good news at the moment.”

So how important is it to be successful in the Asian market for Aston Martin Racing?

“Hugely important. It’s just so obvious when you come here that Hong Kong, Macau and Shanghai – where we were last week – that things are different. Construction is still happening everywhere, there’s lots of excitement and it’s a real growing market – it’s not established yet, but there’s massive opportunity.

“That’s why we really want to partner with CRAFT Racing – they’re much more than a customer – they’re a partner team, but they’re also a technical partner. We’re developing a few things specifically for the Asian market that are required – the circuits are a little bit different across here. There’s certainly a lot more braking involved than there is on the European circuits so we’re working with these guys to do that. The circuits are a lot more bumpy as well and Korea in the Asian Le Mans Series was a good example of that, so we’re testing a few different things and expecting a few changes on the car for next year – braking and damping are two things that will certainly help it be successful in Asia.

“We’re also looking for other people who can support Frank and work with him as he provides a service to them in Asia.”

For the Aston Martin teams, what’s the key to getting speed out of the car at Macau – is it aero or is it grip?

“I’d say that aero is really important in sector one, particularly during the start of the race – you’re going to need a really good top speed in the race. I run a low wing and I’ve run a low wing all weekend to try and get the balance of the car for the race whilst the other cars have run full wing, so I think now we’ll take the wing back on the other cars and give them a good top speed in the first part of the track.

“Through sector two it’s twisty and turny so you’ve got to have a nice car that works well over the bumps – you’ve got to have pretty good compliance on the springs and the bump and rebound in the dampers, and for sure one of the important things is that you’ve got to get around the hairpin quickly, so we’ve modified the steering racks for this weekend and we’re actually really quick around the hairpin and that’s going to help us during the race.”