Heading into the penultimate round of the 2015 GT Asia Series season In Thailand, three teams were locked in battle for the coveted title as champions. Sixteen points separated points leader Darryl O’Young from 2014 sensations Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo, with two-time winners this season, Keita Sawa and Adderly Fong, just four points off the championship lead with two races still to come.
There was everything to play for during qualifying, with two lightning sessions providing a brilliant platform for the last race but one, a script which was made all the more enticing after O’Young failed to record a competitive time thanks to contact with a GTM class car early in his session which ultimately saw him start rear-of-field for the opening 60-minute race.
With everything to play for, his rivals charged, but as has happened so many times over recent rounds, O’Young’s talented team-mate Daniel Lloyd forged his through the field to minimise the points loss, handing us a final round for the year which sees the two title combatants start alongside each other on the front row of the grid, tied on points..
It’s going to be an epic final race!
Qualifying
In the cooler morning air, Tomas Enge’s benchmark 1:32.463 set in practice was always expected to come under threat, and whilst Duncan Tappy threw in an almost flawless lap, the improvement was only hundredths of a second, the talented Englishman on top of session one with a 1:32.438.
Enge pushed as he has done so many times across the event to try and regain the top spot, the Reiter Vattana Motorsport Lamborghini driver though unable to reclaim his mantel as the fastest GT driver around Buriram, dropping to third at the close of the opening 15-minute session behind FFF Racing Team by ACM McLaren driver Andrea Caldarelli.
Up until that point McLaren were holding down positions two and three, with Alvaro Parente ultimately classified fourth, ahead of Clearwater Racing’s Matt Griffin who turned in an outstanding late session effort to claim the best time for a Ferrari team for the weekend.
Whilst the battle at the front was interesting, the story of the opening session was undoubtedly the contact which ended points leader Darryl O’Young’s session early.
Preparing to gain himself some space to go after the perfect lap, O’Young became caught up on circuit with Belgian GT champion Dylan Derdaele in the Gulf Racing JP Porsche, the two making contact at turn eight after a misunderstanding on signals, which saw the #99 VLT Aston Martin beached in the gravel with damage to the left rear wheel.
With just ten minutes between qualifying sessions, it looked as though the Craft Bamboo team would be unable to recover and repair the car ahead of team-mate Daniel Lloyd’s session, but the experienced operation, with less than five minutes on the clock, returned Lloyd to the circuit, the impressive young Englishman storming to the second fastest time late in the session.
Pole though had gone to Bentley, with Adderly Fong’s best of 1:32.563 just a tenth slower than Tappy, although at one point early in the second session it looked like the #77 Bentley might be on target for back-to-back poles, with Tappy’s new team-mate Benny Simonsen on top of the timesheets for much of the session.
For the GTM category, it was the two local Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 Challenge cars who stole the early limelight, with Kantasaki Kusiri and Voravud Bhirom Bhakdi taking pole for the two sessions, whilst points leader Jerry Wang shadowed the two local teams to claim third for both races.
Round#10 (60-minutes)
With a title on the line and valuable championship points up for grabs, the title contenders ensured there was a trouble free start, although O’Young was forced to endure a few anxious moments as he worked his way through on as many of the GTM class cars as he could on the run to the first turn.
With Tappy controlling the field ahead of the two FFF Racing McLaren’s, the focus turned to the title contenders, Keita Sawa coming under pressure early to fall back into the clutches of the pack, the Japanese driver explaining afterwards that circuit conditions and a full fuel load meant that he was taking the first few laps with caution.
That caution played into O’Young’s hands, the Hong Kong driver incredibly through the field and onto the tail of the top ten on just the opening lap, drawing to within three places of Sawa, and right on the tail of fellow title rival, Davide Rizzo.
The run to the compulsory pit stop window was relatively uneventful, with Tappy punching out a succession of fastest laps to pit almost ten seconds up on Alvaro Parente who inherited second just ahead of the stops from team-mate Caldarelli.
Whilst the ‘Pro’ drivers stayed out as long as they could before stopping, O’Young hit the pits almost immediately once the window had opened to hand the car across to Lloyd, the team forced to endure a second ‘penalty’ for the day, with an additional 12-second stop over many of their rivals by virtue of winning round nine in Shanghai.
A lap later, Sawa stopped to hand the car to Fong, the two Absolute Racing drivers also enduring a longer stop thanks to finishing third in China, although their four second stop was significantly less than their rivals.
With Fong and Lloyd mounted in their respective cars, focus turned to the timesheets and the gains in position both drivers could achieve, Lloyd rejoining in around 12th place, Fong further forward, but still with plenty of work to do from seventh.
Both drivers charged trading fastest laps, and whilst they could do nothing about the impressive Simonsen who continued to open up Tappy’s early advantage, they knew they could attack the rest of the pack.
Ultimately Fong managed to make his way through to third with ten minutes to go, but with a 12-second deficit to Hamaguchi in second, it was going to be a difficult task to move any higher, whilst behind him, Lloyd was quickly into the top ten, ultimately making his way past the entertaining battle for fifth between team-mate Frank Yu and Singha Motorsport’s Piti Bhirom Bhakdi to claim fourth at the line.
It had been another epic drive from the new Craft-Bamboo recruit, limiting the damage from O’Young’s qualifying incident, and allowing the team to retain a share of the championship points lead heading into the final round.
In the GTM class the two Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 Challenge cars battled with Dylan Derdaele early, before breaking away from the pack during the closing stanza of the race.
Local hero Voravud Bhirom Bhakdi looked to have the race win locked up heading into the final laps, but a mechanical issue late on the run into the fast turn four left-hander, saw the Thai driver buried deep in the gravel and unable to record a points result.
That opened the door for his cousin, Bhurit, who claimed the top step of the podium in just his third race back from a 12-year sabbatical away from the sport. Derdaele and Hisashi Kunie claimed second, despite a late race lurid spin from the Japanese driver at turn four, whilst Jerry Wang – who had endured a difficult day plagued by a number of off-track excursions – claimed fifth and enough points to be crowned the 2015 champion.
The final event of the 2015 season will take place in the heat of Sunday afternoon, with the 60-minute round eleven getting underway at 3:15pm local time. Don’t forget to tune into the live stream which is available through the GT Asia Series website; www.gtasiaseries.com
What the drivers said..
Duncan Tappy – 1st, #77 Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3
“It may not have been exciting to watch, but as a driver that’s what you want, get your head down, stay out of trouble and open up a gap to make it as easy as possible when you hand it over to him. Ultimately I was surprised it wasn’t closer, because qualifying was so close, so I expected the McLarens may put me under pressure for the first five or six laps, but that didn’t happen.”
Benny Simonsen – 1st, #77 Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3
“I really just had to go out and maintain the gap. Duncan did an awesome opening stint and that made things a lot easier, but I’ve enjoyed being with GT Asia and the Absolute team, they’ve been very accommodating and the car has been a pleasure to drive.”
Alvaro Parente – 2nd, #55 FFF Racing team by ACM McLaren 650S GT3
“Unfortunately in this race we seemed to have lost a little bit of pace over yesterday, sometimes that happens when you risk a small change to try and find some more speed, however we’ll try and turn that around for tomorrow. I didn’t have the pace to stay close to Duncan, but I gave it my all.”
Hiroshi Hamaguchi – 2nd, #55 FFF Racing team by ACM McLaren 650S GT3
“It’s good to be back on the podium. From day one here we had good pace, we had a good car and I was quite confident, but in this race we were quite tight on fuel, so I had to lift and coast from my second lap so I was unable to even try to close the gap.”
Keita Sawa – 3rd, #8 Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3
“Finishing on the podium today was very important. The start was a little difficult for me. I had a full fuel load and the tyres I had used in qualifying, so the start went well, but then I got caught out of position at turn two, but then I was able to move forward again before the stop.”
Adderly Fong – 3rd, #8 Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3
“I just focused on my stint, I wasn’t worried about what was going on behind me. I came here with a fever, so I’ve struggled a little in the heat, but I had to get in and overtake as many cars as I could, try not to make any mistakes and take it corner by corner. Our engineer didn’t to put us under too much pressure, so he wasn’t telling us where our competitors were, he was just telling me when to push, when to back off or conserve fuel, so I was more focused on getting every corner right and getting a result for the team.
“We have the best ingredients to win the race tomorrow, starting from pole position, the car seems strong around the Buriram circuit, so everything’s looking good for tomorrow.”
WHERE TO WATCH
All the action will be played out online this weekend, with Twitter, Facebook and the new GT Asia Series website hosting information, images and video from every day, whilst on Saturday and Sunday, both races will be broadcast live. All details will be available via; www.facebook.com/GTAsiaSeries and on the www.gtasiaseries.com website
——————————————————–
Rnd#10/11 – 2015 GT Asia Series
Buriram United International Circuit, Thailand
Qualifying#1 (15-minutes – 24 October, 2015)
1. 77. Duncan Tappy (Absolute Bentley Continental)
- 1:32.438
2. 5. Andrea Caldarelli (FFF Racing McLaren GT3)
– 1:32.601
3. 28. Tomas Enge (Reiter Vattana Gallardo R-EX) – 1:32.616
4. 55. Alvaro Parente (FFF Racing McLaren GT3) – 1:32.766
5. 1. Matt Griffin (Clearwater Racing Ferrari) – 1:32.811
6. 88. Richard Lyons (Craft-Bamboo Aston Martin) – 1:32.933
7. 8. Keita Sawa (Absolute Bentley GT3) – 1:32.935
8. 7. Alexandre Imperatori (Absolute Bentley GT3)
- 1:33.017
9. 12. Carlo Van Dam (Singha Ferrari 458) – 1:33.099
10. 11. Hiroki Katoh (Clearwater Racing Ferrari) – 1:33.343
11. 37. Davide Rizzo (BBT Ferrari 458 GT3) – 1:33.808
12. 9. Max Wiser (Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 GT3) – 1:34.000
13. 89. Kantasak Kusiri (Singha Ferrari 458)* – 1:36.825
14. 59. Benjamin Rouget (Singha Ferrari 458)* – 1:37.316
15. 23. Jerry Wang (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3)* – 1:38.592
16. 20. Dylan Derdaele (Gulf JP Porsche 991 GT3 Cup)* – 1:38.666
17. 21. Aekarat Discharoen (A Motorsport Co Porsche Cup)* – 1:39.294
18. 39. Nattavude (Toyota Team Thailand 86)* – 1:39.542
19. 69. James Cai (Golden CMT RT Ferrari Challenge)* – 1:41.270
20. 99. Darryl O’Young/Daniel Lloyd (Craft-Bamboo Aston) – 1:44.038
DNQ. 86. Fairuz Fauzy (OD Racing Gallardo GT3) – NTR
DNQ. 22. Kimihiro Yashiro (Gulf JP Porsche GT3-R) – NTR
Qualifying#2 (15-minutes – 24 October, 2015)
1. 8. Adderly Fong (Absolute Bentley GT3) – 1:32.563
2. 99. Daniel Lloyd (Craft-Bamboo Aston) – 1:33.106
3. 77. Benny Simonsen (Absolute Bentley Continental)
- 1:33.400
4. 55. Hiroshi Hamaguchi (FFF Racing McLaren GT3) – 1:33.444
5. 37. Anthony Liu (BBT Ferrari 458 GT3) – 1:33.703
6. 28. Narasak Ittiritpong (Reiter Vattana Gallardo R-EX) – 1:33.948
7. 88. Frank Yu (Craft-Bamboo Aston Martin) – 1:34.488
8. 12. Piti Bhirom Bhakdi (Singha Ferrari 458) – 1:34.551
9. 9. Jiang Xin (Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 GT3) – 1:34.597
10. 1. Mok Weng Sun (Clearwater Racing Ferrari) – 1:34.861
11. 11. Richard Wee (Clearwater Racing Ferrari) – 1:34.954
12. 7. Jeffrey Lee (Absolute Bentley GT3)
- 1:35.847
13. 89. Voravud Bhirom Bhakdi (Singha Ferrari 458)* – 1:37.512
14. 5. Fu Songyang (FFF Racing McLaren GT3)
– 1:38.050
15. 59. Bhurit Bhirom Bhakdi (Singha Ferrari 458)* – 1:38.346
16. 23. Jerry Wang (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3)* – 1:38.698
17. 69. Kenneth Lim (Golden CMT RT Ferrari Challenge)* – 1:38.950
18. 20. Hasashi Kunie (Gulf JP Porsche 991 GT3 Cup)* – 1:40.186
19. 39. Nattapong (Toyota Team Thailand 86)* – 1:40.190
20. 21. Pinet Piyaoui (A Motorsport Co Porsche Cup)* – 1:41.708
DNQ. 86. Fairuz Fauzy (OD Racing Gallardo GT3) – NTR
DNQ. 22. Kimihiro Yashiro (Gulf JP Porsche GT3-R) – NTR
Race#1 (60-minutes – 24 October, 2015)
1. 77. Duncan Tappy/Benny Simonsen (Absolute Bentley Continental)
- 38-laps
2. 55. Alvaro Parente/Hiroshi Hamaguchi (FFF Racing McLaren GT3) +10.819
3. 8. Keita Sawa/Adderly Fong (Absolute Bentley GT3) +20.885
4. 99. Darryl O’Young/Daniel Lloyd (Craft-Bamboo Aston) +42.646
5. 12. Carlo Van Dam/Piti Bhirom Bhakdi (Singha Ferrari 458) +44.672
6. 88. Richard Lyons/Frank Yu (Craft-Bamboo Aston Martin) +46.824
7. 28. Tomas Enge/Narasak Ittiritpong (Reiter Vattana Gallardo R-EX) +48.758
8. 37. Davide Rizzo/Anthony Liu (BBT Ferrari 458 GT3) +49.555
9. 9. Max Wiser/Jiang Xin (Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 GT3) +54.965
10. 11. Hiroki Katoh/Richard Wee (Clearwater Racing Ferrari) +1:08.476
11. 7. Alexandre Imperatori/Jeffrey Lee (Absolute Bentley GT3)
+1:28.986
12. 1. Matt Griffin/Mok Weng Sun (Clearwater Racing Ferrari) – 36-laps
13. 59. Benjamin Rouget/Bhurit Bhirom Bhakdi (Singha Ferrari 458)*
14. 20. Dylan Derdaele/Hasashi Kunie (Gulf JP Porsche 991 GT3 Cup)*
15. 69. James Cai/Kenneth Lim (Golden CMT RT Ferrari Challenge)*
16. 21. Aekarat Discharoen/Pinet Piyaoui (A Motorsport Co Porsche Cup)*
17. 39. Nattavude/Nattapong (Toyota Team Thailand 86)* – 35-laps
18. 23. Jerry Wang (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3)*
DNF. 89. Kantasak Kusiri/Voravud Bhirom Bhakdi (Singha Ferrari 458)* – 34-laps
DNF. 5. Andrea Caldarelli/Fu Songyang (FFF Racing McLaren GT3)
– 26-laps
DNF. 22. Kimihiro Yashiro/Yuu Nakamura (Gulf JP Porsche GT3-R) – 0-laps
DNS. 86. Zen Low/Fairuz Fauzy (OD Racing Gallardo GT3) – 0-laps
* GTM Class
—————————–
2015 GT Asia Series – Championship points
GT3 Class (after round nine of 11)
1. Darryl O’Young (137-points), 2. Adderly Fong/Keita Sawa (137), 3. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (118) 4. Piti Bhirom Bhakdi (104), 5. Carlo Van Dam (94), 6. Duncan Tappy (86), 7. Daniel Lloyd (74), 8. Mok Weng Sun (72), 9 Hiroshi Hamaguchi (70), 10. Richard Lyons/Frank Yu (66)
GTM Class (after round nine of 11)
1. Jerry Wang (144-points), 2. Hisashi Kunie (112), 3. Kenneth Lim/James Cai (75), 4. Takuma Aoki/Ken Urata (61), 5. Kimihiro Yashiro (58), 6. Dylan Derdaele (56), 7. Craig Liu (50), 8. Warren Luff (36), 9. Tetsuya Makino, Ryo Fukuda (34), 10. Melvin Moh/Keong Wee Lim, Keiichi Mori (32)
The GT Asia Series is sanctioned by the FIA as an International Series and is clearly recognised as the Region’s leading GT Championship. It is jointly managed and promoted by Motorsport Asia Ltd and the Supercar Club Hong Kong and is backed by Michelin, GRAHAM London, KW Automotive, Motul, Auto Art, Race Room, Panta and SEL.