The first race weekend of the Blancpain GT Series Asia underlined how fortunes can change in racing as CMRT Eurasia Motorsport went from disappointment to elation as the team secured a fine second position at Sepang International Circuit in the Am class (15 April).
Fielding the distinctive #69 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with the new pairing of Adrian D’Silva and Rick Yoon behind the wheel, the team notched up 30 laps in practice before Yoon claimed the class pole position for the first race of the weekend.
Unfortunately, the success of the class pole position didn’t yield a fine result as heavy contact on the opening lap after an Audi spun in front of him, saw the team forced to pit to replace the left rear wheel. Yoon resumed but the Vantage had sustained considerbale damage to the left hand side and later stopped on circuit as a result.
Things took a turn for the better on Sunday following an all-nighter from the team as D’Silva lined up third in class, 19th overall, and this time managed steer clear of any lap one drama to get into a race rhythm before handing over to Yoon on lap 13. The race continued with Yoon passing the #51 AMAC Motorsport entry to take the chequered flag in a solid second position.
“Yesterday I hated motorsport,” stated team principal Mark Goddard. “Today I loved it again and it’s a great end to the weekend. To get the class pole with Rick was fantastic, a very special achievement and get P2 in class today was as good as we could have expected.
“So, there are many positives. We know the Aston Martin is very strong following Saturday’s incident, the team worked very hard to repair it and got very little sleep and yet everything came together with a strong result.”
Eurasia Motorsport will be back on track in the FRD LMP3 Series later this month with details of the driver line-up to be announced shortly.
