Eurasia Motorsport enjoyed a strong weekend (26-27 August, 2017) as the FRD LMP3 Series reconvened at Shanghai International Circuit. A fine podium position in the first race of the weekend proved to be the highlight when Dan Wells started from ninth position and brought the #91 car home in a fine third position.
Wells was joined by Alex Au for the first time in the #91 entry, the Hong Kong racer adapting to LMP3 machinery this weekend. Au took the start and was embroiled in a great battle for seventh before handing over to Wells. The Bronze timing helped and Wells exited the pits in fifth, working his way past Ma Qinghua after another terrific battle to secure a great third position for the team.
It wasn’t such a great day for the sister #3 team as a clutch failure after qualifying resulted in lengthy repairs that saw them miss the start of the race. Despite this Martin Cao and Garnet Patterson showed great pace but ultimately with no reward.
The second day of racing brought better fortune for the #3 team with a fourth-place finish from fifth on the grid, but again hopes of a win or podium were dashed due to the extra time required in the pits to meet the driver grading rules. Cao took the start and the team opted to pit as soon as it could within the rules to get on an alternate strategy. This combined with a strong drive from Patterson, yielded the fourth-place finish.
Having secured a podium on Saturday, the #91 team had to be content with an eighth-place finish on Sunday. Wells started the race and progressed to fourth before Au ran to the flag.
“I’m impressed with the performance of Alex Au as this was his first race at this level in LMP3,” said team principal Mark Goddard. “He put in a strong showing and together with Dan, they did a superb job in claiming the Saturday podium. It was a bit of a mixed weekend for Martin and Garnet, but they too showed great pace which was very impressive. Overall it was another encouraging weekend for the team.”
The team now prepare for the next round of the championship which takes place at Zhuhai International Circuit on 17 September.
