With 37 points on the board from two rounds of the Asian Le Mans Series, it’s been a successful first half of the campaign for Eurasia Motorsport. However, being 13 points adrift of the series leader means that it’s crunch time as the championship heads to back-to-back races in Malaysia and Thailand (14-15 February and 21-23 February).
With the team’s base located adjacent to the circuit itself, it really is a home track and there is a very clear objective for both sides of the garage over the race weekend. Confidence is high within the camp, based on both the recent performances the fact that their extensive pre-season test programme included multiple days at the former Malaysian home of Formula 1.
The team’s #36 Australian flavoured Ligier JS P217 has notched up second positions in both China and Australia and at this half-way stage, is very much in the championship hunt with Nick Foster, Roberto Merhi and Aidan Read. While the #36 remains firmly in the title fight, mechanical gremlins have taken the #1 Eurasia Racing New Zealand out of the championship battle, if not the push for race wins.
Very much on track for victory last time out at The Bend, a late-race safety car and then subsequent gearbox failure dashed the hopes of Nick Cassidy, Daniel Gaunt and Shane van Gisbergen.
Masataka Yanagida returns to the #1 team in place of Van Gisbergen in Malaysia, while Nobu Yamanaka will be back in the hot seat in Thailand.
Following the Malaysian round, the Asian Le Mans Series heads straight to Buriram in Thailand for the season finale and where Eurasia Motorsport aim to be crowned the 2019-20 series champions.
Mark Goddard, Eurasia Motorsport Team Principal
“We’ve had a good first half of the season with the #36 car and we’ve also been terribly unlucky with gearbox issues on the #1 Ligier. We’re in the championship battle and should we get a sliver of the luck we feel we deserve; we’ll be in a position to challenge for wins with both cars and the championship the following weekend in Thailand. We have a great package in the Ligier, and our team and drivers are all doing an outstanding job. The results now depend on a few factors, but we are quietly confident.”
