DSC’s Daily Notebook (27/04/2023)

Absolute’s fourth World Challenge Asia driver crew confirmed

Recent Sepang 12 Hours winners Andrew Haryanto and James Yu Kuai will team up in the second of Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS entries this season. They will compete in Pro/Am.

The pair are also Absolute’s fourth and final full-season duos to be confirmed, following prior confirmation of another Audi and two Porsche crews.

The duo’s car will sport a ‘duck’ livery (featured) that is sure to become a favourite amongst fans. Designed to celebrate ‘diversity’, the core theme is to represent all nations and creeds, but instead of human figures, the design uses rubber ducks.

Keen observers will remember that a similar colour scheme made an appearence with Absolute at Le Mans in 2021.

“We are thrilled to unite one of the fastest gentleman drivers in Asia with one of the most promising racing drivers from the region,” said team director Ingo Matter. “With a long history of assembling strong Pro/Am pairings, the opportunity to pair them together was an immensely exciting prospect that felt absolutely right.

“James has been with the team since he was 16 years old. It will be great to see him compete at the highest level. Andrew won the Audi Sport R8 LMS Cup with us in 2018 and had two very strong years in Europe. With both drivers, we have won a lot of races, and now, combined, we want to carry the momentum of the Sepang 12 Hours.”

Phantom Pro Racing confirms full-season World Challenge Asia entry

Phantom Pro Racing Team has confirmed a two-car Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS entry for the upcoming campaign, which begins at Chang International Circuit in Thailand on May 12-14.

Its pair of Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo IIs are shared by team owner Chris On Chia and Mikkel Mac, and Cao Qi and Ling Kang.

The Chinese team made its only appearance to date on home turf in Shanghai at the end of 2019 ahead of a planned full-season assault. The global pandemic prevented that from happening, but with travel across Asia now possible, an increasing number of Chinese drivers can compete once again.

Third McLaren for Greystone GT’s Silverstone 500 attack

Greystone GT will expand to a three-car line-up in the British GT Championship for the first time at the Silverstone 500 in May.

The team will contest its event with an additional McLaren 720S GT3 Evo in the Pro-Am category for International GT Open competitors Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda.

The race, which will be the British GT debut for both drivers, will come a week after they begin their GT Open campaign – also with Greystone GT – at Portimao.

“We now have one more reason to look forward to the Silverstone 500 – our home race – with Andrew and Fran adding this event to their GT Open schedule,” Mark McLoughlin, team principal, said. “It’s exciting to bring our GT Open team to British GT for the weekend to add to our regular line-up. We tested here in April with the car on the Pirelli tyres – which neither driver is particularly used to – so the experience we’ve gained should be a help.”

Team Engstler set for maiden ADAC GT campaign

Liqui Moly Team Engstler Motorsport will line up in its first season in the ADAC GT Masters in 2023, with a pair of drivers also new to the series: Chinese driver Dylan Yip and Kwanda Mokoena from South Africa.

In recent years, the team has won multiple titles in ADAC TCR Germany and now goes in pursuit of success in the ADAC GT Masters as well as the DTM, both with Audi.

At just 17, Yip is the youngest driver in the field.

Images courtesy of Phantom Pro Racing, Greystone GT and Absolute Racing