Rnd#1/2 GT Asia Series - 15-17 May, 2015 - Korea International Circuit, South Korea
Ahead of the opening round of the 2015 GT Asia Series there was much anticipation from fans and competitors about what the new season would bring given the big influx of new teams and world-class drivers. One of those new teams was the focus of much of the discussion, and when the new FFF Racing Team by ACM unveiled three stunning new McLaren 650S GT3s ahead of opening practice, it was pretty easy to see why.
The cars looked fantastic, but so too did the driver lineups. Leading the charge would be the two foundation members of the FFF Racing Team by ACM, FFF Automobile’s Fu Song Yang [Sean] and Italian GT star Andrea Caldarelli, whilst their 2014 team-mates Jiang Xin [Kane] and Max Wiser would also move across to a McLaren. The third member of the team would be one of the leading challengers for the 2014 GT Asia Series title, Japan’s Hiroshi Hamaguchi, the former series race winner would be joined by former Formula 1 driver, Tonio Liuzzi.
Practice saw Caldarelli - the pole-sitter from the South Korean round of GT Asia 12 months prior - running competitively with the outright contenders, although the Italian felt that the recent balance-of-performance [BoP] figures released for the McLaren were hampering the car’s ability to get the power down out of the slower corners.
“This is just our first event, so until we had the opportunity to get on track alongside our rivals, we really had no idea where we were on pace compared to them. Unfortunately the BoP for the car in Europe sees the McLaren carry an additional 20kg over the standard racing weight, and we saw that impact the cars in Europe from the start of the season,” team-manager Alf Boarer explained. “Now we can physically see against other teams, that the extra weight affects our ability to get the power down out of the slower corners, and that has an affect at the end of the long straights that inevitably follow those slow corners.”
“I’m driving on the absolute limit to get a time like that, and I’m still six tenths off,” Caldarelli explained at the close of practice.
Like Caldarelli, Liuzzi was not 100% happy, the former F1 star who had driven on the South Korean circuit twice previously admitted he wasn’t comfortable with the balance of his car, but typical of most ‘pro’ drivers, a few tenths off the outright pace and they’re not completely satisfied, however their less seasoned co-drivers were enjoying their McLaren debuts.
“To be honest I love the car,” Hiroshi Hamaguchi explained. “It’s actually a lot different to the MP4-12C I drove last year, it just feels a lot more at ease and a lot more comfortable, I’m really looking forward to the season ahead.”
He wasn’t the only one smiling, although both Sean Fu and Jiang Xin were more interested in getting laps under their belts having achieved little track time since the completion of the 2014 season. Fu too was enjoying the almost six hours of practice having retired from last year’s series at the midpoint of the season.
By qualifying the team were still looking for pace, admitting that the advantage the normally aspirated Ferrari and Aston Martin had coming out of the slower corners was likely to make them hard to defeat, something which led to them claiming the front row for the start of race one, Caldarelli though fighting back for third.
Liuzzi grabbed a fifth row start, with Wiser starting immediately behind, giving all three McLaren’s an inside run into turn one. Hamaguchi put in a solid effort in Q2 to claim fourth, whilst Jiang Xin started to find some of the form which put him on the podium a number of times during the 2014 season, to take ninth, with Sean Fu putting in some personal best lap times to claim 14th.
Having held pole 12-months earlier, Caldarelli was no stranger to running at the front of a GT Asia field, however even he was surprised to be leading the field by turn four in the opening race.
Pole-sitter Richard Lyons and Ferrari driver James Calado battled hard through the first two turns, but on the long run down to turn three, the duo punched a big hole in the air, allowing the closely following Caldarelli to close in and dive down the inside into turn four.
The Italian then charged, pulling out a two second lead before first Calado, and then Lyons worked their way past, the McLaren driver though making it as difficult as possible. Behind him Max Wiser had put the #9 car onto the tail of Lyons on the opening lap and was looking menacing, the Chinese-based Italian handing the car across to Jiang during the compulsory pit stop [CPS] from fifth place, Caldarelli pitting from third.
Behind them Tonio Liuzzi was continuing to push forward, however pitting late in the window, the Italian overshot his bay and was forced to go around again, but tragically for the #55 team, by the time he returned to pit lane, the CPS window had closed and the team were ultimately excluded from the race as a result.
Ultimately Jiang Xin started to find form to claim fourth at the flag, Sean Fu claiming seventh, whilst Liuzzi had been classified fifth prior to his exclusion.
For race two the #9 team of Wiser and Xin were looking good for a podium based on race speed and the fact that their leading rivals would be forced to stop for additional time during their pit stops, but sadly they never got the chance to find out how competitive they would have been after being unceremoniously forced into retirement at turn one.
“One of the Bentley’s tagged Kane and spun him into the side of Mok,” Wiser explained afterwards. “That broke the rear suspension and forced us out.”
Xin’s demise allowed Hamaguchi to move forward the multiple GT Asia Series race winner one of the first to pit when the CPS window opened, handing the car across to Liuzzi in fifth place, whilst behind him, Sean Fu was running consistent laps, ultimately handing the car across to Caldarelli in P11.
Over the closing laps the two black and orange FFF Racing Team by ACM McLarens charged, Liuzzi claiming sixth at the flag, just over half a second from a podium finish, whilst Caldarelli set qualifying times down in the 2:06s to move forward to tenth by the close of the race, having set the fastest lap of the race.
“That’s not a bad start to our GT Asia Series campaign,” Caldarelli admitted afterwards. “It is a big program we have underway with a three-car team this year, and we have to be mindful that getting Sean, Kane and Hiroshi up to speed with the cars is going to take a little while, but to have led a race, just missed a podium and finished with three cars relatively unscathed is a good start to the year.”
With the opening round now concluded, the team now turns its focus to the second event on the 2015 calendar at the Okayama Circuit in Japan on 26-28 June, a circuit where Caldarelli and Hamaguchi have past experience.
Rnd#1 2015 GT Asia SeriesKorea International Circuit, South Korea
Qualifying #1 (15-minutes)
1. 88. Richard Lyons (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) - 2:06.667
2. 1. James Calado (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 2:06.688
3. 5. Andrea Caldarelli (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 2:07.506
4. 77. Duncan Tappy (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:07.959
5. 99. Darryl O’Young (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston) - 2:08.101
6. 7. Jean-Karl Vernay (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:08.466
7. 12. Craig Baird (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458) - 2:08.475
8. 86. Fairuz Fauzy (OD Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3) - 2:08.616
9. 55. Tonio Liuzzi (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 2:08.625
10. 37. Davide Rizzo (BBT Team Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 2:08.874
11. 9. Max Wiser (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 2:09.116
12. 11. Naoki Yokomizo (Singha Ferrari 458) - 2:09.313
Qualifying #2 (15-minutes)
1. 99. Jonathan Venter (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston) - 2:08.243
2. 8. Adderly Fong (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:08.439
3. 37. Anthony Liu (BBT Team Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 2:08.495
4. 55. Hiroshi Hamaguchi (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 2:10.034
5. 11. Piti Bhirom Bhakdi (Singha Ferrari 458) - 2:10.336
6. 1. Mok Weng Sun (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458) - 2:10.626
7. 88. Frank Yu (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin) - 2:10.804
8. 12. Richard Wee (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458) - 2:11.250
9. 9. Jiang Xin (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 2:11.912
10. 7. Jeffrey Lee (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:11.991
11. 86. Zen Low (OD Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3) - 2:15.510
12. 77. Jacky Yeung (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:16.051
13. 22. Shouta Hanaoka (Gulf Racing JP Porsche GT3-R) - 2:17.385
14. 5. Fu Song Yang (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 2:18.485
15. 20. Keiichi Mori (Gulf Racing JP Porsche GT3 Cup) - 2:19.872
Race #1 (60-minutes)
1. 37. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (BBT Team Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 27-laps
2. 1. Mok Weng Sun/James Calado (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458) +1.737
3. 88. Frank Yu/Richard Lyons (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin) +8.666
4. 9. Jiang Xin/Max Wiser (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) +54.731
5. 7. Jeffrey Lee/Jean-Karl Vernay (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) +1:30.468
6. 77. Jacky Yeung/Duncan Tappy (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) +2:01.018
7. 5. Fu Song Yang/Andrea Caldarelli (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) +2:17.403
8. 8. Adderly Fong/Keita Sawa (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) - 25-laps
9. 23. Jerry Wang (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3)* - 25-laps
10. 20. Keiichi Mori/Hisashi Kunie (Gulf Racing JP Porsche GT3 Cup)* - 25-laps
DNF. 55. Hiroshi Hamaguchi/Tonio Liuzzi (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3)
Race #2 (60-minutes)
1. 99. Darryl O’Young/Jonathan Venter (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston) - 27-laps
2. 37. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (BBT Team Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) +8.954
3. 8. Adderly Fong/Keita Sawa (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) +27.203
4. 11. Piti Bhirom Bhakdi/Naoki Yokomizo (Singha Ferrari 458) +27.997
5. 12. Richard Wee/Craig Baird (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458) +28.208
6. 55. Hiroshi Hamaguchi/Tonio Liuzzi (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) +28.584
7. 7. Jeffrey Lee/Jean-Karl Vernay (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) +43.081
8. 86. Zen Low/Fairuz Fauzy (OD Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3) +1:19.020
9. 88. Frank Yu/Richard Lyons (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin) +1:23.526
10. 5. Fu Song Yang/Andrea Caldarelli (FFF Racing McLaren GT3) +1:35.875
DNF. 9. Jiang Xin/Max Wiser (FFF Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 1-lap
DNF. 1. Mok Weng Sun/James Calado (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458) - 0-laps
2015 GT Asia Series - Championship Points
GT3 (after round two of 11)
1. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (34-points), 2. Adderly Fong/Keita Sawa (20), 3. Richard Lyons/Frank Yu (19), 4. Darryl O’Young/Jonathan Venter (18), 5. Mok Weng Sun/James Calado (16), Jeffrey Lee/Jean-Karl Vernay (16), 7. Sean Fu/Andrea Caldarelli (11), 8. Jiang Xin/Max Wiser (10), Piti Bhirom Bhakdi/Naoki Yokomizo (10), 10. Richard Wee/Craig Baird (9), Jacky Yeung/Duncan Tappy (9), 12. Hiroshi Hamaguchi/Vitantonio Liuzzi (8)
