Craft Racing AMR Flies Flag for Asia at the 24 Hours of Dubai

The first major endurance race of 2013 kicks off next week at the 8th running of the 24 Hours of Dubai where Hong Kong race team, Craft Racing AMR will be one of two Asian teams to take the green flag in the 85 car field at the Dubai Autodrome. Behind the wheel of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3, this 24 hour race will be a perfect warm up for Craft Racing AMR as they prepare their 2 car attack in the up coming 2013 Asian Le Mans Series which begins in May.

Craft Racing AMR has years of experience in motorsport but this will be their first attempt in the 24 hours of Dubai. They come equipped with a strong group of engineers and Asian technicians, combined with an ultra experienced driver line-up in Works AMR driver Darren Turner of Great Britain, WTCC and GT ace Darryl O’Young of Hong Kong, Super GT 300 race winner Tomonobu Fujii of Japan, and GT Asia race winner and Craft Racing team founder Frank Yu of Hong Kong.

Although this race is fairly new compared to some of the famous long distance races around the world, it has grown in stature each and every year seeing many of the World’s top drivers and teams join since its inauguration in 2006.

When asked what the challenging factors of the race would be, Darren Turner believed traffic would be a factor on the 5.39km Dubai Autodrome. “Having started the Nürburgring 24 Hours with over 200 cars, 85 doesn’t sound so much,” he explained. “Mind you Dubai is a standard-length Grand Prix track so that’s going to make it tremendously busy, especially with so many different levels of machinery. The hardest thing will be judging closing speeds and keeping up that focus for 24 hours.”

Team principal Mark Goddard followed up that teamwork could be the determining aspect of the race. “With so many teams in the paddock and on the race track, mistakes are highly likely to occur. As a team we will have to work hard to minimize these mistakes by taking a cautious approach in traffic, and pulling together as a team in the pit stops to ensure we get the car back onto the track quickly and without any errors for the entire 24 hours. I am confident with our experienced drive line-up and technicians that a strong result is achievable.”

Practice begins on Wednesday with qualifying set to take place on Thursday afternoon. The 24 hour race begins on Friday January 11th at 2pm in Dubai, all the live action can be followed on the official website at www.24hdubai.com starting January 10th

Aston Martin Racing