Team Feature: Craft Racing AMR

Saturday, January 19, 2013

The Dubai 24hrs marked the first competitive outing for the V12 Vantage GT3 in 2013 and it seems only right that Craft Racing AMR should be our first team feature of the year. We caught up with Team Principle, Mark Goddard before the 24hrs to get an introduction to the team and insight on their plans for 2013 and beyond.

Craft Racing AMR are a relatively new team, can you give us an Introduction.

Craft Racing AMR is a new team but the personnel have all worked together for some time under the Craft Eurasia Racing or Eurasia Motorsport banners. Together we have won over 36 championships in Asia in categories varying from GT Asia, Formula BMW Pacific, Formula Pilota China and Asian F3. Craft Racing AMR is an evolution of the one of the most successful teams in Asia and is strengthened by the input of Team Founder Frank Yu and Commercial Director Darryl O'Young.

The team took delivery of the V12 Vantage last year, how has it been working with the new car?

I cannot put into words how happy we are with the car... The DBRS9 GT3, which we ran in the 2010 MME 12 Hours held at Sepang in Malaysia, was a very good car but Aston have improved on every aspect of the car to turn a very good car into a great car. Its fast, good looking, sounds great and handles very well. I believe it’s the best GT3 car available right now.

Craft entered the Aston Martin Racing Festival at Le Mans last year and claimed pole on its first attempt with the Vantage GT3. How was it racing at Le Mans and do you wish to return?

Racing at Le Mans in the Aston Martin support race was a fantastic experience. The 24 Hours is one of the most iconic sporting events and the huge crowd develops an incredible atmosphere. We took delivery of the car at Le Mans and it was in fact just a shake down for the car. We were amazed to qualify on pole and finish first in class. We left convinced we had made the correct decision to get the Vantage. Our next race was the MME 12 Hours in Malaysia and if we had not lost an hour repairing accident damage I am sure we could have won. Frank Yu drove the car in the final round of the Malaysian Super Series and promptly won further confirming how good a car we have. We want to return to Le Mans as soon as possible, next time to compete in the 24 Hours itself.

You’re entering this year’s Asian Le Mans Series, why did you choose this championship?

The championship is an ACO backed program. ACO, who organize the Le Mans 24 Hours, offer an entry to the race for the class winners in the Asian Le Mans Series. We fully intend to graduate to the World Endurance Championship and the Le Mans 24 Hours as soon as possible and the Asian Le Mans Series offers a short cut to realize our ambition. As the only professional GT Series in the South East Asian Region it offers team partners the ability to penetrate some of the most important markets globally, in particular to China.

Why Aston Martin?

As a relatively new team in GT racing we understood that in order to grow and perform on the world stage we needed to develop an alliance with a manufacturer. We looked at the cars available and realized the potential of the new Vantage. After our initial contact we understood that Aston Martin Racing was able to offer us exactly what we needed, a competitive car with excellent engineering and parts support. The advent of the Asian Le Mans Series, and Aston Martin's history in the Le Mans 24 Hours, seemed to confirm that now was the time to race an Aston. Together, Craft Racing and Aston Martin, we can spread the ethos of the brand through success in motor sport in the Asian region.

You can keep up to date with Craft Racing AMR through their Facebook Page, Twitter and via their website
www.craftracing.com

Thank you to Mark and Craft Racing AMR
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