The third round of four of the 2018-19 Asian Le Mans Series takes place this weekend from the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand with the Red River Sport by TF Sport Aston Martin Racing crew looking to increase their Championship position after a disappointing race last time out.

With drivers Bonamy Grimes and Johnny Mowlem having taken a total justifiable third place at the opening round of the season in Shanghai in November the second round in Fuji just few weeks later didn't go their way despite their third driver Ivor Dunbar joining them.

Reigning GT Am Champions CMRT Eurasia will this weekend be skipping out the next two races of the Blancpain GT Asia Series from Chang International Circuit in Thailand due to prior commitments from its driver line up.

Having fielded an improvised entry for the opening rounds of the 2018 Championship last month in Malaysia to again cover for the prior commitments of 2017 Champions James Cai and Kenneth Lim, we had thought that both Adrian D'Silva and Rick Yoon would again be covering them for the next two events of the season. That deputising pairing scored a DNF and P2 in Sepang.

Todays confirmation of just thirty cars confirms that the team's very brightly liveried Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3 will indeed by missing from the line up for Buriram.

Photo credit - Blancpain GT Asia

Craft-Bamboo Racing driver, Darryl O’Young took the 2015 GT Asia Series drivers’ championship in an incredible nail biting finish to end a roller coaster weekend of racing in Thailand. After teammate, Daniel Lloyd, started from P2 and took an early lead, the #99 Aston Martin pulled away from the competition and O’Young was able to continue expanding the gap until crossing the line to take the title. Frank Yu and Richard Lyons’ luck did not improve for the final race of the season, with Frank being hit on turn three of the first lap. This put the #88 Interush on the back foot but they fought hard to take P9 by flag fall.

Lloyd started the race from P2 knowing that the championship rested on getting ahead of the Bentley that sat on pole position. As the lights went out, Lloyd expertly placed the Aston Martin and timed his start perfectly before passing the Bentley with a superb maneuver into the first corner. The young Brit had executed the crucial championship move and set about widening the gap between their title rivals as quickly as possible. Using the clear air ahead to his advantage, Lloyd was able to dive into the pits and change over to his teammate with a healthy gap. O’Young hit the track knowing that the title rested on his ability to stay ahead and keep the Bentley at bay. Immediately his pace was impressive and began to pull away, adding to the gap that his teammate had created. O’Young drove on the limit for his entire stint, elevating his pace to another level and expanding his lead to over 11 seconds. As the flag fell for the final time this season, O’Young crossed the line eight seconds ahead and became the first Hong Kong driver to win the GT Asia Series drivers’ championship. O’Young’s title would never have been possible without the talented help from young Australian Jonathan Venter and Englishman, Daniel Lloyd, who are both members of the elite Aston Martin Evolution Academy.