The new for 2025 SRO GT Cup Series is another who has not quite reached the end to their season this weekend as the fourteen strong GT4 only series heads to the all-new Beijing Street circuit for their third of a four-round season.

Having started off at Shanghai in early March and last time out at the more obscure Zhuhai International, there has been one Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 Evo within the entry list with Taipei based driver Stanley Yang taking charge of that entry from the last round.

This weekend saw just the second round of the new for 2025 SRO GT Cup Series run around the improvised street circuit layout of Pingtan Ruyi Lake International City Circuit along the Chinese coastal mainland.

Featuring amongst this twenty-one GT4 car entry list was a rebranded and revamped driver entry (supported again by the Level Motorsport team) to that that took part at the season opener way back in mid-March at the Shanghai F1 Grand Prix event with a more widely known Aston Martin Racing driver behind the wheel of the #87 car.

 

Whilst there was racing success for the Aston Martin Racing powered entry into the final round of the NLS Series in Germany yesterday, that sadly could not be replicated earlier today as the streets and weather conditions of Macau put that beyond the scope of the sole AMR Vantage GT4 competing there.

With Qualifying session yesterday having also been red flag interrupted for a blocked track, permitted only fifteen of the twenty-six strong entry from entering any lap time at all with the BSEM prepared #87 Eatnos Oil sponsored Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT4 of Stanley Yang having to make do with his P11 position.

Australian based Miedecke Stone Motorsport have this week confirmed the sale of another of their Aston Martin Racing V12 Vantage GT3 fleet as their position themselves (already) for their ambitious 2018 plans.

Having recently sold their chassis #11 GT3 car  some weeks ago George Miedecke has confirmed their sale listing for their chassis #19 car - the car that he, Ash Walsh and Tony Bates raced at this months Bathurst 12Hr so effectively before misfortunate removed the car prematurely from that event.


The full listing for the ex. Craft Bamboo Racing car can be found HERE

That still leaves the team with one V12 Vantage GT3 (as well as a V8 Vantage GT4) that he and his father Andrew are due to race in the Australian GT Endurance Championship which starts in May.

They were due to have a car entered into the Australian GT Championship with Tony Bates but that deal sadly failed to materialise although that is still being listed on some sites.

Their plans ………………… That is for them to announce!

Photo credits - MSM

The inaugural FIA GT World Cup final had Craft-Bamboo Racing starting on the back foot before coming back to snatch third in both the drivers' and manufacturers' championship. Teammates, Richard Lyons and Darryl O’Young started from P6 and P8 respectively but were confident that they could make their way up the field. The lights went out and the FIA GT World Cup was underway but there was more controversy right from the start. Eduardo Mortara jumped the lights and was later given a 20 second penalty for his offence.

Lyons made a cracking start in his #99 Gulf Marine Interush Aston Martin to take several positions by Lisboa corner. Unfortunately, a late braking McLaren turned missile, rear ended Lyons and torpedoed what was looking like a very competitive challenge. The #99 driver, never having raced in Macau, made huge strides in his performance and would have been a true contender without the unwarranted contact. This put an early dent in the team’s chances of claiming the manufacturer’s title and further stacked the odds against Craft-Bamboo. O’Young made his push right from the start, but on the first lap, a damaged Porsche on its way to the pits caused the Macau champion to lose more than ten seconds and forced him to play catch up for the remainder of the race.


After an unfortunate and harsh ruling that dropped #97 w11.com driver, Stefan Mücke, from pole position to third after the qualification race on Saturday, he began the final boxed in by a slower Mercedes. It was clear though that Mücke had the pace to challenge the leaders but was finding it difficult to find a way around with the Mercedes employing a tough strategy. Over the coming laps, Mücke kept up the pressure on the Mercedes and finally got the chance to make his move but was forced dangerously close to the outside. This allowed two Audis to sneak by and dropped Mücke to fifth, but he was determined to keep his challenge alive by striking back before a wayward Porsche caused a safety car period on lap 14. After two laps behind the safety car an incident involving another Porsche making contact with the barrier caused the race to be red flagged. This was a very unfortunate end to the weekend as Mücke and O’Young were not given the chance to compete for an even greater result, knowing that they had the speed to make a difference. O’Young had been working hard in the #55 VLT and had managed to pass two drivers on the narrow Macau streets to be classified fifth by the red flag.

After being so dominant throughout the weekend, Craft-Bamboo Racing were unable to secure the FIA GT World Cup title despite the competitiveness of their trio of Aston Martins. The team scored third overall in the manufacturers’ category, missing the second spot by only one point but taking third in both categories is still a huge result for the team and a fantastic achievement among the world’s best GT teams and drivers.

On track at least in this morning's Qualification Race, Aston Martin Racing's Stefan Mucke earned a lights to flag victory aboard his #97 Craft Bamboo Racing V12 Vantage GT3 in Macau.

Having left things late in the qualifying session yesterday to claim the inaugural pole position for this new event it appears that a race restart procedure transgression earned the German a ten second post race penalty that would ultimately drop his finishing position down to fourth.

The series later confirmed that Mucke has been adjudged to have braked suddenly and without just course directly in front of Marco Engel in the following Mercedes SLS GT3 causing Engel to take avoiding action and earning the German an unfair advantage at the restart following an incident with one of the Bentley's.


Stablemates Darryl O'Young and Richard Lyons also had a good opening race starting from sixth and seventh on the grid respectively. Lyons quickly got the jump on the #55 VLT liveried car of O'Young on the opening lap to move up to sixth - a position that he would maintain until the end.

O'Young would get muscled off what racing line exists around the street circuit to drop down to ninth by lap 3 - he would later recover to finish the race in eighth - just two seconds behind the #99 Gulf liveried car of Lyons.


Tomorrow sees the eighteen lap feature race of the GT World Cup event with the drivers starting in their finishing positions from todays race. That means Mucke starts P4, Lyons P6 and O'Young P8.

Photo credits - FIA GT World Cup

Aston Martin Racing factory driver Stefan Mucke today secured pole position for the inaugural FIA GT World Cup at the Macau Grand Prix.

Representing the marque with customer team Craft Bamboo Racing the German joined team regulars Darryl O'Young (#55) and Richard Lyons (#99) with their vibrantly liveried V12 Vantage GT3's in the FIA's event designed to showcase everything that is best about GT racing.

The Hong Kong based CBR team quickly found pace and rhythm during the Free Practice sessions with Darry O'Young (2015 GT Asia Champion) heading the AMR trio in fourth behind the then domineering Mercedes with Mucke and Lyons behind in sixth and tenth places respectively. Come the second Free Practice session the #97 car of Stefan Mucke then turn the table to become the fastest car on the tight and twisty street circuit with O'Young down in sixth biy only a half second slower.


During a dramatic and red flag marred Qualifying session earlier this morning a flying Mucke left it until after the third crash induced red flag period to elevate himself from a still credible fourth up to clinch a dramatic last minute pole potion, beating the new Audi R8 of Edoardo Mortara by nearly a tenth of second (2:18:032).


Team mates O'Young also went on to secure sixth (2:19:427) and Lyons just behind in seventh (2:19:637) for the twelve lap Qualification Race on Saturday which will also determine the starting positions for the 18 lap Feature Race on Sunday.


Stefan Mücke

The FIA today announced the provisional entry list for their inaugural GT World Cup event due to be held at the Macau Grand Prix on the third weekend in November.

Alongside manufacturers like McLaren, Porsche, Audi and Mercedes-Benz Aston Martin have had three Craft Bamboo Racing prepared V12 Vantage GT3 entries confirmed for the event but unlike all the other entries only Craft Bamboo Racer Darryl O'Young has been confirmed.


Seeing that the #97 and #99 CBR cars have yet to be allocated a driver it is surely highly likely that at least one of these slots will be filled with an Aston Martin Racing factory driver.

The event will be made up of a Qualification race of 12 laps or 45 minutes (whichever comes first) on Saturday, November 21, and the main event lasting 18 laps or 60 minutes on Sunday, November 22.

The top two cars from each registered manufacturer will accrue points and the marque with the most points will win the first FIA GT World Cup crown.

Craft-Bamboo Racing has been chosen by Aston Martin Racing to represent the marque at the inaugural FIA GT World Cup in Macau. The team will field their pair of Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3s that are currently competing in the GT Asia Series and aim to take the maiden title when the event is held from November 19-22.

Craft-Bamboo Racing are Aston Martin’s official technical partner in Asia and have a wealth of experience in Macau, racing in the GT and Touring Car categories on numerous occasions. Craft-Bamboo Racing have enjoyed a great deal of success with Aston Martin, claiming third in the Dubai 24 Hour in 2013, third in the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2015 and taking multiple wins and podiums in the GT Asia Series over several seasons.


Craft-Bamboo Racing has a successful touring car history at Macau, scoring independent class wins in 2011 and 2012 in the WTCC. In 2013, the team claimed victory once again; taking independent wins in both races saw Craft-Bamboo Racing claim the independent championship title and third overall in the drivers’ championship.

The brand new event for 2015 will see five manufacturers enter a trio of GT3 cars that will compete for the FIA GT World Cup for Manufacturers’ title. A qualifying race will be conducted for 12 laps, which will then be followed by a 60 minute main event race. The top two cars from each manufacturer will then be scored following the Formula One scoring system.

Craft-Bamboo Racing is in the process of finalizing their two drivers and will be releasing the line-up over the coming month.


Quotes

John Gaw, Managing Director & Team Principal of Aston Martin Racing

“Craft-Bamboo Racing is our [Aston Martin] technical partner in Asia and given their experience in both the GT Asia Series and the Macau Grand Prix makes them the perfect choice to represent the brand at the inaugural FIA GT World Cup. Craft-Bamboo Racing are a popular team in the region and having them involved in the competition will be great for the many local fans that make the journey to the famous race each year.”

Richard Coleman, CEO of Craft-Bamboo Racing

"We are delighted to have been selected by Aston Martin Racing to represent the brand at the inaugural FIA GT World Cup. Macau has been in the heart of our racing activities for a number of years and we have enjoyed many successes there. I am convinced we will be competitive at the event and will be looking to finalise our driver line up shortly. "

Source material - Craft Bamboo Racing

Craft Bamboo's Darryl O'Young today qualified his brightly coloured, VLT sponsored Aston Martin V12 Vantage in P5 for the 2014 GT Cup on the iconic street circuit that is Macau.

Sacrificing the penultimate round of the WEC in Bahrain to be at the event O'Young has been consistently towards the front of the grid before qualifying in fifth in Qualifying 1.

Team mate Frank Yu qualified P23 in the GT Asia category

The two Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3's are getting a full makeover for the Macau GT Cup. The normal green, white and black livery (above) on both the #55 Darryl O'Young and the #97 of Frank Yu cars are just a little different!

The Macau Grand Prix event starts 13th November.