Craft-Bamboo Racing, an Official Performance Team of Mercedes-AMG, confirms the J-Fly Racing pairing of Jeffrey Lee and Alessio Picariello as part of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia. The pair will share driving duties of the striking red, white and black #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3, running in the hotly contested GT3 pro-am class.
Jeffrey Lee makes the switch to Mercedes-AMG with Craft-Bamboo Racing for his return to the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia, having recently competed in the Japanese 2018 Super Taikyu championship. He has a proven track record, scoring podiums in the 2018 Audi R8 LMS Cup and the 2017 Blancpain GT Asia Series. Lee has vast experience in both GT and Formula cars, having entered over 250 races across Asia in his career. Most notably, he finished 2nd in the 2015-16 Asian Le Mans Series, scoring 2 podiums in that season.
In addition to his driving duties, Jeffrey Lee will also represent Mercedes-AMG Taiwan in a promotional role with the German sports car manufacturer. His experience on and off the race track will prove valuable as Lee makes a bid for his first championship title.
Belgian ace Alessio Picariello is no stranger to GT3 machinery and has championship winning credential; winning the 2017 Audi R8 LMS Cup as well as the 2013 ADAC Formel Masters championship. Despite only being 25 years old, Picariello brings a wealth of experience and raw talent to the team’s line-up, demonstrating his speed with 3 pole positions in the 2017 Blancpain GT Series Asia season, as well as competing in the 2018 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup and ADAC GT Masters European championships.
An element that strengthens this relationship between Picariello and Lee is the working history between the pair. Having co-driven on numerous occasions in the past, the team is confident that the two will go from strength-to-strength in the upcoming season.
Quotes:
Jeffrey Lee | Driver – Craft-Bamboo Racing
“It has been a long winter break but we have been busy with many changes for the coming season. Joining the Mercedes-AMG family is the biggest one, as I have had many great years competing with Audi. However, I felt like it was time for a change and I am really looking forward to this new challenge ahead as J-Fly Racing joins Craft-Bamboo Racing for the 2019 season, returning to the prestigious Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia as well as adding several special one-off events along the way as the season progresses. I’m also excited to be driving alongside Alessio; someone whom I’ve worked with in the past and we will certainly be pushing each other forward.”
Alessio Picariello | Driver – Craft-Bamboo Racing
“I’m really excited to start this new journey with Jeffrey and Craft-Bamboo Racing. I’ve known Jeffrey since my debut in Asia and in GT racing and I’m really pleased to continue driving with him. The Mercedes AMG GT3 is new to both of us and that’s going to be a challenge. But it’s an exciting, fast and sexy car so I am looking forward to getting to know it and the Craft-Bamboo Racing team. I’m not setting any particular goals for this season in the strong Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia but I’m not planning to be just a number either. Every time I jump into the car I push to be right at the front in every single session and that won’t be different this year!
Darryl O’Young | Director of Craft-Bamboo Racing
“We’re really happy to confirm Jeffrey and Alessio for the Blancpain GT World Season. These two have driven together for many years and we’ve seen strong results from them, so we have high expectations for them to be championship contenders this season.
The two of them have some work ahead because it’s both their first season driving the Mercedes-AMG. But we’re confident that with their experience that they’ll learn the car quite quickly. We have a strong engineering team to back them this year and aim to achieve success together.
It’s very exciting to see Jeffrey to join the Mercedes AMG family; something we’ve been working hard together on for the past few months and now it’s time to hit the track and go racing.”
