Darryl O’Young will partner Aidan Read in the #991 Craft-Bamboo Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, completing the team’s two car lineup that is focused on bringing home the Blancpain GT Series Asia championship title. O’Young has been a staple GT driver for Craft-Bamboo since 2014 and has contributed greatly to their success in various championships and events.
The Hong Kong driver first contested the World Endurance Championship with Craft-Bamboo Racing in 2014, taking a World Championship podium in Fuji in the GTE Pro class. Greater success followed in 2015, with an overall championship victory in the GT Asia Series, scoring four wins and three additional podium finishes, as well as a third-place podium in the famous Bathurst 12 Hour endurance event. After the team’s first year with Porsche in 2016, O’Young secured the first pole position and victory for the Porsche 911 GT3 R in the Blancpain GT Series Asia Series in 2017.
O’Young will now partner with Read for 2018 and the pair will be focused on a strong start to the season. With his experience in the Porsche and years’ of top level international GT competition, he is the perfect partner to guide Read, who will be undertaking his second season in a GT car. With Read recently completing yet another successful test session in the updated Porsche 911 GT3 R, the pair are more than prepared to kick their season off with a top result when the first race weekend gets underway on the 14th-15th of April in Sepang.
O’Young and Read in the #991 Porsche complete Craft-Bamboo’s Blancpain GT Series Asia line-up and the pair will fight alongside the previously announced #911 Porsche 911 GT3 R sister car of Sandy Stuvik and Shae Davies for the GT3 championship. Following on from their incredible success last year, Frank Yu and Jean-Marc Merlin will return to the GT4 championship and will be hoping to take the GT4 title for the second year in a row in their Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR.
Quotes
Darryl O’Young, #991 Porsche 911 GT3 R
“I have had a long history as a driver with Craft-Bamboo Racing and I am really excited to be back in the second season of the Blancpain GT Series Asia. Last year we made a lot of progress with the Porsche, taking our first win and pole position in the series. I am really looking forward to starting this season strong. Last year we had a tough start to the year and then came back strong, so this year we are looking to make a championship challenge from the very beginning. I am very happy to be working with Aidan Read, he is a young talent who showed a lot of promise in his first year of GT3 racing and I believe we will work very well together with the aim of adding more wins to the team.”
Russell O’Hagan, Operations Director of Craft-Bamboo Racing
“Darryl O’Young has long been a part of Craft-Bamboo’s driver line-up and has been instrumental in the team’s success throughout its GT history. With his extensive race experience and time behind the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R, I believe he will be the perfect partner to not only help Aidan Read continue his rapid GT development but also ensure the #991 Porsche scores consistent results throughout the year, aiming for the championship title. Looking at our line-ups for both GT3 and GT4, we have high hopes for success in the drivers and team championships in both categories.”
