Porsche teams Craft-Bamboo Racing and Manthey-Racing were in Macau for the 2018 FIA GT World Cup last weekend, as factory driver Earl Bamber finished just outside the podium places in fourth.
With Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific providing on-site support, Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Mathieu Jaminet also shined on his debut at the Guia Circuit, as team-mate Darryl O’Young successfully completed his 15th consecutive participation in the event.
Of the 15 GT3 participants, a total of four Porsche 911 GT3 R were entered into the FIA GT World Cup, with Craft-Bamboo Racing and Manthey-Racing fielding two cars each.
After going quickest in the second free practice session, Bamber was once again in a battle amongst the front-runners in qualifying. The two-time Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion and double Le Mans 24 Hours winner went fifth quickest in his #912 machine, ahead of team-mate and 2016 Macau GT race-winner Laurens Vanthoor.
Learning the track for the first time on board the #991 Porsche Design-liveried car, Jaminet showed promising potential in practice and qualifying, with his time good enough for 10th fastest. Driving the #55 Porsche 911 GT3 R, 2008 Macau GT Cup winner O’Young was 13th.
In the shorter Qualification Race overtaking proved difficult around the tight street circuit, and Bamber finished as the highest Porsche driver in fifth. Vanthoor had looked like he might gain some positions early on, but contact with another competitor caused him to retire from the race.
Jaminet put in a smooth and error-free drive on his first Macau race and safely brought the car home in ninth place, with O’Young’s Vita VLC-liveried Porsche crossing the line in 13th position.
With the Qualification Race finishing order determining their grid spots for the Main Race, Bamber started fifth but brushed the wall early on. However, the 2014 Porsche Supercup champion showed great pace and closed the gap to the podium places, ultimately finishing 1.460 seconds behind third in fourth after benefiting from an earlier incident ahead.
Starting ninth, Jaminet was one of the few drivers to make an on-track pass in the Main Race. The Frenchman overtook Dries Vanthoor’s Audi in the latter stages to finish seventh. O’Young successfully completed another Macau GT event in 14th, with Vanthoor’s Porsche unable to take the start after damage sustained in Saturday’s incident.
Mathieu Jaminet, #991 Craft-Bamboo Racing, said: “I am happy to have gained two spots in the Main Race. We tried to be smart and bring it back in one piece. We were missing a little bit of pace, but made gains throughout the weekend with the set-up. I hadn’t been here before and was still learning the car and track, so we came from a long way back. In the end I finished as the second rookie and I’m happy with how it went. The circuit is like nothing else in the world, you are so close to the wall and even touching it at some parts – it’s a lot of fun. Thanks to Craft-Bamboo Racing and Porsche for giving me this opportunity, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and am looking forward to coming back next year.”
Darryl O’Young, #55 Craft-Bamboo Racing, said: “It was a tough race, we struggled with the pace and couldn’t really get down to the bottom of it. I was disappointed, as we tried a lot of changes with the set-up but they didn’t really work. It’s difficult, but I am still in love with Macau so we will definitely come back and try again!”
Earl Bamber, #912 Manthey-Racing, said: “The Main Race was tough, we got an okay start and just held position. We were quicker than Mortara in the beginning but couldn’t find a way by. Once we burned some fuel off the Porsche felt really good, we had great pace and managed the degradation well. In the end our car was one of the quickest, but it’s very difficult to overtake here so we weren’t able to make up places. We can be happy that the car is still amongst the quickest in GT3 and now we look forward to next year.”
Laurens Vanthoor, #911 Manthey-Racing, said: “It’s such a shame that my weekend was over so quickly. Earl and I were both on the straight fighting against the Mercedes, one on each side. Then Edoardo (Mortara) and Earl touched. After that, “Edo” crashed into the side of me. I couldn’t control the car. I hit the barrier hard, but I was okay. Unfortunately the car wasn’t.”
Alexandre Gibot, Head of Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific, said: “The FIA GT World Cup in Macau is one of the biggest GT3 events in the world. It was great to see from the get go that Porsche had the pace to be fighting with the front-runners. It’s very important to have a factory team and customer outfit competing together, as you have a good reference. Manthey-Racing and Craft-Bamboo Racing are experienced teams, who both worked hard throughout the Macau weekend to give their drivers the best chance. Now we’re looking forward to the first-ever FIA GT Nations Cup in Bahrain on 30 November, where Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific will provide support for the Team China entry.”
