Hong Kong’s WIN Motorsport, newly-crowned Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup champions, are preparing to take their most demanding challenge to-date as the team enters its Ligier JS P3 LMP3 car into the region’s most prestigious endurance championship, the Asian Le Mans Series. Team Principal and driver William Lok will team up with 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours LMP2 Champion Richard Bradley in WIN Motorsport’s bid to take the LMP3 title.
Having formed the team less than six months ago, WIN Motorsport has already achieved notable success: less than four months after the team’s first race, WIN was crowned Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup champions, having dominated the series with 5 wins from 6 races. In the process Lok became the first Chinese LMP driver to win a regional Sprint Cup Championship and the team announced its arrival as a force in the region.
In June, WIN Motorsport earned a top 10 finish amongst a strong, international field in the highly-respected Road to Le Mans, held on the undercard of the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours at La Sarthe, France.
Since winning the Sprint Cup championship, WIN Motorsport has been busy preparing for the opening race of the 2017-2018 Asian Le Mans Series, which begins on October27-29 at the Zhuhai International Circuit, just an hour away from WIN’s base in Hong Kong. As part of the team’s preparations, Lok and Bradley contested a round of the highly-competitive Michelin Le Mans Cup last month. The race saw Lok make his debut on the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, home of the notorious Eau Rouge corner. The pair finished a credible eighth overall, despite falling victim to a technical glitch and impact with another competitor, with Lok the top Asian finisher.
Following the Asian Le Mans Series season opener in Zhuhai, the championship then heads to Japan for a race at the Fuji Speedway from December 1-3. In the New Year, the series resumes form January 11-13 at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, before the season finale from February 2-4 in Malaysia at the Sepang International Circuit, where WIN Motorsport also maintains a base.
Success in the 2017/18 Asian Le Mans Series is the next step in WIN Motorsport’s long-term goal of competing at the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans. Having achieved its early goals of the winning the Sprint Cup title and performing well at Road to Le Mans, WIN heads into the Asian Le Mans Series confident in its abilities to perform well in the LMP3 class.
WIN Motorsport will need to harness its full power as it faces a formidable line-up of rivals in the increasingly-popular championship. And, while the team itself is young, each individual member of WIN Motorsport has a wealth of experience and success to draw upon.
Round 1 of the Asian Le Mans Series takes place from October 27-29, 2017 at the Zhuhai International Circuit. Follow WIN Motorsport on its #silkroadtolemans journey online at www.winmotorsport.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/winmotorsporthk. #WINMotorsport #williamlok
WIN Motorsport Quotes:
William Lok: “WIN Motorsport is delighted to be racing in the Asian Le Mans Series and we can’t wait to get back in the car in Zhuhai later this month. It’s been an intense start to our debut season and I’m proud that we have been able to achieve so much in just a few months.
“Winning the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup was a great feeling, but now our focus is 100 per cent to the Asian Le Mans Series where we know competition will be tougher and we’ll have to be at our best in order to achieve our goals. I am very much looking forward to racing at Zhuhai, a track I know well, alongside Richard [Bradley] and backed by the great WIN Motorsport crew.
Richard Bradley: “I’m excited to team up with William for the Asian Le Mans Series and really looking forward to racing together over the 2017-2018 season. As WIN Motorsport’s driver coach, I’ve seen William’s commitment to the sport and all the work he puts into his training and into the team. The results have proven this so far and now we step up to our next challenge – our next goal. William and I have both competed in the Asian Le Mans Series before with other teams, and I have plenty of experience in endurance racing, both at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Heading into the race at Zhuhai we are confident that as a team we will be able to achieve our goals and to post some strong results.”
Stewart Wild, WIN Motorsport Team Manager: “Everyone at WIN Motorsport is excited to get racing again, but we’re well aware that this is going to be the toughest test so far. We have four grueling endurance races to win and some strong competition. WIN Motorsport is well aware we are going to have to be 100 percent of the time to reach our goals.”
