Formula Asia 2.0 Series - Superb ARTtrick

At Bira International Circuit, Ryan Booth, Rio Haryanto and Yoshitaka Kuroda wrote a piece of Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports’ history after scoring a remarkable 1-2-3 in Race 2 of Formula Asia 2.0 – the best result ever for the team in a championship race.

The successful weekend started on Qualifying. For the first time in the season 2008 ART Motorsports conquered the Pole-Position. In Saturday’s qualifying, Kuroda set a blistering pace and beat last month’s pole time by almost half second. The team’s good performance was followed by Booth’s 3rd position. Recently crowned Indonesian Junior Class Karting Champion Haryanto had a less fortunate morning, and started from 6th.

The Race 1 was held under wet conditions following a heavy shower right before the start of the race. Kuroda did a good start and managed to keep the 1st position when he was hit from the back twice at lap 4. An inexcusable behaviour by a professional driver led to his DNF. The Stewards of the Meeting would punish the driver with 30 seconds penalty but it won’t avoid the Japanese ace loss. After a non-profitable move on lap 1 Booth made good progress from his initial lap 6th to end up in 2nd. One by one the American driver managed to overtake the four opponents in front of him. The 15-years old had his personal revenge from the past meeting when he also showed his form when he claimed second but was given a 30-second penalty at the end of the race for a false start. Haryanto hadn’t a bright start and spun on lap 3. Fortunately the youngest driver in the series did a very good second half of the race and managed to cross the line in 4th.

In the Asia Drivers Cup, Haryanto managed to secure the 2nd position.

The race director decided to have the Race 2 started behind Safety Car as the heavy rainfall deteriorated the driving conditions but the ART Motorsports trio kept self-motivation high and started moving forward on the way to success. Booth couldn’t catch up the Championship points leader Felix Rosenqvist in the first couple of laps but he would wait for his opponent mistake to take the lead. As soon as he got the 1st position, with no imminent threat from second-placed, the talented driver from Florida was untouchable until the end of the race. The first victory of Booth was the first victory of the year for ART Motorsports. Haryanto used the Race 1 wet experience to have a trouble-free Race 2. The young Indonesian returned to the Bira circuit’s podium and now moves ahead into 5th place in the standings. Kuroda had to work his way past crossed the line 3rd in the closing stages from coming back from 6th in the grid. The Japanese has bravely resisted enormous pressure from an opponent until the final corner.

The Asia Drivers Cup was an uncomplicated 1-2 for ART with Haryanto at the top.

The championship battles will resume in two month time when Formula Asia 2.0 heads to China on November 1/2 at the Shanghai International Circuit.

Drivers Comments:

#18 Ryan Booth : “It means much to finally get this win. In Race 1 Felix and Yoshi squeezed me in so I had nowhere to go in the third corner of the first lap. I went last and just drove as hard as I could to try and get up to 1st but unfortunately it didn’t turn out that way. Anyway the 2nd position was very good too. In Race 2 I couldn’t catch up Felix at the rolling start but he did a mistake and I end up in the front. Rio was not in my mirrors and I decided to not take any avoidable risk in the tricky wet-dry conditions. I’d like to congratulate the whole team, the mechanics and my engineer, thanks to whom today’s result was possible.”

#20 Yoshitaka Kuroda : “It was pity what happened in Race 1 but I never give up and this just shows what determination does for you. I started Race 2 very fired up and I did my best. The team always gives me a great car for the races and we’ve shown in the past that we can fight back from positions such as this.”


#22 Rio Haryanto : “The Race 1 was quite difficult for me because I have never raced in this wet conditions before. I spun twice but I managed to get back twice. So I came out today and tried to correct those mistakes. Race 2 result was much better. I saw Yuki and Felix doing mistakes and I just had to get my head down. It’s good to be going to the two final rounds on a positive note.”

ART Motorsports

ATCS - Kano Takes Morning Win While Kajohnsak Takes Season Ender Win

Masaki Kano takes his second win of the season during the penultimate race of the Asian Touring Car Series 2008 season. The Japanese driver climbed up the ranks from the reverse grid order to finish the race in 23:21.057, ahead of Eric Yeo and Man Ting Yu.

The stage was set for a dramatic race with the reverse grid order leaving Adrian Henry D’Silva taking pole next to Man Ting Yu at the start of the race. D’Silva got off the line well to lead the race for the first lap before being overtaken by Yeo and Man and was chased by the fast climbing Kano. Lap by lap Kano began to make his way past Man and then Yeo to take the lead by lap 3. From there the Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver did not look back and kept up a blistering pace all the way to the chequered flag.

“I started in sixth and tried to take one driver by one driver. I took my time because it is a 20-lap race so I had plenty of time to make my move. I did slow my pace a little towards the middle of the race just to maintain my pace and the race lead”.

Behind him the drama unfolded when fifth placed starter, Kajohnsak Na Songkla overtook Danny Stacy Chau and Man Ting Yu before he began to put pressure on D’Silva and Yeo at the start. But Kajohnsak made a mistake and spun off the track only to rejoin the race at the end of the pack. This left Yeo up in second while Man managing to maintain his third place from lap 5 onwards.

“I had a good start in front of Man Ting Yu. Then when I looked back I saw Kajohnsak who was on my back for most of the way. After that I managed to open up a gap to Man and maintained that gap all the way to the chequered flag”.

Towards the end of the race, Man was pressured by his Team IMSP teammate, Danny Chau, who managed to climb back up to fourth after a tense battle with Akekaluk Ditjareoan.

It was a good clean start to the second and final race of the season where local up and coming touring car driver, Kajohnsak Na Songkla took the win in front of his home supporters, ahead of Adrian Henry D’Silva and Danny Stacy Chau.

Kajohnsak had a brilliant start climbing up to second from third early on in the race. Then he managed to avoid the incident between Eric Yeo and Danny Chau to claim the lead. He then managed to stay clean all the way, keeping up a good strong pace all the way to the chequered flag.

“I started in third and got up to second fairly easily, then I just drover around taking care of my car for the first few laps before I was passed again dropping me down to third. After that, I thought I’d take it easy, it was a long race. Then there was the accident, and after that it was a smooth and easy race.

Behind him, there was a battle for second with D’Silva, Man Ting Yu and Danny Chau. The trio changed positions throughout much of the race where in the end, D’Silva took second ahead of Danny Chau while Man finished third ahead of Frank Yee, Ao Chi Hong, Eric Yeo, Lai Kit Man and Lei Chong Seng.

“At the start, I just followed the crowd. Then the two cars in front of me spun. Then Eric had a drive through penalty, leaving it just between me and Man Ting Yu fighting. After that I just took Man and of course I also had pressure from Danny as well.

“The three of us changed positions several times and in the end I managed to hold through right to the end to finish second” said D’Silva during the post race press conference.

Prepared by Motorsport Asia Limited

ATCS - Kano Win from Pole

It was a good clean race right from the start on the drying Bira Circuit where returning Asian Touring Car Series 2007 Champion (Division 2) Masaki Kano, took his first pole to flag win this year. The Japanese driver took a year-long break from racing to concentrate on work and was immediately on form to claim the win for Liqui Moly Team Engstler in the absence of Jack Lemvard.

Kano crossed the line in 23:26.581 to claim first 25.879 seconds ahead of Thai’s touring car driver Kajohnsak Na Songkla and Hong Kong driver Danny Stacy Chau. “Just before the race there was rain which caused a little bit of a headache as we had to decide whether to run on wet or dry tyres. In the end, we decided to go ahead on slicks. In the first four laps, it was still quite wet but after that the circuit dried out a little more which allowed me to make full use of the slicks. After that it was quite easy to drive” said Kano during the post race press conference.

“I’m happy to be back in the Asian Touring Car Series. Last year when we did the series, we did not visit Bira so it was a new experience for me. Being able to claim the win made me really happy. I have to thank my team, the engineers and the mechanics for a great job” he added. It was a good clean start as all drivers were weary of the still wet track from a heavy shower an hour before the race started. Kano, with the more powerful BMW immediately pulled away from the pack leaving Danny Chau to fend off the charges of Malaysian Eric Yeo and Kajohnsak.

Danny Chau then pulled a little bit of a gap when Yeo and Kajohnsak battled for third for seven laps changing positions twice before the Thai driver managed to get pass Yeo again at the last turn of lap 8. From there Yeo started to suffer from a slipping clutch and maintained his pace until the end of the race to gain the best result possible to collect vital Championship points.

Kajohnsak then quickly picked up his pace to chase Danny Chau and was beginning to put pressure on the Team IMSP driver. On lap 18, Kajohnsak who was then right on Danny Chau’s tail, saw an opportunity at the first chicane and carried enough speed to take the inside lines to overtake Danny Chau. He held on to second place all the way to the chequered flag.


Kajohnsak says “I had a good start. I managed to get past Eric Yeo and was behind Danny for half of the race. Danny was driving really well and I only managed to get a chance at the second last lap at the first chicane. I carried a little bit more speed on the exit than Danny and I was lucky that he opened up a little gap where I could get through. I would like to thank Danny for a great race today and I had a really nice battle with him”. “It was a bit of a gentlemen driving.

Kajohnsak is faster and has better knowledge of the circuit and he is much younger, so I had to give a gap for him to get past me” said Danny Chau with a laugh. “It was slightly slippery on the first three laps so everyone was cautious, but by the fourth lap, everyone was driving full force, as can be seen on the lap times”. Yeo finished the race in fourth, ahead of Danny Chau’s teammate, Man Ting Yu and fellow Malaysian Adrian Henry D’Silva.


Thai driver Akekaluk Ditjareoan finished seventh ahead of Frank Yee, Lai Kit Meng and Lei Chong Seng. Malaysian driver Harry Chai, who had troubles from the start with his gearbox, was not classified while Ao Chi Hong only completed 11 laps before retiring in his pit. The Asian Touring Car Series continues on Sunday, 7th September with Rounds 11 & 12 at Bira Circuit.

Prepared by Motorsport Asia Ltd

Lemvard Stuns Germans with ADAC Procar Series Win

First time ADAC Procar Series participant, Jack Lemvard, stunned his German counterparts when he took the winning trophy at last weekend’s ADAC Procar Series at Oschersleben, Germany. The Asian Touring Car Series driver took to the wheel of Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s team owner, Franz Engstler’s BMW 320i E46 and placed it third on the starting grid for race 1.

“I got Franz Engstler`s car from last year, the champion car from ATCS in 2006, and ADAC Procar 2006 so the car was really good. We had 2 practice sessions, I’ve never been to this track before, I only played it on Playstation so everything was new to me. I didn’t have much time to learn the new track so, I walked it a couple of times to try learn it and looked at past race data. At the first practice session I was the fastest out of 35 cars and everyone was like who is this guy?” said Lemvard with a laugh.

“During the second practice my tires finished so we didn't get a good time and qualifying was not so good either because there were 35 cars out at the same time. I only managed to get 1 clear lap giving me 3^rd”.

The Thai driver got off to a brilliant race 1 start and took the lead into the first turn before getting a slight nudge by the Honda Accord of Peter Rikli behind him leaving Lemvard to go a little wide allowing Rikli to pass. Lemvard then chased him for five laps before out-braking him to reclaim the lead. From there, Lemvard had to defend his position from his fast charging teammate, Stefan Neuberger, and he held on for the remaining laps to claim the chequered flag.

“I got a perfect start. As we went into the first corner I was first, but then the Honda behind hit me in the back, and I went wide so he passed me back. After that I followed him, and on lap 5 I out braked him coming into the first corner and from then on I just stayed in first place all the way till the chequered flag. But it was tough because I had to fend off my teammate, who was faster than I was in this race so, I defended my lines for 8 laps”.

But things were not over as the first race only determines the starting grid of the second race and as Lemvard crossed the line in the first race, his engine ceased. The crew worked tirelessly and quickly for the next 10 minutes to put the car back on the grid.

“On the last lap after the chequered flag the BMW broke down! So it took a really long time for me to get it to the pits. They have different rules here, you are not allowed to touch the car until told so, and repair time is only 15 minutes. When our car got back we had 10 minutes left to change something that normally would take 1 hour, but we managed to do it in 8 minutes. Even our WTCC drivers, Franz Engstler and Andrei Romanov helped out, changing tires. It was amazing to have 20 people working on 1 car at the same time”.

The team’s efforts were rewarded when Lemvard made a brilliant start at the second race and held onto the lead to claim a pole to flag win, his first in the ADAC Procar Series.

“I really have to thank the team for preparing such a fast car! We have everything on video and it looks amazing. I started first, got a perfect start, and held my position into the first corner, then I pulled around 2 tenths of a second per lap on the 2nd placed driver, and after 10 laps I had a 5 second lead. Then I decided I didn’t need to push anymore and just cruised to victory. This is the first time a Thai driver has won in Germany and everyone was so surprised that an Asian driver did so well. On the podium, when the Thai National Anthem was playing, it was beautiful. It was the end of a perfect weekend”.

Prepared by Jack Lemvard