Hong Kong’s Antares Au (HKG) joined forces with teammates Yifei Ye (CHN) and Klaus Bachler (AUT) for the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS). The #33 Precote Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R put in a stellar performance at the 4H of Abu Dhabi series finale to take a brilliant and well-deserved P2 in the GT Pro class.The team had faced a challenging season, struggling to contest for the lead in the first 3 races before an amazing fight back in the season finale. It was a combination of flawless execution, well-timed pit stop strategy and consistently fast lap times that culminated in a spectacular finish on Sunday.
The 2022 ALMS took place in Dubai and Abu Dhabi over 12th-13th February and 19th-20th February respectively. The first weekend of the series, held at Dubai Autodrome, was riddled with challenges for the team and hindered them from being the front runners, despite strong qualifying pace. Heading to Yas Marina Circuit, the team looked stronger, showing up at the top of time charts in practice sessions. Bachler’s sensational qualifying performance put the #33 Porsche in class pole position for the fourth and final race of the 2022 ALMS.
Au started the 4 hour race from pole position. Despite falling behind some of the pro-rated GT competitors in the opening laps, he managed to recover and achieve his target of clocking in quick and consistent lap times. The first 30 minutes of the race had no shortage of incidents in the 22-car GT field, but Au managed to come away relatively unscathed and most importantly error-free, handing the car to Ye under a Full-Course-Yellow (FCY) to gain an advantage over the field. Ye, who was racing in GT cars for the first time as the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver, ran in the middle of the pack before a flourish of Safety Cars and FCYs threw all teams’ strategies into the mix. #33 executed their pit stops excellently, timing the moves to perfection with the Safety Car and handing the car to Bachler for the final run to the finish.
The final hour of the race was best described by Au as a “masterclass in high-pressure sprint racing”. Bachler showed his experience and closed right up to the leaders. Fighting his way through traffic, he battled to move forward on the podium positions and crossed the finish line in P2, merely 0.616s behind the class winners.
It was a combined effort that elevated the team to a podium finish and capped off Au’s return to the ALMS in a spectacular fashion. For Au, this was a learning experience, overcoming a lot of hurdles along the way, eventually delivering a strong result. The Hong Kong driver showed great temperament and experience throughout the series and kept fighting right until the very end.