The 2020 GT World Challenge Asia Esports Championship reached its halfway mark at Silverstone, with full grids in the Real Drivers’ and Sim Drivers’ race yet again. The race event began with uncertainty, with drivers and teams facing the threat of rain for the first time. However, the rain did not arrive as expected, and Motul driver Melvin Moh delivered a spectacular drive, fighting for the lead and outwitting his rivals with strategy to take his maiden victory in the series. After leading his class most of the race, Kevin Tse crossed the line 2nd in Real-AM breaking his win streak, but maintaining his 3rd podium in 3 races.
In the Real-PRO class, it was Melvin Moh and Alex Jiang qualifying at the sharp end of the grid once again, with Moh in 2nd and Liang in 5th. Moh started the race and immediately was on the attack, taking the lead and controlling the pace from the front. Liang however, was unfortunately hit with a technical glitch during the race start procedure – dropping him out of contention for the remainder of the race. Moh was under pressure for the entire race, but he drove a perfect stint, managing his tyres and fuel. Darryl O’Young had a really good start moving up 10 positions by lap 2, but was caught up in an unavoidable incident sustaining damage to his #55 VLT Mercedes-AMG GT3, finishing 21st overall. Matt Solomon, in the #36 Vita Juice Mercedes-AMG GT3, also had a difficult race after being caught up in incidents at the start and eventually crossed the line in 15th position.
Having taken back-to-back victories in the opening 2 races of the championship, Kevin Tse once again qualified near the front of the Real-AM class. Tse was on a mission to retain his championship lead, and starting mid-pack, was involved in really close battles for position. Despite driving with a damaged car after being hit at the start, Tse led most of the race only to lose it near the end, crossing the line in 2nd position after being forced to go into fuel save mode. Further back, Frank Yu, in the #77 Vita Water Mercedes-AMG GT3, had a challenging race and finished just outside the points in 15th in class.
In the closely fought Sim Drivers’ race, Charles Theseira managed to qualify his Motul Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the top-10 and was scrapping for position at the front of the field early on. However, he struggled with tyre wear in the latter half of the race and crossed the line in 9th position in the Sim-PRO category.
The great drive by Melvin Moh puts him 2nd in the standings of the Real-PRO category, with Alex Liang trailing a few points behind in 7th. Matt Solomon is currently 10th in the standings, and Darryl O’Young in 21st place. In the Real-AM category, Kevin Tse is still the championship leader by 20 points, with Frank Yu still fighting to grab his first points. The title battles are set to heat up as the championship approaches the penultimate round of the 2020 season, held next at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit on the 24th of November.
QUOTES
Melvin Moh | Driver #7 Motul Mercedes-AMG GT3
“I’m really happy with the win today and glad that it was finally a clean race from my side. The race started pretty well as I managed to overtake Aaron at the start. It was pretty close with him and Padayachee until the pit stops and I enjoyed the battle with Aaron a lot. I hope to continue this form in the next 2 races and hopefully I can take the fight to Padayachee in the championship. Once again big thanks for craft bamboo racing and Motul for all the support.”
Kevin Tse | Driver #38 Motul Mercedes-AMG GT3
“So I had a really good start, and somehow managing to avoid a big mess on the opening lap. I was then steadily moving up the order – even running in 7th outright and leading the AM category comfortably. But after the pit-stops I realized that I didn’t have enough fuel so I had to save fuel for the last 5 laps. In the last lap, I tried to let the leader go through, but I also lost a position and the end finished 2nd. It should have been an easy three out of three victories, but a miscalculation on my part cost me the race win. But still, a good lead in the championship leading up to Spa, which a circuit that everyone likes, and I’m definitely looking forward to racing there!”
Darryl O’Young | Director of Craft-Bamboo Racing
“We’re really happy to take our first win in the championship at Silverstone. After competing this season we quickly realized that it’s not an easy task. Congratulations to Melvin for putting in such a great effort, and to Kevin for maintaining his lead in the championship. Consistency is one of the hardest factors in this championship so to have Melvin and Kevin fighting for the titles is really exciting. There’s only 2 rounds left in the season, at Spa and Suzuka, so each race will be very important in our bid for the title. The whole team is looking forward and will be preparing well for the next race.”
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