Macau Grand Prix: Darryl O’Young overcomes oil slip drama to keep podium hopes alive – ‘hopefully we’ll be on the grid tomorrow’
- The GT Cup headliner was cut short after O’Young crashes into barriers having clocked second-fastest lap time
- ‘I have seen the team perform miracles before in Macau so we’re going to try to do it again,’ he says of damaged car
The 41-year-old three-time GT Cup winner nonetheless finished second on the podium with his fastest lap time of 2:21.113 – meaning he will start in the front row on Sunday’s final round pending vehicle repairs.
The incident came in round five, soon after Chinese driver Tang Ruobin was forced to pull up as his engine was smoking profusely, leaving a trail of oil on the tracks. Unaware of the spill, O’Young and his Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO slid and snaked into the barrier – almost going over – and just missing Tang’s static Lamborghini.
An initial red flag was raised to suspend the race, before the race was declared and all drivers were ushered back to paddock. The result was called from the order of the previous lap, where O’Young was in second and still in contention behind Ye Hongli in pole position.
The Craft Bamboo Racing driver appeared to be relatively unscathed walking to the medical centre and standing on the podium with Toro Racing’s Ye (2:20.988) and third-placed Luo Kailuo (2:21.358). Depending on whether O’Young’s team can find the right car parts, the leading trio start in their same positions for Sunday’s final 12-lap race.
“The car took a pretty big hit. I feel OK. There were a lot of people concerned but I feel fine,” said O’Young, who missed a podium spot in last year’s iteration.
“It’s probably not the most conventional way of taking second place, but at the end of the day it is second. Quite a disappointing finish, obviously.
“The race started well, we both had good starts and kind of equal. We touched a couple of times before we went into turn one, but he was able to hold his position.
“In hindsight, there was a blown engine up ahead, we approached quite quickly, but there wasn’t really any indication there was oil on the track. I couldn’t hear clearly on my radio – I knew there was a crash up ahead but didn’t realise there was oil. We couldn’t see any slippery surface flag up ahead, so I braked lighter but not in a safe way because there was yellow flags. But once I touched the brakes the car just lost it and the rear was out of control.
“The main thing now is can the car be repaired. If we get it fixed, we get back in second. The mechanics will do everything they can. I have seen the team at Craft Bamboo Racing perform miracles before in Macau so we’re going to try to do it again and hopefully we’ll be on the grid tomorrow.”
Ye, opting to drive a Porsche 911 GT3 R this year, remains the favourite having clocked the fastest lap time of the truncated race.
“My aim is always to win as many laps as I can. I’m still enjoying this circuit, this is my third year, so it’s about how we do all the laps and enjoy the race,” he said.
Fellow Hong Kong competitors Marchy Lee Ying-kin finished fifth for the day (2:24.557), Alexandre Imperatori 14th (3:14.303), Wong Kwai-wah 13th (2:36.150) and Brian Lai Chun-kit 17th (2:42.693).
