Macau Grand Prix: Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young wins GT Cup despite damaged car barely making it on to the grid – ‘I’m lost for words’
- Craft Bamboo Racing star overtakes defending champion Ye Hongli to win a day after crashing – ‘literally we got the car together 10 seconds before’
- O’Young thanks team for reviving ‘written-off’ Mercedes, though Ye and third-placed Luo claim dangerous play
The 41-year-old had just seconds to spare to make it on to the grid after his #95 Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO suffered serious damage from the previous round the day before.
O’Young immediately thanked his Craft Bamboo Racing team’s mechanics, who reportedly spent the night repairing the vehicle to ensure he would feature in the final round.
With his only warm-up with the patched up car ahead of the 12-lap race being the formations laps, few expected O’Young (best lap time 2:22.193) to out-fox weekend leader and defending champion Leo Ye Hongli (2:22.056), of China.
O’Young showed his experience – he won the first-ever Macau GT Cup in 2008, narrowly missing out on last year’s podium – to overtake Ye almost immediately before dictating the pack from the front. With his car showing increasing signs of fatigue, a timely non-related safety car intervention from laps eight to 11 ensured he would see out the final lap in pole position.
