New Hong Kong Team Finds Success on Debut

May 7, 2017 (Hong Kong) – Proudly flying the flag for Hong Kong, WIN Motorsport and drivers William Lok and Davide Rizzo celebrated two dominant overall victories in this weekend’s opening rounds of the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit. Competing in the Le Mans Prototype (LMP) 3 category, WIN Motorsport took its first step on “the Silk Road to Le Mans”, as the team embarks upon its goal to compete in the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018.

Hong Kong driver Lok and Italian Rizzo now top the championship leaderboard, with a 15-point lead over their next closest rivals.

Having prepared the #1 Ligier in record time, WIN Motorsport got their weekend off to a strong start, setting the fastest lap times in both Free Practice sessions. In the first of two Qualifying sessions, Rizzo impressed on his LMP3 debut, taking pole position for Race 1 with a lap time that was more than two seconds quicker than his closest rival. Lok took the wheel for the second 15-minute Qualifying session, setting the second-fastest time of the LMP3 cars.

In Saturday’s opening race, Rizzo started from pole and momentarily lost the lead at the first corner before decisively snatching it back from his rival. From there, it was all WIN Motorsport as Rizzo built up an unassailable lead before finishing his stint and handing the reigns to Lok. Lok continued to push, taking the chequered flag by more than 40 seconds at the end of the hour-long race.

Buoyed by the convincing win in their debut, WIN Motorsport set its sights on Sunday’s second hour-long sprint race. Lok started Race 2 and had a strong start, briefly dropping a place in the early stages of the opening lap before regaining it before the line. Lok continued to push, racing the #1 Ligier into the lead before handing the car over to Rizzo. The Italian pushed to pull a gap to his rivals, securing the team’s second straight victory.

The six-race, three-round Asia Le Mans Sprint Cup resumes in July, once again at the Sepang International Circuit, with WIN Motorsport using the championship to help prepare for its entry in the 2017-2018 Asian Le Man Series, set to begin in October.

WIN Motorsport Quotes:

William Lok: “This weekend has been amazing. I’m grateful from the bottom of my heart that our very first weekend went this well and we’ll keep getting better and better. I want to thank the whole team for their blood, sweat and tears in setting the team up. Winning this weekend has been the biggest reward and satisfaction I’ve ever had.
“Setting up WIN Motorsport has been very meaningful to me because Hong Kong does not have a team that is focused solely on LMP cars and endurance racing. WIN Motorsport’s slogan is the “Silk Road to Le Mans” and these two victories are the first step on this journey.”

Davide Rizzo: “This is my first weekend racing in LMP3 and overall, I’m happy with the results. The team did a very good job with the car. Richard Bradley really helped with his coaching and I felt comfortable in the car. Pole position, a win in Race 1, a win in Race 2 and two fastest laps… I hope we get the same results next time as the team gets stronger and stronger.”
Stewart Wild, WIN Motorsport Team Manager: “I’m very happy with the weekend. I think we achieved a lot in a short time frame. We’ve worked tirelessly to get the car and the crew to a 100 per cent and the results you see this weekend is the end result of what we’ve done. I’m very proud of both the team and the drivers, especially William who has done a sterling job. I’m really looking forward to the next round and continuing the success with WIN Motorsport.”