Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil ready for Shanghai

Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil enter the second race of the TCR International Series leading the teams’ standings. The Hong Kong/British outfit will field three SEATs again, with regular drivers Pepe Oriola, Sergey Afanasyev and Jordi Gené expected to fight at the sharp end of the field in Shanghai, China.

Although Target Competition’s Stefano Comini left Sepang leading the championship, a double podium finish meant Craft-Bamboo’s Pepe Oriola was only four points shy of the lead entering the second meeting of the season.

“I had a promising start in the TCR International Series,” said the Spaniard. “I was the only driver to be on the podium in both races of Malaysia. Every race is different so I can’t be complacent because it is a championship with great drivers and I cannot lower my guard.”

The high temperatures seen in Sepang should not be an issue in China, but Oriola hopes this will not change the level of performance shown by the Leóns in the curtain raiser:”The Malaysian high temperatures made us worry but the SEAT León Racer had a spectacular performance in both races. We hope to keep this up for Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil in our next round in China. For now we are leaders in the team standings and shall be focused on continuing this way.”

Fellow Spaniard Jordi Gené won the second heat, capitalizing on the reversed grid pole position earned on Saturday.

“It was a fantastic feeling to come away from Sepang with a win and to be competitive right from day one, but I still need to make improvements,” admitted Gené, who is now third in the standings, nine points behind the leader.

“I wasn’t happy with my qualifying performance in Malaysia so I will be doing whatever I can to be quicker in Shanghai now that we have learned more about the car and the tyres. The team and I are in a good position, so I will be working hard to score points and help the team to further success.”

Sergey Afanasyev had a strong first race, during which he scored a podium by finishing third just behind Oriola, but a contact in Race 2 meant he was out of the race.

“Unfortunately my last race ended early after some contact from another driver so I really need to go out there and score some points to challenge the current leaders,” said the Russian, who is still getting to grips with the front-wheel driven León.

“I am more comfortable with the car now and can begin to push the limits a little, but I still have to learn the Shanghai circuit. It is going to be another exciting race weekend and I’d like to thank the team for getting my car ready after the damage it suffered in the last race.”

Richard Coleman, Craft-Bamboo Lukoil’s CEO, is convinced the team has huge room for improvement, as they get to grips with the new cars and tyres:“I am looking forward to Shanghai and I hope that we can take the success we experienced in the first two races and build on that,” said Coleman.

“Our qualifying pace needs to improve, this is down to our lack of understanding about the tyre but is something we are working on. We have a great package and with the knowledge we gained in Sepang we will continue our challenge in both the team and drivers’ championship.”

Team Craft-Bamboo Lukoil lead the teams’ standings with 76 points, 12 ahead of fellow SEAT team Target Competition and a further 15 ahead of Honda’s WestCoast Racing.