Hong Kong’s Darryl O’Young told reporters yesterday that he was “lost for words” after winning his second Macau GT Cup because his car was heavily damaged in the qualifying race on Saturday and it had only been repaired 10 seconds before the gate opened, adding that the victory was owed to the repair efforts by the Craft-Bamboo crew.
O’Young, 41, made the remarks on the sidelines of the post-race press conference during the 68th Macau Grand Prix.
O’Young won the 2008 Macau GT Cup, so this is his second Macau GT Cup crown. He becomes just the fourth multiple winner of the Macau GT Cup (along with Japan’s Keita Sawa, Switzerland’s Edoardo Mortara and Germany’s Maro Engel) and just the second, with Mortara, to win it in different makes of car.
Running second during Saturday’s race, O’Young skidded on oil left by a stricken car on the run to the Lisboa Bend and crashed his Mercedes-Benz heavily into the wall. He confessed that last night when he saw his car, he almost felt hopeless. He added that it took a huge overnight repair effort to made it onto the grid with 10 seconds to go.
“If they [the committee] opened the gate and I didn’t make it out, I’m out [of the race]. Literally 10 seconds before [the gate opened] we got the car together. The guys worked all through the night. This victory is for them,” O’Young said.
According to O’Young, he was fighting back tears after becoming the champion of the Sands China Macau GT Cup because he had gone through a lot of pressure to make it on the podium. He said that because his car was still quite damaged, it was unlevel, which added a lot of pressure on the tyres.
“The car is still quite damaged. The chassis is bent. I’m sure the guys behind could see I was struggling a lot. I just tried to control the race. On the hills I didn’t push very hard to try and save my tyres and at the bottom I tried to push harder, where they could attack me. […] Maybe the safety car saved me a bit today,” O’Young pointed out.
O’Young was given a 30-second penalty for being too close to his competitors last year after his qualifying race. He then finished fourth and was unhappy about the penalty. He said yesterday that the Macau Grand Prix has many unforeseeable factors, therefore it is always an honour to win in the city.
Meanwhile, second placed Ye Hongli (TORO Racing Porsche) from the mainland, complained that oil coming from the battered Mercedes had blurred his windscreen and his tyres were covered in oil. He said that he did not understand why the committee would let a car which was spilling oil and had smoke coming out of it to be on the race track. Ye even accused O’Young for having a false start, pointing out that he saw O’Young start when a red light was still on.
Ye’s teammate, Luo Kailuo also from the mainland, who came third in the race, concurred with him and said that his windscreen was covered with oil coming from O’Young’s Mercedes. However, they were quick to add that it was a great fight with O’Young as he was defending very hard.
Additional reporting by MGPOC
Darryl O’Young (second from right) celebrates his victory with his Craft-Bamboo crew at the padlock yesterday. Photo: Chiang Nok I
Ye Hongli (TORO Racing Porsche) sits head on hand during yesterday’s press conference after the Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) Macau GT Cup.
Photo: Rui Pastorin
