OAK Racing Team Total: A successful private test day at the Sepang circuit

After winning the Teams’ and Drivers’ titles in the Asian Le Mans Series Sunday 8 th December, OAK Racing Team Total stayed on at the Sepang circuit for a test day. Three drivers came to trial the team’s Morgan-Judd LM P2 shod with Michelin tyres . They arrived with different motivations and ambitions, but at the end of the day they all agreed on one thing – they had really enjoyed themselves in the car!

Hiroshi Hamagushi from Japan, an experienced driver in Super GT and GT3 Asia, winner of the last Sepang 12 Hours in a Ferrari, took advantage of this opportunity to drive an LM P2. While his 2014 projects are mostly concentrated around the Asian GT Championship, Hiroshi is hoping to race in a few rounds of the Asian Le Mans Series or the WEC in an LM P2.

“In comparison with the GT3s that I usually drive the car felt much lighter with much more downforce and was much more responsive in all areas. The Morgan LM P2 was very easy to handle and it didn’t take me too long to adapt my GT3 driving style to the prototype. There are a few things I have to change for this car, but I think that my first outing in a prototype went off pretty well.”

Richard Bradley , the most experienced of the three drivers present, is well used to LM P2s – he has driven for KCMG and Craft Racing, in particular – had two aims: to drive the Morgan-Judd that had won the previous day in the Asian Le Mans Series, and help his friend Thomas Luedi to learn what it’s like to drive a prototype on his first outing in this type of car.

The British driver was immediately at home at the wheel of the Morgan-Judd LM P2 as he proved by beating the pole position time of the weekend set by the KCMG team’s Morgan-Nissan LM P2 by almost 2/10sec (1m 57.40 sec compared to 1m 57.579 sec)!

“ I enjoyed working with OAK very much and it wasn't hard for me to see why they had a very successful year winning the WEC, Asian Le Mans Series and the big one being Le Mans 24 Hours . All aspects of the team were very high quality from driving the car to data analysis and I thoroughly enjoyed my brief test with them and would be very happy to work with them again in the future. .”

In Asia, the possibilities of trialing LM P2s are few and far between, so the opportunity for a gentleman driver to test with the OAK Racing Team Total on the Sepang circuit was an exceptional one. Swiss driver Thomas Luedi , who has set up home in China and races single- seaters in Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Masters, jumped at the chance!

Thomas wanted to drive a more powerful car with more downforce and improve his technique and his driving skills. While he is certainly interested in endurance and the new CN category, recently adapted by the FIA for the Asian Le Mans Series, he admits that competing in LM P2 would be more exciting!

“The car was absolutely fantastic to drive! And easier than I imagined. In addition to its top speed it turns in very well in the slow corners and the downforce in the quick curves is really awesome! The support from the engineers and mechanics was just great , and it helped me to feel at home in the car very quickly. Thanks to OAK Racing for giving me the opportunity to do this test.”

Given the success of this test day and the enthusiasm shown by the drivers at the wheel of the Morgan LM P2, the OAK Racing team is already thinking about holding another test day, in Europe or somewhere else, preparation for the 2014 Asian Le Mans Series.

OAK Racing