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FR2.0 Asia

Asia Racing Team pledges quicker pace

Asia Racing Team (ART) Motorsports drivers Yoshitaka Kuroda, Rio Haryanto, Ryan Booth and Vincent Capillaire have endured a tough start to their first season of Formula Asia 2.0, but the team were buoyed by the improved pace at last weekend's event in Sepang.

Despite the poor results the ART Motorsports drivers did show a great deal of potential. At the wheel of a 2007 bodykit Formula Renault 2.0 Yoshitaka Kuroda was fighting for the victory in Race 2 when he was penalized with a “Drive Through”  “It was a real shame that Yoshi got a ‘drive through’ penalty in Race 2. We could have got the first podium of the year easily. The final results weren’t brilliant but we can’t ignore we are the only team in the series running four rookie drivers, and the latest Formula Renault 2.0 bodykit. There's no doubt that our young drivers have massive potential but have not had the opportunity to translate that into a result in the last round”, said ART Motorsports Team Manager Philippe Descombes.

None of the four ART Motorsports driver had completed a full season in Formula Renault 2.0 before while at the same time ART Motorsports is fielding two very young drivers. Both are 15 years old, Rio Haryanto from Indonesia and Ryan Booth  from the USA .

Having impressed the team with his ability to adapt quickly to the Formula Renault 2.0 car, Booth was on the pace in Sepang, ending up the leading team car in the third race before his tyres went off leaving him trying to defend 4th position.  Vincent Capillaire meanwhile suffered from strange car vibrations.

Reflecting on the first race of the season, and looking forward to the next event, Philippe Descombes added, “We’ve never raced this new car, but we’ve tested it. There are obviously improvements we can make such as the car setup. It’s quite a steep learning curve. We know we have a lot of work to do. The next stage for us is to evaluate the information we have gathered and gauge where we go from here. I am sure the 2nd event of the season will be much better for all the team. Practice will be crucial for us. Adjusting the cars and putting in a solid qualifying run will be our main objectives early on”.

The energy within the team is  now focused on making it to the podium in the next round. On June 14 at Sepang International circuit