The Asia Racing Team announced its participation in the two final events of the TCR International Series and TCR Asia, at Buriram and Macau. After dominating the inaugural race meeting of TCR Asia at Sepang, claiming victory in all the three races, the Zhuhai-based squad was forced to skip the Singapore event. The team has named Kevin Pu Jun Jin from China and local driver Tin Sritrai to drive its pair of SEAT León cars in Thailand.
The 31-year old Pu returns at the wheel of a front-wheel drive touring car three years after his maiden racing season in the Volkswagen Scirocco Cup China; in latest years Pu split his racing activity between single seaters and sportscars with brilliant results. “I have been looking to competing in TCR and I am very happy to get this opportunity. I never drove the SEAT Léon before and Buriram’s circuit is new to me. Nevertheless I will be aiming to perform my best at this event, hoping to finish on the podium in the TCR Asia and fight with the best of the international field,” he said.
Sritrai is facing his first appearance in an international series, but he can claim perfect knowledge of the Buriram circuit, as he leaves nearby. On top of this he is an experienced touring car driver in spite of his young age (25), having grabbed four titles in the Touring Car Series Asia and two in the Super 2000 class of the Thai Super Series in the last four years. “This will be a new challenge for me. The SEAT is a front-wheel drive turbo car; very different from what I am used to drive. I’m not going to know what to expect until I get out there on Friday and get a proper feeling of it. It’s going to be a great experience though and I’m going out to do a good job in front of my home fans,” Sritrai stated.
Team manager Philippe Descombes commented: “We are pleased to be back in the series with such a strong line up. Tin and Kevin are no stranger to the team. They both did well with us in single seaters and having them back at this event will be special for us. We are still leading the teams’ championship standings and we want to keep it that way. You never know until qualifying how the weekend will be, but we’re feeling confident.”
