This weekend, a month on from its resounding one-two LMP2 class finish in the Le Mans 24 Hours, OAK Racing was back in action, this time in South Korea for the opening round of the Asian Le Mans Series. At the end of what was a learning race for its trio of Asian drivers, OAK Racing Team Total’s Morgan-Judd wound up third overall following an entertaining encounter that was won by the Morgan-Nissan run by Chinese outfit KCMG.

It was in South Korea – at the new circuit near Inje – that the first round of the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series took place. Three Asian drivers were selected to defend the honour of OAK Racing Team Total behind the wheel of the #24 Judd-powered Morgan. As team leader, Chinese ace Ho Pin Tung – a former Formula 1 reserve driver – was charged with helping his countryman David Cheng and Taiwan’s Jeffrey Lee to gain experience.

Right from free practice, the three OAK Racing Team Total drivers were able to judge just how intense the competition would be against the Morgan-Nissan run by Chinese operation KCMG. Indeed, the two Morgan LMP2 prototypes – designed and built by Onroak Automotive, OAK Racing’s manufacturing department – set the pace from the start.

The showdown continued during qualifying, when Ho Pin Tung gained the upper hand over his opponents, placing OAK Racing Team Total’s Morgan-Judd on pole position, ahead of KCMG’s Morgan-Nissan.

On Sunday, in front of guests from Total – in attendance to cheer on the prototype sporting the colours of the French oil company – David Cheng was tasked with taking the start of the three-hour race. However, heavy showers over Inje prompted the organisers to begin the race behind the safety car.

In light of the adverse weather conditions, OAK Racing Team Total elected to adapt its strategy and made its first pit-stop after just 20 minutes of racing. Ho Ping Tung replaced David Cheng aboard the #24 Morgan-Judd, with the safety car still leading the pack around. When it finally disappeared, the Chinese driver lit up the action, and he required only a few laps to move into the lead and subsequently consistently increase his advantage at the front of the field, whilst at the same time carefully preserving his Michelin tyres. When he returned to the pits, Ho Ping Tung enjoyed a margin of more than half-a-minute over KCMG’s chasing Morgan-Nissan.

David Cheng then re-joined the track, but lost around 30 seconds when he stalled the engine at the end of the pit-lane. Cheng nevertheless managed to hang onto second position. After maintaining a strong rhythm, he handed over to Jeffrey Lee for the final hour of the race. A brace of stop-and-go penalties for speeding in the pit-lane complicated matters and caused the #24 Morgan-Judd to slip down the order to fourth. However, a late flourish saw Jeffrey Lee succeed in recovering third place.

Akash Nandy, Gary Thompson and James Winslow delivered a well-deserved victory to Onroak Automotive in the #18 KCMG Morgan-Nissan. OAK Racing Team Total’s trio was pleased with their solid start to the 2013 Asian Le Mans Series. Buoyed by this instructive experience, David Cheng and Jeffrey Lee will return to the series at the end of September at Fuji Speedway in Japan, whilst Ho Ping Tung should be back in action the following month for October’s 3 Hours of Zhuhai.

Ho Ping Tung, #24 Morgan-Judd LMP2: “The opening round of the Asian Le Mans Series race took place in very difficult weather conditions, and there was a lot of water on the track when I first took over at the wheel. That said, I fought my way back from last to first and was able to establish a decent advantage. After that, David and Jeffrey both drove well. It was their first time in this car, at a circuit that is not easy to learn. Third place is a good result for the team, and we now have a solid foundation upon which to build as we seek to move forward over the upcoming rounds.”

David Cheng, #24 Morgan-Judd LMP2: “I started the race behind the safety car, but the rain was so heavy that we decided to change our strategy, since Ho Ping Tung was the only one of the three of us to have any experience of driving this car in the wet. He completed a marathon stint. When I took over from him, I wanted to change the engine mapping back over to ‘dry’ mode. Unfortunately, I am still not 100 percent familiar with the car and I accidentally caught the cut-out switch. The car consequently stalled, and it took me a few seconds to get it going again. After that, I had a good run, but when I returned to the pits, I unfortunately exceeded the mandatory 60kph speed limit and we received a penalty for it. That undoubtedly cost us an even better result.”

Jeffrey Lee, #24 Morgan-Judd LMP2: “This whole weekend has been a very good experience for me. I learnt a lot, and it was a very interesting race. It is a completely new world for me to get used to, compared to the disciplines in which I have raced before. One of the major differences is the amount of strategy involved, and you need to be very aware of the team’s instructions during the race. I’m happy with the final result, and I hope that in the future, we will be able to improve and do even better.”

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Thierry Arman / ACO