Macau Grand Prix: Darryl O’Young and pole sitter Ye Hongli set for epic battle in GT Cup after claiming front row

Hong Kong’s Craft Bamboo Racing driver seals second place in first qualifying behind the Chinese defending champion, blaming traffic for slowing him down

O’Young finished fourth last year after incurring a 30-second penalty and is determined to make up for it in the 68th edition of the Macau Grand Prix

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Hong Kong's Darryl O'Young drives his Craft Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the Macau GT Cup qualifier event. Photo: Craft Bamboo Racing

Published: 8:39pm, 19 Nov 2021Updated: 10:25pm, 19 Nov 2021

Veteran Hong Kong driver Darryl O’Young hopes to prove he is still king of the Guia street circuit when he battles it out against China’s defending champion Ye Hongli in round one of the Macau GT Cup on Saturday.

Driving his Mercedes-AMG GT3 in his 17th year racing at the Macau Grand Prix, the Craft Bamboo Racing team driver kicked off free practice in the morning with the fastest time of two minutes and 22.113 seconds over the 6.2-km circuit.

The mainlander managed 2:23.084 to lie third but in afternoon qualifying, Toro Racing’s Ye improved significantly in his Porsche 911 GT3R when he topped the table with the fastest lap time of 2:20.281. He was followed closely by O’Young’s 2:20.639 with Ye’s teammate, Luo Kailuo, third 0.415 of a second behind.

Darryl O'Young gets into traffic in one of the turns at the GT Cup qualifier. Photo: Craft Bamboo Racing

Another favourite, Swiss driver Alexandre Imperatori of Meidong Racing, had a disappointing run because of an accident and was almost a second behind Ye’s fastest time.

O’Young will join Ye in the two front positions when the eight-lap race 1 begins on Saturday, with the final 12-lap race 2 to be held on Sunday. Race 1 results will decide the grid positions for Sunday.