Aidan Read out of luck on Asian Le Mans debut at Fuji
Posted on December 4, 2016 Tags: Aidan Read Asian Le Man Series
A fuel pickup issue blighted Aidan Read’s debut in the 2016/17 Asian Le Mans Series today (4 December 2016) at Fuji as he shared driving duties with teammates Scott Andrews and Williams Lok in the #99 WinEurasia Ligier LMP3.
“It’s a shame that we couldn’t really show what we could do,” Aidan said. “The car felt great in qualifying, but I suppose that’s racing and we just have to accept that you have days like these.
“The team worked hard to try and solve the fuel issue, so a big thanks to them for their efforts. Sadly, it didn’t work out, but it’s been a great experience, and you always learn even on days when the results don’t go the way you would like.”
Having qualified a fine fifth on Saturday, the young Perth racer had high hopes of making progress and securing a strong podium position on his debut, but taking the green flag at the start, it was soon clear that a fuel issue would make it a long day for the hard-working team.
Aidan took the first stint, completing 38-laps before handing over to Andrews. However, by this point, the team had lost position and time.
“The fuel pickup problem just gets worse as fuel burns (down) we think,” Aidan explained at the conclusion of his stint. “It’s something inside of the fuel tank maybe, and from now on we will keep the car running high fuel short runs. I was happy with my start, but then there was an issue behind the safety car, and after that, I was a sitting duck, unfortunately.”
A lengthy stop after 90-minutes of running repairs failed to rectify the problem, despite Lok briefly returning to the circuit, and WinEurasia had to retire the car in the final hour of racing.
The third round of the 2016/17 Asian Le Mans Series gets underway at Chang International Circuit in Buriram Thailand 6-8 January 2017.
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