Asia Racing Team

Asia Racing Team
Founded	2003
Base	Zhuhai International Circuit, Guangdong Province, People's Republic of China
Team principal(s)	Philippe Descombes (Team Manager); Rodolfo Ávila (Team Manager); Yannick Mazier; (Chief Mechanic)
Teams'; Championships	Asian Formula Renault Challenge ; 2003 2006 2009 2010; GT Asia Series; 2013: GT3 ; 2015 TCR Asia Series; 2015
Drivers'; Championships	Asian Formula Renault Challenge ; 2010: Sandy Nicholas Stuvik; GT Asia Series; 2013 GT3: Li Zhi Cong
Website	ART-Motorsports.com

Asia Racing Team (also known as ART Motorsports) is a Chinese-Macanese motor racing team that was formed in 2003. Its main operational headquarters are located within the Zhuhai International Circuit complex in Southern China, with a second workshop in Zhaoqing's Guangdong International Circuit.

The organization business operation includes an auto racing team, the organization of a racing school, corporate track days and promotional events.

The racing team has competed in a number of high-profile championships including the Asian Formula Renault Series, Formula Asia 2.0, Formula Pilota China, Formula BMW Pacific, Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, Malaysian Super Series, GT Asia Series and TCR Asia Series.

Team Management edit

ART management with racing driver Sandy Stuvik.

Philippe Descombes (Team Manager) The overall operation of the company is managed by motor racing multi-titlist Frenchman, Philippe Descombes. He, who is fluent in Mandarin, was the man to help the launch single seaters careers of several successful Asian drivers, including Cheng Congfu, Ma Qinghua, Rodolfo Ávila, Mathias Beche, Alexandre Imperatori, Jazeman Jaafar, or Rio Haryanto.

Yannick Mazier (Chief Mechanic) Frenchman Yannick Mazier is with ART since the first day and leads a 12-man mechanics in the workshop based at Zhuhai International Circuit.

History edit

Kazuki Nakajima former F1 driver racing with ART in Macau Grand Prix 2003.

The Asia Racing Team, Ltd. (ART Motorsports) is a company registered in China and in Macau with assets amounting to more than RMB 10 million. Its main operational headquarters is located within the Zhuhai International Circuit complex, in southern China.

Team Highlights:

2003: A group of successful Macau entrepreneurs creates ART to compete in Asian Formula Renault Challenge – the first race of the team was the 50th Macau Grand Prix.

2004: First full season of racing in Asian Formula Renault, finishing 2nd (Rodolfo Ávila).

2005: ART wins Asian Formula Renault Macau Grand Prix (Hiroyuki Matsumura).

2006: ART conquers Asian Formula Renault's Teams title for the first time and finishes 2nd (Alexandre Imperatori).

2007: ART finished 2nd (Alexandre Imperatori) again in Asian Formula Renault Challenge.

2008: The team was 2nd (Mathias Beche) in Formula Asia 2.0 and wins Asian Drivers Trophy (Rio Haryanto). ART returns to Macau Grand Prix, making the first appearance in Formula BMW Pacific.

2009: The team entered a new era, giving the first steps into GT racing, participating in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia with two overall victories and best rookie (Rodolfo Ávila). ART took AFR Championship Teams title and drivers’ classification first runner up (Luis Sa Silva). Contested the Formula BMW Pacific Macau Grand Prix and Singapore Grand Prix rounds.

2010: Asia Racing Team clinched the AFR Series’ team championship while Sandy Stuvik^[1] clinched the Driver points championship, followed by his teammate Tin Sritrai, and the “Asian Drivers Category”.

2011: The team run for the first time two Porsche GT3 Cup-R in GT Asia Series and was in competition for the drivers' championship until the last round at Macau. At the same time the red and black squad embarked in another Porsche Carrera Cup Asia season with a line up of three drivers. The year was also marked by the withdrawn of the team from AFR Series at full-time to primarily focus in Formula Pilota China. Asia Racing Team's Luis Sa Silva was vice-champion.

2012: China's Li Zhi Cong is promoted to ART's GT Asia Series squad and manages to be GT Asia Series vice-champion and AAMC GT Challenge Trophy winner at first try. Thomas Chow has sweated to secure the second place in AFR Series - IFC Class.

2013: Li Zhi Cong seals GT Asia Series championship title and repeats AAMC GT Challenge Trophy win. Leo Wong wins AFR Series IFC Class Trophy.

2014: The team repeats the full season participation in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and AFR Series, winning the first edition of the 2-hour “Circuit Hero – Formula Enduro” and the four rounds of GT series BOSS GP (Li Chao).

2015: The team joins the newly founded TCR Asia Series, conquering the Teams’ Championship and Drivers’ Vice-championship (Rodolfo Avila) and second runner up (Philippe Descombes). At same time the team keeps collecting race wins in AFR Series and FIA Chinese F4, where Liu Kai finished third overall.

Racing School edit

ART Racing School.

The Racing School is the only formal driver training course recognized by both the Hong Kong Automobile Association (HKAA) and the Associação Geral Automóvel Macau-China (AAMC). The organization of a monthly course continues to be popular among the young and elder alike from students to corporate decision-makers.^[2]

In 2008 the Racing School introduced the "One-Day Intensive Course", which were designed for racecar beginners and hobbyists, making it possible for both younger and older generations.

In 2016 a low-cost "4-lap Driving Experience" was introduced giving the opportunity to those willing to drive a real single seater racecar at the Zhuhai International Circuit.

ART Motorsports Racing School also owns the only 2-seater single seater in Southeast Asia for promotional activities and racing experiences.

Formula Pilota China edit

In 2011 Asia Racing Team turned their heads from AFR Series to the newly established single seater championship in the region - the "Formula Pilota China Series" - with an impressive four car line up: China's Chi Cong Li and Naomi Zhang Ran, raced alongside Angola's Luis Sá Silva and Thailand's Tin Sritrai. Sá Silva was vice-champion but the team highlight was the podium swap in Race 1 at Ordos.^[3] In 2012 Guangzhou native rookie driver Zou Si Rui was team's only racer in the championship, claiming two podium finishes at Guangzhou International Circuit.

Results edit

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2011	Tatuus FA010	Luís Sá Silva	12	2	3	124	2nd	N/A
		Tin Sritrai	12	0	2	67	5th
		Zhi Cong Li	12	0	2	67	6th
		Eric Lichtenstein	6	0	0	10	17th
		Zhang Ran	8	0	0	3	24th
		Zou Si Rui	2	0	0	0	26th
2012		Zou Si Rui	12	0	2	32	10th	7th

ART dominated in Ordos finishing P1, P2 & P3

Asian Formula Renault edit

Throughout its history the team primarily competed in Asian Formula Renault Challenge, with past drivers including F1 Championship drivers such as Kamui Kobayashi or Kazuki Nakajima. After several tries, and five vice-champions, including Macau's Rodolfo Avila, Switzerland's Alexandre Imperatori, Mathias Beche and Angola's Luís Sá Silva, Thailand's Sandy Stuvik won the championship for Asia Racing Team in 2010.

In 2011, 2012 and 2013 Asia Racing Team confined its participation to the races in Zhuhai.

In 2015 AFR Series introduced the Formula Renault 2.0/13, and Asia Racing Team assisted Canada's Maxx Ebenal on his way to a double win at the inaugural races at Zhuhai Circuit. In the end of the year the team's best classified driver overall was Indonesia's Darma Hutomo. Teammate James Runacres secured the Class B vice-championship title.

Team Drivers edit

Rodolfo Avila in Pole Position in Shanghai 2004

Sandy Stuvik Championship winning car 2010

ART Formula Renault Drivers
Year	Drivers	D.C.	T.C.
2003	Kazuki Nakajima†	D.N.F
	Kamui Kobayashi	D.N.F
	Motohiko Isozaki†	11th
2004	Rodolfo Ávila	2nd	2nd
	Henry Lee Junior	6th
	Kenneth Lau	30th
	Michael Choi	16th
2005	Michael Ting	8th	3rd
2005	Zhang Jin	9th	3rd
2006	Alexandre Imperatori	2nd	1st
	Jazeman Jaafar	3rd
	Henri Karjalainen	4th
	Zhang Jin	15th
2007	Alexandre Imperatori	2nd	1st
	Benjamin Rouget	13th
	Mathias Beche	5th
	Zhang Zhen Dong	17th
	Sujino Hajime	18th
2008	Mathias Beche	2nd	2nd
	Yoshitaka Kuroda	5th
	Rio Haryanto	3rd
	Ryan Booth	7th
2009	Rio Haryanto	11th	1st
	Benjamin Rouget	4th
	Luca Ferigutti	7th
	Luís Sá Silva	2nd
	Suriya Bala Kerisnan Thevar	20th
2010	Sandy Stuvik	1st	1st
	Tin Sritrai	2nd
	Suriya Bala Kerisnan Thevar	6th
	Zhang Ran	11th
	Zhi Cong Li	5th
2011	Zhi Cong Li	8th	4th
	Timothy Teo	6th
	Thomas Chow	19th
2012	Zhi Cong Li	5th	1st
	Thomas Chow	2nd IFC
	Guille Pintanel	21st
	Yang Xi	13th
	Thomas Lüdi	6th IFC
	Leo Wong	4th IFC
	Timothy Teo	13th IFC
2013	Zhi Cong Li	...	...
	Thomas Chow	...
	Kenneth Low	...
	Yang Xi	...
	Li Chao	...
	Thomas Lüdi	...
	Leo Wong	...
	Timothy Teo	...
	Ni Weiliang	...
	Guillaume Cunnington	...
	Karl Yip	...
	Eitan Zidkilov	...
2014	Zhi Cong Li	...	...
	Thomas Chow	...
	Pu Jun Jin	...
	Li Chao	...
	Thomas Lüdi	...
	Leo Wong	...
	Mitchell Cheah	...
	Ni Weiliang	...
	Darma Hutomo	...
	Senna Iriawan	...
2015	Ni Weiliang	5th	2nd
	Pu Jun Jin	6th
	James Runacres	2nd (Class B)
	Darma Hutomo	4th
	Thomas Lüdi	...
	Liu Kai	...
	Maxx Ebenal	...

D.C - Driver Classification, T.C - Team Classification, † - Only one race (Macau Grand Prix)

Formula BMW Asia Pacific edit

Asia Racing Team's involvement in Formula BMW Pacific was never at full-time. After taking part in Macau Grand Prix 2008, the team would repeat the single event appearances in Singapore and Macau in the following year. In 2010 Asia Racing Team embarked in a half season adventure with Singaporean driver Suriya Bala and decided to enter Toyota Racing Academy drivers Yuichi Nakayama and Ryo Hirakawa in Okayama and Macau rounds. In Japan Nakayama earned the first and only Pole-Position and podium position for the team.^[4]

Due to the commitments with the Formula Pilota China in 2011, Asia Racing Team decided to pull out of the series.

Yuichi Nakayama on the streets of Macau

Yuichi Nakayama (Right) at the podium

Results edit

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	F/Laps	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2008	Mygale FB02	Yuji Kunimoto	1	0	0	NC	N/A
2008		Alon Day	1	0	0	NC	N/A
2009		Suriya Kerisnan	3	0	0	16th	N/A
2009		Alon Day	1	0	0	NC	N/A
2010		Suriya Kerisnan	6	0	5	17th	9th
		Yuichi Nakayama	3	1	0	NC
		Ryō Hirakawa	3	0	0	NC
		Zhi Cong Li	1	0	0	NC
		Paul Lau	2	0	0	NC

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia edit

The team, which has participated in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in 2009 winning two races, has been keeping an eye on Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in 2010. Following discussions with various drivers, the team has decided to re-enter in the most prestigious series of Southeast Asia as a technical service provider for car owners. Bringing with them a strong racing background as well as a surplus of enthusiasm and excitement, Holland's Marcel Tjia and Hong Kong's Dr Chi Min Ma joined up with Macanese driver Keith Vong to round out the three-car effort. In 2012 Asia Racing Team entered in the series a five-car lineup. Beijing Porsche dealership Betterlife driver Wang Jian Wei third place at Ordos was the team's best result of the season. China's Huang Chu Han won “Class B” races at Sepang and Shanghai.

ART driver Keith Wong at the Pitlane during the F1 weekend in Shanghai

Team Drivers edit

ART Porsche Carrera Cup Drivers
Year	Drivers	D.C.
2009	Rodolfo Ávila	4th
2011	Dr.Ma Chi Min	27th
	Keith Wong	21st
	Marcel Tjia	23rd
2012	Marcel Tjia	30th
	Christian Tjia	20th
	Wang Jian Wei	9th
	Li Chao	23rd
	Huang Chu Han	14th
	Philippe Descombes	...
	Kevin Chen	30th
2013	Jacky Yeung	16th
	Kevin Tse	...
	Wang Jian Wei	9th
	Li Chao	23rd
	Mario Farnbacher	14th
	Ben Barker	...
	Rodolfo Ávila	...
2014	Li Chao	15th
2014	Zhang Da Sheng	5th
2015	Li Chao	14th

D.C - Driver Classification

GT Asia edit

Asia Racing Team expanded to GT series in 2011. The Macau born and Zhuhai based team entered a couple of Porsche 997 GT3 Cup R in the GT3 class of the GT Asia series for the Hong Kong racers Eddie Yau and Sasha Chu. Yau won in Fuji and was a title contender until the last race of the season at Macau where he got involved in a massive crash without injuries for the driver. In 2012 the team returned to the series with a Porsche 911 GT3 R for the young Chinese racer Li Zhi Cong (aka Chi Cong Li). Although Li Zhi Cong was racing GT cars for the first time, he fought for the championship title until the final race and ended the season in second place, winning three races, including GT Asia Series last round at Macau's Circuito da Guia. Hong Kong racer Sasha Chu took part of Fuji and Autopolis events. Li Zhi Cong returned in 2013, taking the championship by storm by winning GT Asia Series season finale at Macau.

ART crew and drivers

Team Drivers edit

ART GT Asia Drivers
Year	Drivers	D.C.	T.C.
2011	Eddie Yau	3rd	2nd
2011	Sasha Chu	7th	2nd
2012	Zhi Cong Li	2nd	3rd
	Sasha Chu	33rd
	Rodolfo Ávila	...
	Keith Chan	...
2013	Zhi Cong Li	1st	2nd
2014	Li Chao	...	...
	Zhang Da Zheng	...
	Rodolfo Ávila	...

D.C - Driver Classification, T.C - Team Classification

TCR Asia Series edit

Asia Racing Team won the inaugural TCR Asia Series teams’ title and capped a winning year with a triple win at the opening round at Sepang and double victory at the season-ending Macau Grand Prix Guia Race.

In nine rounds of series competition, Asia Racing Team's SEAT Léon TCR drivers scored an impressive eleven podium results - including three overall wins for Rodolfo Avila, two for one-time race-returnee Philippe Descombes and one for Thai touring car star Tin Sritrai.

Avila finished second in championship standings and Descombes was third.

Results edit

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2015	SEAT León Cup Racer	Rodolfo Ávila	3	3	2	3	3	89	2nd	1st
		Philippe Descombes	3	2	1	2	3	77	3rd
		Tin Sritrai	2	1	0	0	2	47	7th
		Pu Jun Jin	2	0	0	0	2	32	13th
		Liu Lic Ka	2	0	0	0	0	18	15th
		Sam Lok	0	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2016	SEAT León TCR	Edgar Lau	2	0	0	1	0	0	NC	NC

TCR International Series edit

Results edit

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	F/Laps	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2015	SEAT León Cup Racer	Rodolfo Ávila	2	0	10	22nd	8th
		Tin Sritrai	2	0	4	32nd
		Pu Jun Jin	2	0	0	NC
		Sam Lok	0	0	0	NC
2016	SEAT León TCR	Edgar Lau	2	1	0	NC	NC

F4 Chinese Championship edit

Asia Racing Team entered in the opening season of the five round FIA Formula 4 China Championship. Beijing's Liu Kai went to the podium for six times, rounding out his campaign with a much deserved race win in the last race of the year at Zhuhai.

Asia Racing Team entered a second car for two occasions: in the first event at Beijing for Hua Miao and in the season finale at Zhuhai for the 15-year old Guangzhou native Charles Lin.

Results edit

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	Poles	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2015-16	Mygale M14-F4	Liu Kai	10	1	1	3	7	156	3rd	N/A
		Hua Miao	2	0	0	0	0	24	9th
		Lin Taian	2	0	0	0	0	24	10th
2016		Zhu Tianqi	3	0	0	0	0	21	12th	N/A
		Hon Chio Leong	6	1	1	1	2	0	NC
		Daniel Cao	3	0	1	1	2	0	NC
		Billy Zheng	3	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2020		Stephen Hong†	10	1	1	1	2	126	4th	8th
		Pang Changyuan	8	0	0	0	0	23	14th
		Yu Songtao	10	0	0	0	0	13	15th
2021		Li Sicheng‡	10	0	0	0	4	155	2nd	4th
2021		Liu Tiezheng	4	0	0	0	0	20	14th	4th
2023		Pang Changyuan	4	0	0	0	1	37	15th	?
		Marcus Cheong	8	0	0	0	0	21	21st
		Liu Tiezheng	4	0	0	0	0	18	22nd
		Zhang Yu	4	0	0	0	0	18	25th
		Fu Zhenjiang	4	0	0	0	0	1	31st
2024	Mygale M21-F4	Jiang Fukang
		Alex Sawer
		Li Sicheng

† Hong competed for FFA Racing until round 2. ‡ Sicheng competed for GEEKE XL DRIFT in round 1.

Formula 4 South East Asia Championship edit

Results edit

Year	Car	Drivers	Races	Wins	F/Laps	Podiums	Points	D.C.	T.C.
2023	Tatuus F4-T421	Kevin Xiao	9	1	0	1	51	4th	2nd
		Tiago Rodrigues	3	0	1	3	51	5th
		Enzo Yeh	6	0	0	1	46	7th
		Zhang Yu	5	0	0	0	26	14th
		Joaquin Garrido	3	0	0	0	1	28th
		Lu Ye	2	0	0	0	0	29th

Timeline edit

Current series
F4 Chinese Championship	2015–2016, 2020–2021, 2023–present
Open Formula Challenge^[5]	2022–present
Formula 4 South East Asia Championship	2023–present
Former series
Asian Formula Renault Series	2003–2019
Formula BMW Pacific	2008–2010
Porsche Carrera Cup Asia	2009–2015
Formula Pilota China	2011–2012
GT Asia Series	2011–2014
TCR Asia Series	2015–2016
TCR International Series	2015–2016

External links edit

References edit

^ "Sandy officially takes the 2010 Asian Formula Renault Championship". Thailand: thaipr.net. 2010-10-30. Sandy Stuvik finally and officially becomes the Champion of Asian Formula Renault 2010
^ "ART Confirms to Enter Formula Pacific Series 2011". Malaysia: afos.com. 2010-10-08. Asia Racing Team is the most successful Racing Team and Racing School of Southeast China^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Asia Racing Team …1…2…3!". Italy: pakelonews.com. 2011-09-07. Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Asia Racing Team drivers Luis Sa Silva, Tin Sritrai and Chi Cong Li stole the show at the opening race of the Ordos' weekend.
^ "Strong performance of Asia Racing Team in Okayama". Canada: motorsport.com. 2010-10-04. In Japan Nakayama earned the first and only Pole-Position and podium position for the team.
^ Admin. "Podium finish for Asia Racing Team's Li Zhi Cong". Asia Racing Team. Retrieved 2023-04-15.

[1] "Sandy officially takes the 2010 Asian Formula Renault Championship". Thailand: thaipr.net. 2010-10-30. Sandy Stuvik finally and officially becomes the Champion of Asian Formula Renault 2010

[2] "ART Confirms to Enter Formula Pacific Series 2011". Malaysia: afos.com. 2010-10-08. Asia Racing Team is the most successful Racing Team and Racing School of Southeast China^{[permanent dead link]}

[3] "Asia Racing Team …1…2…3!". Italy: pakelonews.com. 2011-09-07. Archived from the original on 2012-09-05. Asia Racing Team drivers Luis Sa Silva, Tin Sritrai and Chi Cong Li stole the show at the opening race of the Ordos' weekend.

[4] "Strong performance of Asia Racing Team in Okayama". Canada: motorsport.com. 2010-10-04. In Japan Nakayama earned the first and only Pole-Position and podium position for the team.

[5] Admin. "Podium finish for Asia Racing Team's Li Zhi Cong". Asia Racing Team. Retrieved 2023-04-15.

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