OD Racing Confirms Audi for Blancpain GT Asia

Asian sports car regulars OD Racing will join the Blancpain GT Series Asia with an Audi R8 LMS driven by Mitch Gilbert this season.

Since being founded in 2014, the Malaysian team as previously competed in the Asian Le Mans Series and GT Asia Series with McLaren and Lamborghinis.

This is set to change this year however, as OD joins the new-for-2017 Blancpain GT Asia championship.

Furthermore, the series’ partnership with the Audi R8 LMS Cup has allowed Cornelius Ee’s team to run the same car in both series.

As a result of the favorable logistics from this partnership, the team has decided to switch to the Audi R8 LMS for 2017.

OD has confirmed its first driver in Gilbert. The Malaysian-born Australian driver finished third in last season’s Porsche Carrera Cup Asia championship while also securing a class podium at the Motul Sepang 12 Hours.

He made his sports car debut in 2016, having previously made a name for himself on the European and international open-wheel scene.

The 22-year-old will compete in both the Blancpain GT Asia series and the Audi R8 LMS Cup for OD Racing. His co-drive is expected to be announced in due course.

“We hoped to finish 2016 with a better result than what we ultimately achieved, but that is racing and it was a steep learning curve for us,” said team principal Ee.

“For 2017, however, we have secured what we hope to be a race-winning car with the Audi R8 LMS GT3, and we have a talented line-up of drivers who I’m sure can deliver results for our team.

“The whole team is feeling re-energised and we are all committed to bring home great results this year for ourselves and our partners.”

OD Racing is the second Audi team confirmed for the Blancpain GT Series Asia, following a two-car program announced for Phoenix Racing Asia.

OD’s Audi is the 23rd car already announced to be on the grid for the season-opener at Sepang next month.