Jono Lester Signs McLaren Deal for Asian Le Mans Series
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
JONO LESTER SIGNS McLAREN DEAL FOR ASIAN LE MANS SERIES
Auckland, New Zealand, 23rd
September 2016 – Kiwi Jono Lester will add the
Asian Le Mans Series to his busy 2016 schedule, announced
today as part of a three driver line up with OD
Racing to
take on the four round championship in a McLaren 650S
GT3.
Lester will partner former A1GP star and F1 test
driver Fairuz Gauzy of Malaysia, and rising Chinese star
Zhang Da Sheng from the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia & China GT
ranks, against
a 16-strong GT3 class featuring world
class lines ups from across Asia as well as Europe.
The full Asian Le Mans Series grid features over 30 cars across classes for LMP prototypes and GT machines.
Lester sees
the opportunity as a further step towards his career goal of
racing at the Le Mans 24 Hour race, for on the line in the
Asian Le Mans Series is a handful of invitations to race
at
the prestigious French endurance event in June of
2017.
The Asian Le Mans Series joins Japanese Super GT, the GT Asia Series, China GT Championship and Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Series in Lester’s busiest season of racing since his career commenced in 2003.
The 26-year old Palmerston North-born, Auckland-based driver is enjoying success in a 25 race calendar across this multitude of Asian GT championships.
Lester travelled to Kuala Lumpur this
week for OD Racing’s Official Press Launch for the season,
spending time with fellow drivers, team management, sponsor
and media ahead of the
season start in six weeks time.
The 2016/17 Asian Le Mans Series kicks off in China, at the Zhuhai Circuit on October 29-30, with further rounds at Fuji (Japan), Buriram (Thailand) and Sepang (Malaysia) through to the end of January. Please find the season calendar in the footer of the is release.
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JONO LESTER // Driver – OD Racing McLaren 650S
GT3:
I’m delighted to be joining OD Racing for
the Asian Le Mans Series. It will be my first time racing a
McLaren however mid-engined GT3 cars are familiar territory
for me so I expect to adapt
quickly. With the ACO now
fully behind the championship, the grids and quality are
world class and I know we have a big challenge ahead of us
to win the title. I have tunnel vision when it
comes to
Le Mans [24 Hour], and this is a step in the right
direction. We are gunning for nothing less than victory, and
I believe we have one of the strongest overall line ups in
the GT3 class.
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Jono Lester is supported in 2016 by Vortex Racewear, R Redpaths Ltd, Cuesko, CRC Industries NZ, Neuroelite, Cult Media and iSign It.
More details about Jono Lester can be found on his
official website at www.jonolester.com, @jonolesterfans on
Facebook, @jonolester on Twitter, Snapchat & Instagram or by
using the
hashtag #TheOctopus
online.
ENDS/
ASIAN LE MANS SERIES // 2016/17 CALENDAR
VENUE/CIRCUIT | DATE | DURATION |
Zhuhai, China | 28-30 October 2016 | 3hrs |
Fuji Speedway, Japan | 02-04 December 2016 | 3hrs |
Buriram, Thailand | 06-08 January 2017 | 3hrs |
Sepang, Malaysia | 20-22 January 2017 | 3hrs |