Ever since Legacy Racing Team announced that they will be participating in the GT World Challenge Asia with Tengku Djan and Leona Chin behind the wheel, we have been waiting for the day where we could see them in action at Sepang. It is still a couple of months before their race series starts, but luckily we were able to catch them in action recently during their first ever shakedown session.
The shakedown was quite a milestone as not only it is the team’s debut on Sepang, it also marked a return for Djan into the seat of a GT car as his last outing in such a car was back in 2006 at the Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race where he won overall in the Lotus 300RR.
“It’s been quite some time since I last driven a GT car, maybe 14-15 years to be exact and I’m totally enjoying it. The car is actually very comfortable to drive and now we’re slowly looking and finding the limits of the car while doing a bit of setup changes so that we can maximize the potential of the car,” said Djan after taking the car out for some laps.
Leona shared the same sentiments as despite looking very big and intimidating, the car was quite easy to drive for something in its class and the aerodynamics really helped in tackling the corners in high speeds. Although she has yet to participate in a GT racing series, she is not a stranger to one as she had driven several in test sessions before, and the team is also lending a hand in speeding up the learning process.
“With help from my tutor and mentor, Dominic Ang, a veteran GT driver, he gave me good tips and I will try to improve there. Tengku Djan, my driving partner, also gave very good feedback on how to tune the car better because his background is in suspensions. Not forgetting our team chief, Mr. Rueben Wong, as he has very good data analytic skills, and also tuning the car very well,” said Leona.
The team will be fielding the first Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO on Malaysian soil, which is an updated version of the podium-grabbing AMG GT3. Under the hood is still the same M159 naturally aspirated 6.2-liter V8 engine with 550HP, but it has received in-house improvements from Affalterbach to make it more durable and reducing the running cost.
The AMG GT3 EVO greets you with its bigger grille that offers more protection to the front radiators, and those new auxiliary lights are not just for show as it provides better illumination in poor weather conditions. To get the car glued to the track, it received a new splitter and rear wing which also features quick-adjust function.
But probably one of the most unique feature is the ingenious drop-start system, where like the name suggests, automatically fires up the V8 once it detects the air-jack hose has been removed so the car is ready to roll out the moment the tires hit the concrete.
The shakedown went very well and both drivers were satisfied with the progress they made during the two-day outing. Even in the AM category where they will be participating, competition will be stiff as GT World Challenge Asia gathers all the best drivers from all around. Nevertheless, Djan and Leona will be doing their best and are looking forward for a great season.
