FCC People
On The Fast Track
F
CC Member and racing driver Matthew Marsh is poised to fulfil a childhood ambition by taking part in the world’s greatest sports car race, the Le Mans 24 Hours. Matthew is spearheading an ambitious project which will see a Hong Kong-owned, sponsored and driven car compete in the endurance classic for the first time. “It’s all systems go – we have an agreement for the car, we have secured the bulk of the sponsorship and we are in the process of finalising the three-man driving team,” says Matthew, who is the current Porsche Infineon Carrera Cup Asia champion. “We intend to prove that Hong Kong can compete on the world stage. It is an enormous challenge, but we have the drive, the ambition and the talent to succeed.” Matthew’s team, Noble Group-GruppeM Racing, will be driving a Porsche GT3 RSR with a distinctive yellow, white and red livery that features a large bauhinia on the roof. The road to Le Mans will begin with four races this year in the Le Mans Endurance Series in Europe – each event is 1,000km and lasts about six hours – followed by a trip to the 12 Hours of Sebring race in Florida next March. Positive results will secure an invitation to the Le Mans 24 Hours in June 2006. Matthew, a 14-year Hong Kong resident who is engaged to Singaporean model Jessie Leong, has previously taken part in 24-hour races in Germany, Belgium and Australia. “Le Mans is the ultimate test for a sports car driver,” says the 36-year-old Briton. “It will be a dream come true for me
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Left: Matthew and Jessie. Top: The Porsche GT3 personally but, more importantly, it will be a team effort. This project will put Hong Kong motorsport in the global spotlight.” The project is being backed by two Hong Kong companies – Noble Group and the William E Connor Group – and the Chinese-owned GruppeM Racing team based in the UK. FCC member and GR Asia racing team owner Tim Huxley, who helped Matthew put the project together, adds: “This is more than just a race, it’s a massive adventure which we hope all Hong Kong’s sports car enthusiasts will get behind. “Our priority has been to put together the most competitive and professional package possible, and we believe we have achieved that. Over the course of this year, the team will gain the experience and credibility to do the job at Le Mans next June.” With Le Mans entries divided into four classes – LMP1 and LMP2 for prototypes (cars designed specifically for racing) and GT1 and GT2 for modified
road cars, Matthew and his team are aiming for GT2. Matthew explains: “One of the factors that will be important to the race organisers is that drivers are competent in the category they’re in. Myself and the other drivers can clearly demonstrate that we’ve done a lot of driving in Porsche GT3s and that we’ve done quite well in them. “It makes perfect sense for us to go in at this level, because the key point is that this is not the last time we will be racing at Le Mans. What started off, for me, as the ultimate objective, simply to compete at Le Mans, has changed. Now the project is happening, I’m thinking about a five-year programme in which we move up through the classes. “The other key point about starting in GT2 is that we really can say we are going there with the intention of doing well in our class. Even in GT2 there are some world class drivers, but the cars will all be pretty equal, we are going to be fully prepared and we will have three drivers who are more than capable. Put it this way, we’ll be going there to get on the podium.”
THE CORRESPONDENT MAY/JUNE 2005