Treviso (Italy), November 20, 2019. ACE1 Villorba Corse heads to China to take part in the first round of the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series at the 4 Hours of Shanghai on November 22-24. Involving Italian team Villorba Corse and the ACE1 team founded by Yuki Harata, their new endurance project is ready to line up a Ligier JS P3 powered by Nissan for the 26-year-old Japanese driver, who will be joined by his long-time teammate Alessandro Bressan, while the crew will be completed by another Italian driver: Gabriele Lancieri. After their first racing weekend last July in Barcelona for the third round of the 2019 European Le Mans Series, in Shanghai ACE1 Villorba Corse definitively launches an ambitious endurance program that in early 2020 will lead to Tailem Bend (Australia), Sepang (Malaysia) and Burinam (Thailand) events and then to further experiences in the world of international series promoted by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, where Villorba Corse claims three consecutive finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2017 to 2019. With 26 full season entries (17 Prototypes and 9 GT3) confirmed, the 4 Hours of Shanghai kicks off with the first free practice session on Friday, November 22, followed by Saturday’s FP2 and qualifying session. The race is to be held on Sunday at 9:45hrs (16:45hrs CET; 17:45hrs GMT). Live streaming available on
Raimondo Amadio, Team Principal, says: “We are about to start a new challenge in a different continent where this new project is taking shape alongside other activities by SVC The Motorsport Group, including F3 Asia, where we will be returning very soon. In Shanghai we line up the same crew seen in action in Barcelona. On that occasion we got positive data and laid a solid basis for this debut. Asian Le Mans Series is an interesting and competitive championship that will provide us a very demanding first test as for the team it will be the first time with a Prototype at the Shanghai International Circuit. We will try not to make mistakes and be as consistent as possible in order to end the race without any issues”.
Harata adds: “I am very much looking forward to this race and getting back in the car. I also find our debut in the Asian Le Mans Series a great opportunity to continue our learning program in the class. We didn’t have the chance to drive much in the past year, so it will be essential to get our miles in and go step by step. It is still a learning process for us, but we want to continue on the right path as we did in our debut in Barcelona this year. I am looking forward to this new challenge in Asia!”.
Bressan ends: “I am ecstatic to be in Shanghai and get started in the Asian Le Mans Series! It is nice to be back racing in Asia, I had the chance to race in Japan and Macau a couple of times with great results during my karting years, so it will be nice to get back to race in this continent. I always have a great feeling when I come to Asia. It is also great to be back in the car after a while, and I’m looking forward to getting going and help the team score a good result!”.
