Craft-Bamboo Racing’s debut in the Eneos Super Taikyu Series Empowered by Bridgestone has been known for some time, and today, the Hong Kong-based outfit formally presented the livery and drivers for its upcoming entry into this weekend’s Fuji Super TEC 24 Hour Race on 25/26 May.
The team will enter the #33 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the ST-X (GT3) class, driven by the international quintet Jeffrey Lee, Kakunoshin Ohta, Dean Chen, Liang Jiatong, and Jayden Ojeda. It will mark Craft-Bamboo’s first Super Taikyu entry – as well as the team’s return to endurance racing in Japan for the first time since the final Suzuka 10 Hours in 2019.
“We are very excited to be joining the Super Taikyu Series,” said Shuichi Hatakeyama, the General Manager of Craft-Bamboo Racing Japan. “I am thankful for the support of STMO (Super Taikyu Mirai Organisation) in making it possible for us to join. I also want to thank all the people in the Japanese motorsport community who helped us get here. For the race, we have a good lineup. so we want to have a good consistent race to achieve the best possible result.”
Ohta, a Honda factory driver in SUPER GT GT500 and Super Formula, will be the Japanese star of the team. The 24-year-old won the 2022 Fuji 24 Hours in the ST-Z (GT4) class in a Mercedes-AMG GT4, en route to winning the ST-Z Class Championship for Team 5Zigen.
“I am looking forward to participating in the Fuji 24-Hour Race with the prestigious Craft-Bamboo Racing,” remarked Ohta. “As a local Japanese driver, I will do my best to work with and lead the team and hopefully my experience can help contribute to a good result.”
Lee took part in the 2018 Fuji 24 Hours, which was the first edition of the race held in 50 years. He finished third overall as part of the Phoenix Racing Asia team and will be the “A” driver of the team at Fuji this year.
“I’m very excited to be racing in Fuji once again,” said Lee, one of Craft-Bamboo Racing’s regular drivers in GT World Challenge Asia. “It’s a track that I love racing at and to take part in the 24-hour race again feels amazing. We have a strong team with some fantastic drivers so as long as we can keep the car out of trouble, I’m hopeful that we can secure a strong finish.”
Greek-Australian driver Ojeda, a two-time winner of the Bathurst 6 Hour, drove for Craft-Bamboo in the Asian Le Mans Series rounds at Sepang and the 2024 Bathurst 12 Hour. “I’m really looking forward to joining Craft-Bamboo Racing for the Fuji 24 Hour. Fuji is such an iconic circuit with years of history so the opportunity to drive with a great team and great teammates is something I’m going to really enjoy,” Ojeda said.
Liang drove for Craft-Bamboo in the 2023 Sepang 12 Hours and also raced full-time in SUPER GT’s GT300 class that year. This season he competes full-time in GT World Challenge Asia for Harmony Racing. “I’m very happy to drive for Craft-Bamboo Racing this year in Super Taikyu and compete in the Japanese motorsport world for the second consecutive year after last year’s SUPER GT participation,” said Liang.
“Thanks again to all the people who helped make this possible, I will treasure this chance and work hard, trying to achieve the best possible result together with the team.”
The newcomer to the fray is Dean “Momo” Chen, a Chinese-Canadian driver who’s making his GT3 racing debut with a background consisting entirely of sim racing and club-level motorsport in his home province of British Columbia – but after testing, Craft-Bamboo has trusted Chen to make the massive leap forward.
Chen expressed his delight in making his major racing debut at the Fuji 24 Hours. “Since a long time ago, I’ve been watching Super Taikyu. The Fuji 24H is a famous event because there are many tuners or manufacturers who use the event as a testing ground. For people who love Japanese car culture, it is one of the highlight events It will be my honour to participate in it,” said Chen.
“The team has been doing a great job on the prep work for the event and we have a good driver lineup with great drivers like Kakunoshin and Jayden. It’s a long race. We will try our best and hopefully we will be fighting at the front.”
Ojeda, Liang, and Chen will make their series debuts at the Fuji 24 Hours, competing in a five-car class for overall honours. Mercedes-AMG customer teams won the race in 2020 and 2023, making it the only non-Japanese marque to claim overall victory in the event.
Images © Craft-Bamboo Racing
