Darryl O’Young has announced that he will retire from racing after the Greater Bay Area GT Cup in Macau next month.
The news comes ahead of this weekend’s season finale of GT World Challenge Asia at the Beijing Street Circuit.
The veteran racer from Hong Kong will team up with Liang Jiatong (Alex Liang) in the #77 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 entry in the Silver Class for his final GT3 races, as Liang – currently third in the Silver Class standings ahead of the title decider – looks to fight for a championship result.
The Beijing event will be the penultimate outing of his career, which will then come to a close with his 20th appearance at the Macau Grand Prix, racing in a Mercedes-AMG GT4 Evo with Craft-Bamboo Racing.
There, he hopes to add to his five Macau Grand Prix GT race victories (2005, 2006, 2008, 2021, 2023), two WTCC Independent Class Macau GP wins (both in 2012), and three consecutive WTCC Independent Class Macau GP Pole Positions (2010, 2011, and 2012).
Beyond Macau – O’Young was the first Hong Kong driver to stand on the Le Mans finishing podium when he was second in class in 2013; he has claimed two Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Championship titles (2006 and 2008) and the 2015 GT Asia Series Championship title; and won twice overall at the 2011 and 2012 Bathurst 12 Hour, with third place overall in 2015.
Adding further to his endurance credentials is overall victory at the Sepang 12 hours (2008), second in class at the 2013 24 Hours of Daytona, and third in class at the 2013 24 Hours of Dubai. On the Asia front, O’Young also claimed eight consecutive GT victories on the streets of Bangsaen in Thailand.
After hanging up his helmet, O’Young will continue to steer Craft Bamboo Holdings Ltd’s various motorsport and business ventures.
Image courtesy of Craft Bamboo
