Martin Young (Phantom Global Racing): “Be able to compete in the WEC within five years”

Martin, what is the idea behind the founding of this stable?

The idea is to build an international team. We want to build a Chinese team that is international and capable of going all over the world and being competitive in GT racing. The idea was to build a team in Asia, and we wanted the team to be of Chinese origin. The long term goal is to become one of the best GT teams in the world. This is our goal for the future.

Was the Bathurst 12 Hour (February 17-18) the team's first ever race?

Yes, and she showed up at very short notice, three months after deciding to form the team. If you look at it from a logistical point of view, we formed the team in November and the car left Germany on December 2nd. The staff and equipment had to leave China on December 25. So we only had six weeks left to prepare for Bathurst.

That didn't stop you from putting in a great performance in the race!

The drivers and the team were not the most experienced in Porsche GT3, the team being new and the drivers being young shoots (Bastian Baus, Joel Eriksson, Jaxon Evans). We all worked together, everyone got along very well. Team spirit got us through the ordeal and got to where we ended up. It was very good, I was impressed!

Despite everything, was it a disappointment to miss the podium by so little (4th)?

Against teams like WRT or Mercedes, we would have been very happy to finish in the top 5 before this weekend! However, we finished in fourth place. It was a very good thing. We weren't far from the podium and that would have been a fantastic result, everyone would have been even happier, but we have to be realistic about our expectations. We were hoping to finish in the top five and we did, which is a good thing.

What is the rest of the 2024 program?

The team's initial plan is to compete in GT World Challenge Asia with Porsche and possibly Audi. We will also have the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia with professionals and amateurs. We are currently working on other international events. We want to compete against the best teams in the world, but it depends on our logistics. For now we can do Macau, Bathurst and possibly the 6 Hours of Indianapolis, although this is not yet confirmed.

Do you have any plans to compete in the Asian Le Mans Series or the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the future ?

The idea is to be able to participate in WEC within five years. We think this is something achievable if we have the right people in place. It would be helpful for Asian markets to have a team from the region in the championship. We know that to get there, we will have to go through the Asian Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Series.

Is the objective to go to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Asian and more particularly Chinese drivers?

We want to develop and grow an Asian team. This includes pilots and mechanics. It is the objective of the team to be this structure which allows all of this to grow. I can't wait to see how this develops.

You have a partnership with Team75. How does this translate?

Working with Timo (Bernhard, the former driver now owner of Team75. Editor's note) was the main reason why we decided to work with Porsche. When we decided to go with them, I looked at options that would allow us to benefit from sharing data to grow the team faster and compete against the best. It would have been difficult to come in and lose a year of experience against all these teams. So we decided to try to affiliate with a European team that already existed. After talking to Timo, we realized that it was a possibility and that there was a good opportunity to carry out a joint project. Timo was obviously delighted to be involved. We worked together on the workshop in China, the data sharing went very well. Timo is a great person for the team, his experience and knowledge are valuable to everyone.

How has Porsche supported the team to help prepare GT3 for the season?

Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific have been incredibly supportive of our project. Regardless of working on a Porsche, it is a new car, more modern, more technological, more equipped than an Audi or a Mercedes. With new cars there are more details and more technology. The Porsche GT3 needs two engineers and almost a software engineer. The mechanical standard is higher than other GT cars, due to the details required for the ground aerodynamics, rear wing, etc. The preparation work is important and it is not easy for the Asian teams who do not return to their base between races, but it is something that Porsche takes into account in the support given to us before and during groceries.

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