Lyons Set for for GT Asia rounds 5 & 6.

GT Asia kicks off the first two rounds of its Japan tour this weekend. The first two rounds will be held at Okayama International Circuit, a circuit nestled in the mountains of Mimasaka and one of the shortest tracks in Asia, consisting of just 3.7Km of racing asphalt.

The opening rounds of GT Asia have proved tough for the promising new partnership of Craft Bamboo Racing and Porsche but with the experience of Ulsterman Lyons and Frank Yu, they are determined to make this weekends outing a much more competitive affair. Conditions are always eventful here, ranging from clear blue skies to hailstones in the same day, this may be all the help that is needed to propel the 911 GT3 R and Lyons to a much welcome points haul and some more notches on the experience belt for the team.

Richard Lyons:

“Japan marks the middle of the season and my “home” races in GT Asia, I say “home” because I have held a Japanese license for the past 16years! Okayama International Circuit is our first stop of this Japan stint and a circuit that may well suit the Porsche, but its still difficult to call as we don’t have a lot of experience with this new car. The weather could also play a part as at this time of year as it’s not too dissimilar to good old Irish rainy days. If this is the case and its bad weather, we are quite confident to be giving the opposition plenty to think about. It’s been a slow start for Frank and I this season and with my experience in Japan I hope we can look forward to getting on the podium.”

 

About Richard Lyons:

Born In 1979 in Hillsborough Northern Ireland Richard started on his racing career at an early age with Karting. After winning at every level of Karting from Cadet to Senior it was time to move up.
In 1996 Richard moved into the the junior ranks of Formula Junior Vauxhall in Britain. Winning the 1996 winter championship in his first season was a great result and the next three years Lyons rose the ranks. Finishing third in 1997 and winning the prestigious young driver of the year award. 98 & 99 proved to be even better years with Richard recording two consecutive second place championship finishes and also winning the young driver of the year for the second season in a row.

In 2000, Lyons moved up and appeared in Formula Renault and and selected British GT rounds until in 2001 he got the call from Japan that would see him race in another of the worlds motorsport meccas for the first time.
Starting out with Team Morinaga in the open wheel series of Formula Nippon he was soon then picked up by Team Dandelion DoCoMo and in his time with the team he picked up the 2004 drivers championship and a championship third place in 2005

Here in Japan Richard would make his mark as one of the worlds top drivers. During this time Lyons also drove GT500, Japans premier GT series, enjoying just as much success in GT500 as Formula Nippon. Winning the 2004 Drivers GT500 championship and Formula Nippon in the same season placed him among the top drivers around with this feat only being acheived by a handfull of people.

Through the next six seasons in Japan Richard continued to consistently be amongst the fastest drivers in both GT and open wheel, resulting in over 26 podium finishes in the seasons to follow.
Born In 1979 in Hillsbourgh Northern Ireland Richard started on his racing career at an early age with Karting. After winning at every level of Karting from Cadet to Senior it was time to move up.
In 1996 Richard moved into the the junior ranks of Formula Junior Vauxhall in Britain.
Winning the 1996 winter championship in his first season was a great result and the next three years Lyons rose the ranks.

1997 finishing third and winning the prestigious young driver of the year award.

98 & 99 proved to be even better years with Richard recording two consecutive second place championship finishes and also winning the young driver of the year for the second season in a row.
Although primarily Racing in Japan Richard had brief periods between teams to compete in various other race series’ around the world.

Racing for Ireland in the short lived international A-1 open wheeled series along side some of the best drivers from Indy Car and F-1 aswell as taking his skills down under to win in Australia in their V8 supercars championship, winning at the Gold Coast 600.

But after a brief Hiatus in Japan, Richard Lyons returned as Team leader of a famous Racing house in GT300 here in Japan By the name of “Hitotsuyma Racing” a team well known for its racing history and with hopes of building a team and leaving his mark.

In 2014 Richard had a busy racing season ahead, racing in an amazing 3 GT series across the globe, GT Asia, SuperGT, and British GT.

Hitostsuyama Racing retain  his services for the Autobacs Super GT Championship in 2015 /16 at the wheel of their Audi R8.