Latest news with #AntaresAu
South China Morning Post
12-07-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
Meet the one-track minds behind the Le Mans 24-hour race
'The first night session couldn't have been more stressful if there were snakes in the car and meteorites falling from the sky.' Antares Au isn't new to 24-hour racing – he's won his class at Belgium's Spa and Germany's Nürburgring – but nothing, he says, quite prepares you for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Le Mans course is stitched together from public roads and permanent trackway. Photo: Andrew Baker/Rolex Last month marked his debut at France's legendary endurance race, alongside fellow Hongkonger Jonathan Hui Kin-tak. They were two drivers on the 62 teams competing at this year's race, and for a city that's only ever had a handful of Le Mans entries, their presence stood out. Before the engines fired and the Tricolore dropped, both drivers had already run a gauntlet of simulator training, scrutineering, test laps and town parades. Hui, who grew up watching race highlights on VHS tapes mailed from Europe, called the experience 'larger than life'. Au, for his part, had simply hoped to survive the first night intact. I remember that feeling. In 2007, I became the first driver to represent Hong Kong at Le Mans. I didn't win (far from it), but I still remember the calm in the cockpit at 3am, headlights piercing the dark, time stretching out like the road ahead. Le Mans is known for its engineering and endurance, but it's also a reflection of racing culture: how sport, style and identity come together. The fans, the brands, the atmosphere around the track.
South China Morning Post
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
24 Hours of Le Mans: Hong Kong drivers set for ‘ultimate test for man and machine'
Two Hong Kong racing drivers are set to make their debut at the gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race on Saturday, an event branded 'the ultimate test for man and machine'. Both drivers will battle it out in the LMGT3 category, with Jonathan Hui Kin-tak driving a Ferrari 296 and Antares Au behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Le Mans is a 24-hour endurance race where teams of three drivers aim to cover the longest possible distance on the historic Circuit de la Sarthe in France, starting at 4pm local time. 'Not only are you having to battle people within your own category, but one of the biggest challenges of Le Mans is also managing how to let faster cars in different categories go through,' Hui said. 'At Le Mans, the hypercars are doing well over 300 kilometres per hour, and when I'm going flat out at 280, those cars are whipping by at incredibly high speeds.' Antares Au (second from left) and Jonathan Hui (second from right). Photo: CBR Media Hui has competed in more than 10 endurance races throughout his career, and despite describing himself as someone who has never been able to 'pull all-nighters', he was not concerned about getting behind the wheel without a good night's sleep behind him.
