Malaysian driver, Jazeman Jaafar, heads off to Misano in Italy to make his debut in the Blancpain Sprint Series, the first weekend in the five round championship. Jazeman will be piloting one of HTP Motorsportâs Mercedes AMG GT3 race cars, sharing driving duties with Austrian driver, Clemens Schmid, in the two one-hour sprint races at the Italian circuit.
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After a highly successful single-seater career, Jazeman focuses on sportscars for 2016, contesting the Blancpain Sprint Series and the Blancpain Endurance Series in an action-packed season of racing.
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It will be Jazemanâs first race weekend at the Misano circuit, with the 23-year-old drivers previous experience of the Italian track limited to test sessions. He says of debuting in a new series and a new track for him, âI havenât raced at Misano yet, so Iâll be at a slight disadvantage when I arrive for the weekend, but it wonât take me long to learn the circuit, then Iâll be able to start working with the HTP Motorsport team to develop the car set up for the two sprint races.â
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âAlthough I havenât raced in this championship previously, I have raced in some endurance events, so I know what to expect and I welcome the challenge,â adds Jazeman. âI think it is the size of the grid which will be the big difference for me. In my single-seater series there were usually around around 20 cars on the grid, but in Misano there will be 40, so there will be plenty of competition out on track.â
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The Mercedes AMG GT3 makes it debut in the Blancpain Sprint Series alongside Jazeman, and the young Malaysian says, âItâs the first season of Blancpain Sprint Series racing for the car as well as myself, but Iâve been out testing and the car is awesome. It has plenty of potential, so Iâm raring to go. HTP Motorsport has a great line up of drivers, including the highly successful veteran racer, Bernd Schneider, so I think thereâs a good mix of youth and experience. Iâm looking forward to teaming up with Clemens for the season ahead.â
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Action in Misano starts on Friday afternoon with the first free practice, followed by the second free practice session on Friday evening. Saturday sees Qualifying in the early afternoon, with the start of the Qualifying Race just before 9 pm. The Main Race will get underway at 2.15 pm on Sunday afternoon.
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