Le Mans, France (August 20, 2021) : HubAuto Racing took many by surprise at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the LMGTE Pro category, beating the factory teams to achieve pole position for the 89th running of the iconic race.

Dries Vanthoor recorded a time of 03:46:882 in the Porsche 911 RSR-19 ahead of Daniel Serra, in his AF Corse Ferrari, and Nick Tandy in third for Corvette Racing.

Factory Porsche driver Kevin Estre crashed early in the session, leaving the sole remaining works Porsche of Bruni – the slowest of the remaining five cars setting a time 0.814 seconds off Vanthoor's stunning effort.

HubAuto Racing, for the first time, has stepped up to the LMGTE Pro category for the 24 hours of Le Mans, being the first Asian team, in history, to do so.

They are now the first Asian team in LMGTE Pro and the first customer team to achieve P1 in the Hyper pole.

"This is incredible achievement for our team and our sponsors." said Morris Chen, Team Owner and Principal of HubAuto Racing.

"Our sponsors were one of the key driving factors in us stepping up to the Pro category. They believed in us and believed in the ability of the team. They saw our results and our potential last year in the Ferrari. They saw us achieve a double pole at the Asian Le Mans Series earlier this year, in a new car (the Mercedes AMG GT3) delivered only two weeks earlier. They felt we were ready to step up. We were able to get the LMGTE PRO entry and they were prepared to provide the financial backing for us as a result." Morris Chen

Like the Asian Le Mans Series, the team only took possession of the Porsche 911 RSR two weeks before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, showing the caliber and talent of the team.

Dries Vanthoor has teamed up with two other highly experienced endurance drivers: Maxime Martin and Alvaro Parente.

“We were greatly anticipating blending the skills of Maxime, Alvaro and Dries with HubAuto Racing's technical ability and we proved that with Hyper pole. We knew all three drivers were accomplished 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers and extremely talented. The Hyper pole is a wonderful opportunity for HubAuto Racing to make an impression in the race." said Chen.

However, the aim for HubAuto racing is to finish “For the 24 Hours of Le Mans the main aim is to finish. We aim to be on the lead lap and cross the finish line at the end. We certainly have strong drivers and the internal skills to do that. Our aim is to be the first Asian LMGTE Pro team to achieve this. Having said this anything is possible and a podium finish is a realistic possibility." Chen said.

The 89 ^th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans took place on the 21-22 ^nd of August 2021 at the Circuit de la Sarthe in France.