Asian Le Mans Series: risk and reward of Hong Kong finance world guiding Au’s approach to endurance racing
- Antares Au preparing for third season in motorsport with German team driving Porsche 911 GT3 R
- First race takes place in Dubai on February 11 with place at Le Mans in France up for grabs for season winner
If 20-plus years in Hong Kong finance have taught Antares Au anything it is about risk and reward – lessons he is applying to his second career in endurance racing.
But the nearly eight years behind the steering wheel have done something else for the 44-year-old, they have made him a better person.
Au acknowledges that the world of finance is a small one, inhabited by “lawyers, bankers and accountants”, and the homogeneous nature of the industry was not always welcome.
“I would be a very different person and I am not sure I like the person I would have been if I did not do this [driving],” Au said.
“Racing forces you to be more of a person, to have more dimensions than a business or finance person. It puts you out into the real world and resets your expectations because you used to think in a certain way in business, but maybe there is a bigger world out there.”
According to Au, being a member of the German-based Herberth Motorsport team was a humbling experience, especially as his lack of know-how meant he was deemed to be the lowest level of driver by the sport’s governing body.