Actress-model Christine Kuo and William Lok are the hottest Hong Kong couple on the track

They are Hong Kong’s most glamorous and glitzy racing couple, entwined by their passion for speed and thrill of competition. They are Hong Kong’s version of Lewis Hamilton and former girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger with a twist: they both race and are on the same team.

William Lok and model-actress girlfriend Christine Kuo Yun-hui are the talk of the town and judging by their snazzy reception at Win Motorsport’s press conference this week, they launched more than just an announcement on their team. They sparked a media frenzy usually reserved for movie stars in a red carpet event.

Lok, the 43-year-old driver and founder of Win Motorsport, is leading Hong Kong’s newest racing team that aims to one day race at the famous 24-hour Le Mans race.

The team have grand ambitions this season, gunning for both the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup and Series championship titles.

Their biggest challenge will be on the iconic 13.6 kilometre Circuit de la Sarthe in France, home of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, later this month, where they hope to one day compete at the world’s most famous endurance race.

Lok enjoys soaking up the limelight with Kuo, a former Miss Chinese Toronto, by his side. And he’s chuffed to bits that she’s become a valuable member of the team. She also brought excitement to the sport, where there are few local women racing drivers on par with Kuo’s celebrity status.

But Kuo knows her racing, too – at least she’s trying.

The Taiwanese-born Canadian actress is of mixed Korean, Japanese, Dutch, and Taiwanese aborigine parentage and remains highly popular for her roles in such TV dramas as Ghetto Justice II and Over Run Over.

“She’s not just an ambassador, she’s a development driver and she will be racing for the team, too,” said Lok proudly.

“We don’t have a number one or two [driver], we’re a team. She loves racing and she’s very passionate about it. She always wanted to race but the opportunity needs to come at the right time, the right place and with the right people.

Asked whether Lok and Kuo were the new Hamilton-Scherzinger couple of Hong Kong racing, Lok looked a bit annoyed.

“Can we change? Can we be Jenson Button and Jessica [Michibata] instead please? I’m not a fan of Lewis Hamilton by the way,” he laughs.

Lok knows his girlfriend has become the central attraction of the team judging by the media scrimmage, but he understands the attention is what the team needs.

“The attention is great because motorsport in Asia, especially motorsport soft marketing, is not a popular topic in Asia except for Japan,” said Lok.

“For any sport to be successful, the commercial part cannot be ruled out. If you want the commercial side of it, the media has be part of it as well as part of the whole package.

“So any team in any sport when there’s media attention, there’s business attention and when there’s business attention, the industry can become big.

“That’s something she [Kuo] brought into our team as an asset. But the thing is I can’t just put anyone on the team as an ambassador.

“She needs to have a passion and she needs to love racing or else I would not allow it. She has all of that so I’m delighted to have a girlfriend like her,” said Lok.

Kuo, who turns 34 on Sunday, comes as a breath of fresh to the local motor racing industry looking for new stars, but she doesn’t like to be compared to Michibata or Scherzinger.

“I’m going to be humble and just focus on building my racing skills step by step,” she said. “I don’t like the fact that people compare. When people think about you, they should think about you and not someone else.”

Kuo also prefers to do her racing on the track and said it was “an honour” to be an ambassador and development driver to a “made in Hong Kong” team, who are going places.

“I don’t have much experience in terms of racing but I do love racing and I really want to see motorsports develop in Hong Kong. Hopefully this team will bring some good news,” she said.

“The reason I fell in love with this sport is because I had an accident that really changed the way I see this sport. It kind of made me find the meaning of life in a way.

“I almost lost my life in a charity race [in 2015], but I really like the fact that I can come back and conquer my fear.

“Also because of racing I found my love. I’ve started training with Richard [Bradley] four times already, and my goal is just to hopefully get a championship in endurance racing in the future.”

Lok thinks Kuo is his pillar of strength and he’s grateful they have a common interest in motor racing, which first brought them together.

“Now, she’s an academy driver training under chief coach Richard Bradley, who was the Le Mans [LMP2] champion, and we’re training her and trying to get her up to speed.

“It’s amazing she loves racing. Racing is what brought us together in the first place.”

Asked whether they were worried about each other’s safety, Lok said: “She’s flipped three times in Zhuhai. She’s done a pretty massive flipping. She’d seen me crashing in practice as well,” he said with a grin.

Lok and Kuo’s romance has blossomed and now that they are an item, they will now be able to experience the thrill of racing together as a team.

“This is an incredible opportunity to learn from a fantastic team of experienced professionals,” she said. “William has created something truly exceptional for Hong Kong; a professional and highly competitive racing team which will make us proud.”