2016 GT Asia Series

11 October, 2016

 

The 2016 GT Asia Series comes to it’s dramatic conclusion in Shanghai on 19-20 October with news that Shang Peng Gao Ke will be joining the Series as the official event title sponsor - the event will now be known as the ‘GT Asia Series Shang Peng Race of Shanghai’.

 

Shang Peng Gao Ke is a cross-border e-commerce marketing company and their involvement will allow thousands of Shang Peng associates to enjoy the drama and emotion of Asia’s leading GT championship, as six teams battle for the right to become the 2016 Series champions. 

 

Shang Peng associates will also have the opportunity to cheer on their very own team!

 

For the Series final Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Frank Yu and Richard Lyons will wear the colours of Shang Peng on their #88 Porsche GT3 R, providing a great focal point for the fans, and thanks to a striking new livery, the car will be easy to identify and follow with its angular red and white theme that draws inspiration from the Shang Peng corporate colours.

 

As title sponsor of this epic season finale, Shang Peng will enjoy fantastic brand exposure around the race track and grandstand sections. Shang Peng race queens will feature in the paddock, pit lane and on the grid where they will be sure to draw a crowd of both fans and media. A large hospitality tent will also be present to allow visitors to personally connect with Shang Peng and their drivers and collect Shang Peng team memorabilia. They can also get their photos taken with the official Shang Peng race queens as a reminder of what will be an outstanding conclusion to the 2016 season.

 

And in fantastic news for the category, Fox Sports Asia will broadcast both races live to millions of viewers throughout the Asian region as the races unfold, and for those that miss it with mid-week commitments, they will replay both races in full on the Sunday immediately following the event (check http://tv.foxsportsasia.com/ for scheduled times). In China, Star Sports will also broadcast both races live, whilst China’s popular online network LeTv will also host both races live, the network one of 27-online platforms that saw the fifth event of the season at Shanghai (19-21 August) broadcast to more than 6.3-million viewers across China.

 

Of course, both races will also be streamed live online through www.gtasiaseries.com

 

Shang Peng Gao Ke is a cross-border e-commerce marketing company, offering IT Applications to individuals and SME businesses, to increase online communications efficiency, productivity and profitability. Shang Peng Health offers an exclusive line of high-performance specialty nutrition products and skin health products developed and made in the USA, for personal use in the PRC.www.ShangPengGaoKe.cn

 

FINALE, Shanghai International Circuit, China (19-20 October)

Race One (60-minutes): 10:30am 

Race Two (60-minutes): 2:30pm

 

The GT Asia Series is sanctioned by the FIA as an International Series and is clearly recognised as the Region’s leading GT Championship. It is solely managed and promoted by Motorsport Asia Ltd and is backed by Singha, Michelin, KW Automotive, Motul, Race Room, Panta, YOFC and Tunewear.

2016 GT Asia Series

9 October, 2016

After the closest season in GT Asia Series history, the 2016 championship comes to it’s conclusion at Shanghai International Circuit on 19-20 October and Fox Sports Asia - who have been instrumental in building the profile of the category over the last six months - have pulled out all stops to cover every minute of the action from the final two rounds of the year.

 

13-drivers are still in the Series with a mathematical chance of championship victory heading to the Chinese event, which due to a last-minute change forced upon Motorsport Asia by an external event promoter has seen the date change to mid-week, with the final now scheduled for Wednesday 19 October and Thursday 20 October.

 

As a result Fox Sports Asia (and Star Sports China), have committed to cover both final races LIVE, whilst Fox Sports will also replay both races on Sunday 23 October for those who were unable to catch all the live action as it unfolded.

 

In addition, China’s popular online network LeTv will also host both races live, the network one of 27-online platforms that saw the fifth event of the season at Shanghai (19-21 August) broadcast to more than 6.3-million viewers across China.

 

“I have to say, this is fantastic news, and thanks to Fox International Channels for supporting us with the final after what has been a particularly challenging month for the category, with promoters failing to deliver on promises,” Motorsport Asia Limited CEO David Sonenscher admitted.

 

“There’s no question that the 2016 season has been the closest on record. Six different teams in four different marques - five different models - have taken wins in the ten races so far, whilst the most recent round saw 11 cars separated by less than a second in qualifying, and two tenths of a second covered three marques at the line after 60-minutes of intense competition..!

 

“It really has been a season to remember with some incredible racing across every round, so it’s really only fitting that we are able to show both races of the final round live and to continue to promote GT Asia to the growing fan-base in China who have clearly taken to the category with great interest.”

 

FINAL, Shanghai International Circuit, China (19-20 October)

Thursday, 20 October 2016 (CST - GMT +8)

Race One (60-minutes): 10:30am 

Race Two (60-minutes): 2:30pm

 

The GT Asia Series is sanctioned by the FIA as an International Series and is clearly recognised as the Region’s leading GT Championship. It is solely managed and promoted by Motorsport Asia Ltd and is backed by Singha, Michelin, KW Automotive, Motul, Race Room, Panta, YOFC and Tunewear.

2016 GT Asia Series

3 October, 2016

 

After what can only be described as an epic season of the GT Asia Series, the final event of the year approaches with 13 drivers, seven teams and four marques still in with a mathematical chance of outright championship victory.

 

So far there have been six different winning combinations across the ten races so far, and despite there being just two races to go, there is still absolutely no guarantee of who will be standing on the top step of the championship podium at the conclusion of the 2016 Series.

 

Last time out in Shanghai we were given another glimpse of just how close the title race has been, with 11 cars [five marques] separated by less than one second in qualifying [across a 2:05-minute lap], whilst the opening race saw three cars from three different manufacturers separated by just two tenths of a second after 60-minutes of intense racing..

 

Currently the championship lead is held by rising young Italian stars Edoardo Liberati and Andrea Amici from the FFF Racing Team by ACM Lamborghini operation, the two factory Lamborghini Squadra Corse junior drivers have been both fast and consistent all season, with six podium finishes to their name, but with just one round win in Fuji.

 

They come into the final round just nine points clear of two-time 2016 winners Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo, the two Ferrari drivers have immense experience at home in Shanghai, and were winners last time out at the Chinese Formula One venue.

 

Just 14 points back, is another team that has been quietly going about their business since the start of the season. Led by Thailand’s Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak, the #9 Bentley Team Absolute machine has been on the podium four times this season, and every one of those starts has seen Englishman Duncan Tappy in the co-pilot’s seat. 

 

Vutthikorn started the season alongside American Andrew Palmer before an accident at home in the US sidelined the rising young Absolute Racing star. That saw 2015 GT Asia race-winner Tappy drafted back into the equation to put the #9 car on the podium for both races in Thailand, before German Bentley factory driver Christer Jons took over the wheel. Sadly for Jons a less than ideal event at Okayama saw Tappy back for Fuji, and for Shanghai where the Englishman again assisted Vutthikorn to back-to-back podiums. Vutthikorn is a long-shot for championship victory, however one slip by the leading teams, and just like recent years, it could all come down to the final race of the year..

 

The Bentley Team Absolute operation too will have their hands full in the title chase, with 2015 GT Asia Series runner-up Adderly Fong and team-mate Andrew Kim just four points back from Vutthikorn, whilst three-time 2016 winner Jonathan Venter is just a solitary point behind them. Venter’s team-mate Keita Sawa too is within mathematical reach of the title, and is just seven points back from Venter after missing a round to compete in the 2016 Le Mans 24 Hour race, but at 35-points behind the points leaders, he’d need a minor miracle to claim the crown, but could be more than instrumental in assisting team-mate Venter to victory, especially as they too were winners last time out at Shanghai.

 

Separating the Bentley teams on the points table are two-time 2016 winners Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong. Campaigning the brilliant gold AAPE by Bathing Ape Audi R8 LMS GT3 for Lee’s Phoenix Racing Asia outfit, they sit just 25 points behind the points leading Lamborghini, but importantly they showed at Shanghai last time out that the Audi was the car to beat. Sadly for them, a broken gearbox in qualifying saw them start last in both races, but they completed the round with a fourth and fifth placed finish, and were regularly the fastest car on the circuit - an ominous sign perhaps for the points leaders.

 

For the outright leaders though, their job will be to maintain their consistency, whilst for Liu and Rizzo they need to go on maximum attack, but they have shown over the last three seasons in Shanghai, that they’re up to the challenge. That said, so too are the FFF duo, who last time out matched the local stars on points with 25 apiece - under those conditions, Liberati and Amici would become the 2016 champions..

 

The key however might be team-mates, and whilst neither team has publicly declared they will include a second team to the entry list, both have already shown over the last two seasons that they are prepared to add a second car - BBT in 2015 at Shanghai with Max Wiser and Jiang Xin, whilst last time out FFF drafted in Squadra Corse factory stars Jeroen Mul and Richard Antinucci. The result of that second Lamborghini was a comfortable podium finish for Liberati and Amici in race two, whilst Liu and Rizzo were forced to use up their tyres early trying to get around the #15 entry, before fading to a tenth placed finish. They won’t make that mistake a second time..

 

Just as it did in 2015 - and for that matter, every season prior - the final round will provide plenty of action and intrigue, and if there’s one thing that can be guaranteed, that’s the fact that the title race will go all the way down to the wire, with no quarter given..! Don’t miss this one, it will be memorable!

 

GT3 Championship points (after ten rounds of 12)

1. Edoardo Liberati/Andrea Amici (119-points), 2. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (110), 3. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (96), 4. Marchy Lee/Shaun Thong (94), 5. Adderly Fong/Andrew Kim (92), 6. Jonathan Venter (91), 7. Keita Sawa, Piti Bhirombhakdi/Carlo Van Dam (84), 8. Duncan Tappy (81), 9. Alex Yoong/Alex Au (80), 10. Frank Yu/Richard Lyons, Tim Sugden (56), 11. Darryl O’Young/Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (49), 12. Jono Lester (32), 13. Mok Weng Sun (28), 14. George Miedecke (18), 15. Gianmaria Bruni (15), 16. George Richardson (14), 17. Ashley Walsh, Franky Cheng/JingZu Sun, Richard Wee (13), 18. Philip Ma (10), 19. Andrew Palmer (8), 20. Christer Jöns, Fabian Hamprecht (7), 21. Nathan Morcom (5)

 

Pro-Am Cup points (after ten rounds of 12)

1. Anthony Liu (123-points), 2. Shaun Thong (119), 3. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (110), 4. Andrew Kim (109), 5. Piti Bhirombhakdi (105), 6. Alex Au (100), 7. Frank Yu (76), 8. Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (72), 9. Philip Ma (25), 10. Mok Weng Sun (17), 10. JingZu Sun (16)

 

Pro Cup points (after ten rounds of 12)

1. Edoardo Liberati/Andrea Amici (119), 2. Davide Rizzo (110), 3. Marchy Lee (94), 4. Adderly Fong (92), 5. Jonathan Venter (91), 6. Keita Sawa, Carlo Van Dam (84), 8. Duncan Tappy (81), 9. Alex Yoong (80), 11. Tim Sugden (62), 12. Richard Lyons (56), 13. Darryl O’Young (50), 14. Jono Lester (32), 15. George Miedecke (17), 16. Gianmaria Bruni (15), 17. George Richardson (14), 18. Franky Cheng, Ashley Walsh (13), 20. Andrew Palmer (8), 21. Christer Jöns, Fabian Hamprecht (7), 23. Nathan Morcom (4)

 

GT Cup points (after ten rounds of 12)

1. Kantasak Kusiri/Bhurit Bhirombhakdi (84-points), 3. Voravud Bhirombhakdi/Tin Sritra (34), 5. Aekrat Discharoen (32), 6. Suttiluck Buncharoen, Toshihito Funai/Masayuki Ueda (16), 9. Akihiro Asai/Ken Seto (14)

 

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This season Fox Sports Asia and Star Sports in China will also broadcast every event of the GT Asia Series live (race two in full, with highlights from the opening race), whilst the series itself will also live-stream every round.

 

Details of the streams and the broadcast times will be available on the GT Asia Series website - www.gtasiaseries.com - and through social media; www.facebook.com/GTAsiaSeries will also post news, video clips, images and updates, and you can also get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/GTAsiaSeries 

 

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The GT Asia Series is sanctioned by the FIA as an International Series and is clearly recognised as the Region’s leading GT Championship. It is solely managed and promoted by Motorsport Asia Ltd and is backed by Singha, Michelin, KW Automotive, Motul, Race Room, Panta, YOFC and Tunewear.

 

Keep in touch with www.facebook.com/GTAsiaSeries for news and updates, and get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/GTAsiaSeries 

 

For more information on the GT Asia Series, please visit www.gtasiaseries.com 

Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia

Rnd#7/8, 2016 TCR Asia Series (29 Sept.-1 Oct. 2016)

 

After yet another fantastic TCR event, Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Andy Yan has emerged as the 2016 champion after his fifth win in eight starts at the Sepang round of the championship supporting the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix.

 

The Volkswagen star may have added to his win tally, but the results sheet disguised some incredible performances, notably that of Team Thailand’s Tin Sritrai. The young Thai star had stunned the International Series regulars after qualifying his Honda Civic TCR an amazing tenth fastest and less than a second off pole-man - recently crowned TCR Italy champion - Roberto Colciago.

 

Behind him Andy Yan and TeamWork Motorsport’s Kevin Tse were no less impressive, but for Sritrai, his result would prove to be a huge boost for his burgeoning career, the Thai driver taking pole position for race two by virtue of the reverse grid [top ten] start.

 

Ultimately Yan would win the championship, whilst Sritrai stunned the big Malaysian Grand Prix crowd by keeping the International stars behind him for three laps in race two before being forced into a spin, but all the TCR Asia Series regulars showed incredible pace, mixing it with their more experienced global rivals throughout both races, earning praise from up and down pit lane.

 

Whilst the International Series regulars engaged in a battle royale off the start of the opening race, Yan’s title chase was put very much on notice after a five-car incident at turn four. The Hong Kong-based Volkswagen driver had been forced onto the grass on the infield at the braking point, the multiple China Touring Car Champion doing everything in his power to stop the car, but with no alternatives he ran back across the circuit clipping rivals - including team-mate Davit Kajaia - at the apex of the corner, forcing four cars off the circuit.

 

Fortunately he was able to rejoin, latching onto the tail of the pack as the field formed up behind the Safety Car which was called to remove Kajaia’s stricken Volkswagen.

 

Meanwhile Sritrai had enjoyed a strong start to be ninth and locked onto the tail of the leaders, but no sooner had the race restarted, than he was back in pit lane, an experience the Thai driver has endured many times in season 2016, a turbo issue forcing him to retire from the race.

 

That left Kevin Tse in the lead, the TeamWork Motorsport driver holding onto the TCR Asia Series front running to the flag despite Yan’s charge back through the field, the points leader crossing the line second, with team-mate Filipe de Souza third for the second Volkswagen 1-2-3 in succession.

 

Sadly for FRD Motorsport - who were campaigning their Hong Kong-built Ford Focus TCR with rising star Nicky Pastorelli - their weekend of development ended on the start-line for race two, an engine failure off the line as the cars started their observation lap leaving oil on the inside of the main straight. Officials quickly rectified the problem, however the end result saw the field start behind the Safety Car and lose one of the 11 scheduled laps.

 

As the opening lap came to a conclusion, the Safety Car returned to pit lane, and Sritrai led the field away, the popular young Thai leading three laps before contact from hard-charging points-leader and reigning champion Stefano Comini forced the Team Thailand Honda sideways at speed at turn 14, forcing Sritrai off the circuit. He gathered things up again and returned to the circuit in eleventh, however he was quickly caught by Yan and then Tse, the two Volkswagen drivers working their way past the ailing Honda.

 

Yan was setting an impressive pace in comparison to the leaders, and a late race Safety Car after contact between Honda drivers Mikhail Grachev and Roberto Colciago allowed the Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver to lock onto the tail of the battle for fifth, the Hong Kong driver ultimately classified an impressive eighth, crossing the line just 10-seconds behind race winner Kevin Gleason, and only a second behind fifth place!

 

Kevin Tse crossed the line second with 11th outright, whilst two positions further back, Sritrai held on for third - cool consolation for what very well could have been victory and an International Series podium. Comini as a result of the contact received a post-race time penalty, dropping the Swiss driver from second to 18th, all but handing the International Series title to English rival James Nash..

 

Filipe de Souza continued his impressive second half of the season with fourth place, the Liqui Moly Team Engstler driver adding to his second podium of the year in race one, whilst Douglas Khoo in the Viper Niza Racing Seat and Bill O’Brien in the second TeamWork Motorsport entry completed the podium for the Amateur class once again, with Tse taking top honours for both categories.

 

For Yan, his fifth win from eight starts hands the multiple China Touring Car Champion the 2016 TCR Asia Series crown, his points lead putting the title out of question heading to Macau in November (18-20).

 

Keep up to date with the TCR Asia Series website - www.asia.tcr-series.com for news and updates - and through social media; www.facebook.com/TCRAsiaSeries which will also feature news, video clips, images and updates, and you can also get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/TCRAsiaSeries 

 

What the drivers had to say..

 

Kevin Tse (winner Round#7): “This was a fantastic result for me and for the team, so thanks to them. Luckily, I just avoided an accident in front of me, then the safety car came out and we were all grouped together but I managed to hold on to win.”

 

Andy Yan (winner Round#8): “I’m very happy and I need to thank my team for doing a fantastic job, especially yesterday because my car had a problem in Race 1 and so they worked all night to prepare a good car for me for Race 2. Today was a good performance to achieve our target and finish first. I really love the TCR Asia Series because we have good drivers and all the cars are very balanced. I think Tin Sritrai has been very unlucky this year because he has had so many problems but hopefully we can have another good fight again next year.”

 

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Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia (30 September, 2016)

1. 5. Roberto Colciago (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) - 2:15.021

2. 74. Pepe Oriola (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR) - 2:15.086

3. 8. Mikhail Grachev (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) - 2:15.155

4. 2. Jean-Karl Vernay (Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) - 2:15.296

5. 70. Mat’o Homola (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR) - 2:15.310

6. 1. Stefano Comini (Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) - 2:15.311

7. 10. Gianni Morbidelli (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) - 2:15.476

8. 54. James Nash (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR) - 2:15.646

9. 24. Kevin Gleason (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) - 2:15.956

10. 9. Tin Sritrai (Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR)* - 2:16.006

11. 62. Dusan Borkovic (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR) - 2:16.026

12. 77. Sergey Afanasyev (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR) - 2:16.031

13. 9. Attila Tassi (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR) - 2:16.128

14. 50. Loris Hezemans (Target Competition Seat Leon TCR) - 2:16.139

15. 3. Andy Yan (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR)* - 2:17.136

16. 7. Davit Kajaia (Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) - 2:17.489

17. 8. Kevin Tse (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR)* - 2:17.540

18. 26. Filipe de Souza (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR)* - 2:17.979

19. 72. Nicky Pastorelli (FRD Racing Team Ford Focus TCR) - 2:18.974

20. 20. Mario Ferraris (Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR) - 2:19.337

21. 27. Bill O’Brien (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR)* - 2:20.738

22. 65. Douglas Khoo (Viper Niza Racing Seat Leon TCR)* - 2:20.987

23. 35. Rafael Galiana (Target Competition Honda Civic TCR) - 2:29.843

 

Round#7 (11-laps)

1. 5. Roberto Colciago (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) 

2. 1. Stefano Comini (Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) 

3. 54. James Nash (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR) 

4. 74. Pepe Oriola (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR) 

5. 2. Jean-Karl Vernay (Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR)

6. 62. Dusan Borkovic (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR)

7. 9. Attila Tassi (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR)

8. 24. Kevin Gleason (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR)

9. 77. Sergey Afanasyev (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR)

10. 70. Mat’o Homola (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR) 

11. 50. Loris Hezemans (Target Competition Seat Leon TCR)

12. 8. Kevin Tse (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR)*

13. 3. Andy Yan (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR)*

14. 26. Filipe de Souza (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR)*

15. 65. Douglas Khoo (Viper Niza Racing Seat Leon TCR)*

16. 72. Nicky Pastorelli (FRD Racing Team Ford Focus TCR)

17. 27. Bill O’Brien (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR)*

18. 20. Mario Ferraris (Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR)

DNF. 8. Mikhail Grachev (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) - 6-laps

DNF. 9. Tin Sritrai (Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR)* - 4-laps

DNF. 7. Davit Kajaia (Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) - 0-laps

DNF. 10. Gianni Morbidelli (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) - 0-laps

DNF. 35. Rafael Galiana (Target Competition Honda Civic TCR) - 0-laps

 

Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia (1 October, 2016)

Round#8 (10-laps)

1. 24. Kevin Gleason (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR)

2. 54. James Nash (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR) 

3. 10. Gianni Morbidelli (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR)

4. 62. Dusan Borkovic (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR)

5. 2. Jean-Karl Vernay (Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR)

6. 50. Loris Hezemans (Target Competition Seat Leon TCR)

7. 77. Sergey Afanasyev (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR)

8. 3. Andy Yan (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR)*

9. 9. Attila Tassi (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR)

10. 7. Davit Kajaia (Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) 

11. 8. Kevin Tse (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR)* 

12. 74. Pepe Oriola (Craft-Bamboo Racing Seat Leon TCR) 

13. 9. Tin Sritrai (Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR)*

14. 20. Mario Ferraris (Mulsanne Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR)

15. 26. Filipe de Souza (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR)*

16. 70. Mat’o Homola (B3 Racing Team Hungary Seat Leon TCR) 

17. 65. Douglas Khoo (Viper Niza Racing Seat Leon TCR)*

18. 1. Stefano Comini (Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) 

19. 27. Bill O’Brien (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR)*

20. 35. Rafael Galiana (Target Competition Honda Civic TCR)

DNF. 8. Mikhail Grachev (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) - 6-laps

DNF. 5. Roberto Colciago (WestCoast Racing Honda Civic TCR) - 5-laps

DNF. 72. Nicky Pastorelli (FRD Racing Team Ford Focus TCR) - 0-laps

* registered TCR Asia Series entrants

 

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Driver’s Championship points (after eight rounds of ten)

1. Andy Yan (195-points), 2. Kevin Tse (129), 3. Filipe de Souza (93), 4. Tin Sritrai (85), 2. Henry Ho (70), 6. Roelof Bruins (41), 7. Douglas Khoo (34), 8. Bill O’Brien (33), 9. Jack Lemvard (31), 10. Terrence Tse (28), 11. Neric Wei Chaoyin (20), 12. Michael Ho (18), 13. Narasak Ittiritpong (17),14. Nattachak Hanjitkasem (16), 15. Patritat Bulbon (7), 16. Yu Kam Cheong (3), 17. Kenneth Ma (0)

 

Amateur Driver’s Championship points (after eight rounds of ten)

1. Kevin Tse (205), 2. Douglas Khoo (98), 3. Bill O’Brien (93), 4. Terrence Tse (88), 5. Michael Ho (52), 6. Nattachak Hanjitkasem (47), 7. Neric Wei Chaoyin (45), 8. Patritat Bulbon (28), 9. Yu Kam Cheong (20), 10. Kenneth Ma (6)

 

TCR Asia Series Teams Championship points (after eight rounds of ten)

1. Liqui Moly Team Engstler (288), 2. TeamWork Motorsport (162), 3. Champ Motorsport (88), 4. Team Thailand (85), 5. Viper Niza Racing (75), 6. Vattana Motorsport (48), 7. RoadStar Racing Team (31), 8. Son Veng Racing Team (20), 9. TBN MK ihere Racing Team (16), 10. Sloth Racing (7), 11. FRD Racing Team (0)

2016 GT Asia Series

9 September, 2016

 

After five outstanding events, the 2016 GT Asia Series is fast approaching the last meeting of the year, and whilst originally scheduled for the new Zhejiang circuit in China, delays in the final stages of construction have seen Motorsport Asia Limited - the promoter of the region’s leading GT category - make alternate plans.

 

Always a popular venue on the calendar and the scene of the closest finish in GT Asia history three weeks ago, the Shanghai circuit will once more play host to the hottest marques on the planet with the final two rounds of the championship held on the same October date as originally scheduled (21-23 October).

 

“We had big plans for Zhejiang and were fully in support of their proposal to develop another great international venue in China, but sadly, despite assurances all year to the contrary, they’ve been unable to complete the circuit construction ahead of our scheduled date, so we had no other option but to find an alternate venue,” David Sonenscher, the CEO of Motorsport Asia explained.

 

“It’s disappointing in many ways, not the least being that the industry needs to support the development of new venues in Asia and we felt we were at the forefront of providing that support, but for the sake of our competitors, we needed an alternative that was going to provide the best solution to the challenge we were facing, and a return to Shanghai delivered that solution.”

 

Just three weeks ago, Shanghai was the scene of one of the best events in GT Asia Series history. Mercedes-AMG made a return to the category after a three-year absence and was one of six marques that qualified less than one second from pole on the full-length Formula One circuit! That very same afternoon during the opening race, Ferrari, Bentley and Audi were separated by just two tenths of a second on the line after 60-minutes of intense door-to-door racing, paving the way for a similar result for the season finale.

 

“Our schedule will be slightly different this time around given the program we’re running to,” Sonenscher explained. “Qualifying will come on Friday afternoon, with the penultimate race of the season on Saturday morning ahead of the final race of the year on Sunday afternoon where we’ll crown the 2016 GT Asia Series champions.”

 

Rnd#1/#2, 13-15 May - Korea International Circuit (South Korea) 

Rnd#3/#4, 10-12 June - Buriram International Circuit (Thailand) 

Rnd#5/#6, 1-3 July - Okayama International Circuit (Japan) 

Rnd#7/#8, 15-17 July - Fuji International Speedway (Japan) 

Rnd#9/#10, 19-21 August - Shanghai International Circuit (China) 

Rnd#11/#12, 21-23 October - Shanghai International Circuit (China) 

 

The GT Asia Series is sanctioned by the FIA as an International Series and is clearly recognised as the Region’s leading GT Championship. It is solely managed and promoted by Motorsport Asia Ltd and is backed by Singha, Michelin, KW Automotive, Motul, Race Room, Panta, YOFC and Tunewear.

Shanghai International Circuit, China

Rnd#5/5, 2016 GT Asia Series (19-21 August, 2016)

 

Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Andy Yan used his vast experience at the venue he considers his ‘home’ circuit, to claim back-to-back wins at Shanghai, the Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR driver extending his winning streak to four straight races, and in the process, all but putting the championship out of reach for his rivals.

 

Frustratingly for Thailand’s Tin Sritrai, technical issues which sidelined the Team Thailand Honda at home in June, re-emerged giving one of the pre-season favourites a few anxious moments ahead of qualifying, but once sorted, the young Thai was unstoppable, claiming the fastest time in both sessions.

 

Ultimately Yan claimed back-to-back wins, whilst Sritrai suffered another setback in race two, allowing Kevin Tse to stand on the second step and move into P2 in the championship.

 

In the Amateur Cup, TeamWork Motorsport’s Kevin Tse claimed the top points once again to put himself well clear in the standings, whilst Liqui Moly Team Engstler grabbed more valuable teams championship points with Filipe de Souza claiming the bottom step of the podium in race two.

 

Tin Sritrai had completed just four laps of the Shanghai circuit ahead of qualifying, after suffering more technical issues with his Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR during both days of practice, practice which his rivals used to very good effect.

 

Friday’s three practice sessions saw the early pace set by the two Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCRs of Henry Ho and Michael Ho before light rain began to fall during session two. Henry Ho again topped the times on Friday afternoon over his team-mate and the two Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagens of Andy Yan and Filipe de Souza.

 

Saturday morning saw much the same early before Tin Sritrai delivered a lap-time that had everyone pacing ahead of qualifying, an impressive 2:21.142, a tenth clear of Henry Ho and a full two seconds clear of Andy Yan who was third fastest!

 

The opening qualifier only added weight to the threat from the Team Thailand entry, Sritrai punching out an impressive 2:20.295, a full second clear of Michael Ho with his team-mate Henry Ho two tenths further back. An even bigger surprise was the pace of Andy Yan, only 2:22.661 and fifth place behind Kevin Tse, no-one expected that, although Q2 suggested that there may have been some strategy in that..

 

Very quickly Yan was on the money in the final 10-minute qualifying session, the Hong Kong driver immediately into the 2:20s then the 2:19s, but despite his relative lack of miles around Shanghai, Sritrai was up to the challenge punching out a 2:19.210 to claim the top spot from Yan in the dying stages - the margin of difference, just 85 one thousandths of a second..

 

Round#5 (12-laps)

Despite showing an immense ability to overcome the odds and battle against the might of a logistically far more experienced team and driving combination, Tin Sritrai had shown he was every bit the match for the points leading Volkswagen of Andy Yan, the one thing the multiple China Touring Car Champion had in his favour though, was experience, vast experience of the Shanghai circuit.

 

Off the line Sritrai grabbed the lead, but he was a touch offline heading into turn one, and with limited laps in his Honda Civic TCR and not 100% confident of the braking marker, he did exactly what Yan had been hoping for and opened the door, the #3 Volkswagen firing up the inside as the cars approached turn two.

 

Behind the two leaders Michael Ho had made a blinding start in the Champ Motorsports Honda, taking third position from team-mate Henry Ho into turn two, whilst Terrence Tse had a tank-slapper at the same point, going sideways across the circuit before gathering it up at turn three. By that stage Yan was away, from Sritrai with the two Champ Motorsports Hondas in pursuit ahead of Kevin Tse and Filipe de Souza.

 

By turn eight Terrence Tse was at it again, the RoadStar Racing Seat driver struggling to get temperature into the tyres and finding the limit of adhesion wasn’t as great as he’d expected. Again he gathered it up and carried on in pursuit of the top six.

 

Not long after Sritrai was in the wars, running down the grass at turn six to avoid the rear of Yan’s Volkswagen, the Thai driver admitting afterwards that the team had fitted new brake pads and he just didn’t have the stopping power, fortunately the issue was only short-lived.

 

The spins continued to come, Douglas Khoo at the fast turn 13, then new recruit Neric Wei in the gorgeous new Volkswagen Golf GTi, whilst up front a great battle was brewing for fifth place between de Souza and Kevin Tse the two side-by-side and banging doors for a number of laps before Tse finally got the better of the Engstler Motorsport driver.

 

Up front though Yan maintained the gap he had to arch-rival Sritrai, crossing the line 1.5-seconds clear of the Honda driver, whilst Henry Ho crossed the line 10-seconds further back after suffering a late race steering issue.

 

Fourth was TeamWork Motorsport’s Kevin Tse who got the better of de Souza across the closing laps, in the process sealing the Amateur’s Trophy.

 

Sixth was Neric Wei who got the better of a mid-race battle with Terrene Tse, the Seat driver claiming seventh, and third in the Amateur division behind Wei, whilst Bill O’Brien’s impressive start to the weekend was thwarted by opening lap issues avoiding cars spinning around him.

 

Frustratingly for Viper Niza Racing’s Douglas Khoo he had a technical issue with the car on the line at the start and was unable to get away with the field, dropping well behind and unable to peg the field back across the 12-lap journey, a frustrating end to what had been a great run through practice with the Malaysian driver finding plenty of pace in the mid-season break.

 

Round#6 (12-laps)


Terrence Tse was off pole position for the second race with the top eight cars from qualifying inverted, the Seat driver with Neric Wei alongside. Sadly the Volkswagen driver, who had never started from the front row before, was swamped by the field into turn one, losing out to Filipe de Souza, Kevin Tse, Tin Sritrai and Andy Yan - the leaders charging hard from the fourth row.

 

De Souza, Sritrai and Yan were quickly through on race leader Tse, then it was de Souza who came under fire as both Sritrai and his team-mate fired around the outside into the ‘Parabolica’ (turn 13). Not long after Sritrai lost the lead on the exit of turn one, the #9 Team Thailand Honda running wide again a number of times during the next few laps signaling a bigger issue.

 

Utimately the Thai driver was forced back into the pits with the re-emergence of dramas that had delayed him at Buriram, whilst up front, Yan was out to an unassailable lead, as the battle began for third place between team-mate de Souza and his race one rival, Kevin Tse.

 

Behind them a great battle ensued once more between Terrence Tse and Neric Wei, the two battling hard for position, a classic late braking duel down at turn six saw both cars with their tyres locked, and whilst Wei took the inside line and the advantage on turn in, he too ran off on the exit allowing Tse back into P4. A similar situation the following lap allowed Wei back into fourth.

 

Sadly for the Honda teams, issues sidelined both Champ Motorsports cars, leaving the five Volkswagens and the sole Seat Leon of Terrence Tse still circulating after Kenneth Ma was forced to retire the gorgeous Ford Focus TCR after a turbo failure in the opening race and Douglas Khoo was sideline with a tyre failure in the closing laps.

 

With Yan continuing to extend his lead despite the 30-kilogram success ballast, the focus was on the battle for the remaining positions on the podium, with Kevin Tse ultimately breaking free of de Souza’s grip in the final few laps, the Macanese driver claiming his first podium for the year, and a Liqui Moly Engstler Motorsport 1-3. For Volkswagen it was even better news with a podium lock-out, whilst for Andy Yan, it was four wins on the trot and a big extension in his championship lead, a lead which will surely see him crowned champion at seasons end.

 

Keep up to date with the TCR Asia Series website - www.asia.tcr-series.com for news and updates - and through social media; www.facebook.com/TCRAsiaSeries which will also feature news, video clips, images and updates, and you can also get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/TCRAsiaSeries 

 

 

Andy Yan (#3 Liqui Moly Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR)

“I’m from Hong Kong, but I treat this as my home race in China. Yesterday Tin [Sritrai] was very, very fast and took pole position, but today off the start for race one I knew I had a chance to overtake if he took the middle line, and I’ve experienced many times the opportunity to make a move on the inside off the start and it worked. Because I know the circuit so well, I was able to use that experience to my advantage.”

 

Tin Sritrai (#9 Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR)

“That’s the least amount of practice I’ve ever had in my life, just four laps and then qualifying.. That made it very challenging for the team to set up the car, but in qualifying I managed to get a good lap. Unfortunately my lack of experience in the opening race let Andy through for the lead, and as the race wore on, I experienced very bad understeer. In turn six too I had a big problem with brakes, perhaps as a result of new pads, and I ran off whilst I was chasing Andy but after that it was fine. Unfortunately we’re still suffering a little from the issue we had in Thailand, but I will continue to do my best.”

 

Henry Ho (#88 Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR)

“I didn’t get a very good start in race one and went side-by-side with Michael into turn one, but experience told me there’s no advantage on the outside there so I just had to back off and wait for my time to pass him, but he was very quick so I used up a lot of tyres and brakes to get around him, and by then the two leaders were gone. Towards the last few laps, I had to drop the pace because the steering had an issue and the car struggled to turn right, so I thought I’d back off and make sure I got to the podium.”

 

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Shanghai International Circuit, China (20 August, 2016)

Qualifying#1 (20-minutes)

1. 9. Tin Sritrai (Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR) - 2:20.295

2. 38. Michael Ho (Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR) - 2:21.281

3. 88. Henry Ho (Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR) - 2:21.410

4. 8. Kevin Tse (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR) - 2:21.630

5. 3. Andy Yan (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR) - 2:22.661

6. 14. Neric Wei (Son Veng Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) - 2:22.934

7. 26. Filipe de Souza (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR) - 2:23.173

8. 17. Terence Tse (Roadstar Racing Seat Leon TCR) - 2:23.728

9. 7. Bill O’Brien (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR) - 2:24.544

10. 65. Douglas Khoo (Viper Niza Racing Seat Leon TCR) - 2:24.849

11. 78. Kenneth Ma (FRD Racing Ford Focus TCR) - 2:29.519

 

Qualifying#2 (10-minutes)

1. 9. Tin Sritrai (Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR) - 2:19.210

2. 3. Andy Yan (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR) - 2:19.295

3. 88. Henry Ho (Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR) - 2:20.092

4. 38. Michael Ho (Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR) - 2:20.501

5. 8. Kevin Tse (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR) - 2:21.033

6. 26. Filipe de Souza (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR) - 2:21.046

7. 14. Neric Wei (Son Veng Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) - 2:21.767

8. 17. Terence Tse (Roadstar Racing Seat Leon TCR) - 2:23.166

 

Shanghai International Circuit, China (21 August, 2016)

Round#5 (12-laps)

1. 3. Andy Yan (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR) - 12-laps

2. 9. Tin Sritra (Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR) +1.539

3. 88. Henry Ho (Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR) +10.279

4. 8. Kevin Tse (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR) +16.919

5. 26. Filipe de Souza (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR) +18.738

6. 14. Neric We (Son Veng Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) +47.564

7. 17. Terence Tse (Roadstar Racing Seat Leon TCR) +53.080

8. 7. Bill O’Brien (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR) +1:32.124

9. 65. Douglas Khoo (Viper Niza Racing Seat Leon TCR) +2:17.558

DNF. 38. Michael Ho (Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR)

DNS. 78. Kenneth Ma (FRD Racing Ford Focus TCR)

 

Round#6 (12-laps)

1. 3. Andy Yan (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR) - 12-laps

2. 8. Kevin Tse (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR) +13.079

3. 26. Filipe de Souza (Liqui Moly Team Engstler VW Golf GTi TCR) +14.391

4. 14. Neric We (Son Veng Racing Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR) +42.127

5. 17. Terence Tse (Roadstar Racing Seat Leon TCR) +45.490

6. 7. Bill O’Brien (TeamWork Motorsport VW Golf GTi TCR) +58.255

DNF. 65. Douglas Khoo (Viper Niza Racing Seat Leon TCR) - 11-laps

DNF. 9. Tin Sritra (Team Thailand Honda Civic TCR) - 8-laps

DNF. 38. Michael Ho (Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR) - 2-laps

DNF. 88. Henry Ho (Champ Motorsport Honda Civic TCR) - 1-lap

DNS. 78. Kenneth Ma (FRD Racing Ford Focus TCR)




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Every race in the 2016 TCR Asia Series season will be live-streamed with experienced commentators Jonathan Green - the voice of TCR Asia - joined by Steve Martin to call all the action.

 

Details of the streams and the broadcast times will be available on the TCR Asia Series website - www.asia.tcr-series.com - and through social media; www.facebook.com/TCRAsiaSeries will also post news, video clips, images and updates, and you can also get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/TCRAsiaSeries 

 

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Driver’s Championship points (after six rounds of ten)


1. Andy Yan (148-points), 2. Kevin Tse (83), 2. Henry Ho (70), 4. Tin Sritrai (65), 5. Filipe de Souza (64), 6. Roelof Bruins (41), 7. Jack Lemvard (31), 8. Terrence Tse (28), 9. Neric Wei Chaoyin (20), 10. Michael Ho (18), 11. Narasak Ittiritpong (17),12. Nattachak Hanjitkasem (16), 13. Bill O’Brien (14), 14. Douglas Khoo (12), 15. Patritat Bulbon (7), 16. Yu Kam Cheong (3), 17. Kenneth Ma (0)

 

Amateur Driver’s Championship points (after six rounds of ten)


1. Kevin Tse (150), 2. Terrence Tse (88), 3. Douglas Khoo (59), 4. Bill O’Brien (59), 5. Michael Ho (52), 6. Nattachak Hanjitkasem (47), 7. Neric Wei Chaoyin (45), 8. Patritat Bulbon (28), 9. Yu Kam Cheong (20), 10. Kenneth Ma (6)



 

TCR Asia Series Teams Championship points (after six rounds of ten)


1. Liqui Moly Team Engstler (212), 2. TeamWork Motorsport (97), 3. Champ Motorsport (88), 4. Team Thailand (65), 4. Viper Niza Racing (53), 6. Vattana Motorsport (48), 7. RoadStar Racing Team (31), 8. Son Veng Racing Team (20), 9. TBN MK ihere Racing Team (16), 10. Sloth Racing (7), 11. FRD Racing Team (0)

Shanghai International Circuit, China

Rnd#9/10, 2016 GT Asia Series (19-21 August, 2016)

 

• FFF Racing Team by ACM lead championship points after podium finish in Rnd#10

• Three-wide finish at the conclusion of the opening race, just 0.2-seconds first to third

• Rizzo/Liu claim second victory in Rnd#9, Sawa/Venter their third in Rnd#10

 

For those that watched the opening GT Asia Series race at Shanghai unfold on-line or LIVE throughout Asia, they were treated to one of the best GT3 races on record, the result of which was three cars - all from different marques - running side-by-side across the finish line to end what had been an incredible 60-minute sprint from lights to flag.

 

The fact that two-time Formula One World Champion Mika Hakkinen was the man waving that flag was icing on the cake, the Mercedes-AMG ambassador treated to a fantastic display of driving that had fans on their feet over the closing laps as rain began to fall, paving the way for local hero Anthony Liu to breach an almost impossible gap to claim the win on the line, the second for the BBT Ferrari team this year.

 

The following day another epic drive by Keita Sawa and Jonathan Venter netted their third win of the year, putting them back in the title race, whilst the FFF Racing Team by ACM - who started the second race with both their cars on the front row - head into the final round of the season with a nine point lead after claiming second in race two.

 

The weekend had started with another brilliant drive, this time for Audi’s Alex Yoong, the former Formula One driver claiming pole in the opening qualifying session from England’s Duncan Tappy and fan-favourite Franky Cheng - the three cars covered by just 32 one-thousandths of a second.. In fact, the gap from pole to eleventh was less than a second, promising a battle to remember for the opening race which was contested across the full Grand Prix circuit, with a lap of over two minutes.

 

Session two though was very much about strategy and with the two FFF Racing Team by ACM Lamborghini Huracan GT3s claiming the front row from the local Ferrari of Anthony Liu, there was always likely to be fireworks. In the end the man who developed the new Lamborghini GT3 - Jeroen Mul - was too good for his team mate in qualifying, dropping Andrea Amici back to P2, and they created a headache for Liu off the line during Sunday’s second race and in the process, dropped the Ferrari team back to second in points heading into the final event of the year.

 

As they had done through Friday’s three official practice sessions, Audi were quick straight out of the box, but this time it was Alex Yoong who laid down the early benchmark, a time which was ultimately unbeaten across the 15-minute session. Yoong though did suffer a few anxious moments back in the garage over the dying stages of the opening qualifier as both long-time rival Franky Cheng and Bentley’s Duncan Tappy got close. In the end, the margin between the three cars was just 32 one thousandths of a second, paving the way for a momentous opening race.

 

Sadly for the man who had thrown down the gauntlet with the fastest lap of the day during official practice on Friday - Yoong’s Phoenix Racing Asia team-mate - Marchy Lee, he was forced to sit out much of qualifying with a technical issue with their transaxle gearbox, the team ultimately forced to make an overnight change, but the damage had been done forcing two starts from much further back in the field than they’d deserved.

 

Not surprisingly, AMG were right in the mix with both their cars, with very little separating the ‘King of Macau’ - Maro Engel - and the second car of Nico Bastian - Engel claimed the top spot over his younger team-mate, but the margin between the two cars was a mere 13 one hundredths of a second, for fourth and fifth on the grid. That result saw them qualify ahead of the man who had been so dominant at Shanghai in the previous two GT Asia Series visits, Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Richard Lyons.

 

Despite signing on the elite pairing of Richard Antinucci and Jeroen Mul to pilot the second of the FFF Racing Team by ACM Lamborghini’s, it was the points leading #55 car who emerged on top in Q1, Edoardo Liberati posting the seventh fastest time ahead of title rival Davide Rizzo who admitted his goal for the weekend was to stay ahead of the two young Italian’s in the black Huracan..

South Korean round winner Jonathan Venter was next quickest, the young Australian admitting they weren’t working 100% in unison with their #8 Bentley Continental GT3, but that didn’t stop the Absolute Racing team from working tirelessly to find the sweet spot, whilst Antinucci rounded out the top ten.

 

Fuji winners Singha Motorsport were next, the first car outside the ten and still within a second of the pole time, whilst Shaun Thong was able to eke out a handful of laps before the gearbox issue sidelined the gold #5 car.

 

The returning Dasheng Zhang took top honours for the GruppeM Racing team, posting the 13th fastest time, whilst Tim Sugden admitted the team were struggling to find a good baseline setup for the Chinese F1 venue, and were further back than they would have liked..

 

Darryl O’Young claimed the 15th spot on the grid, side-by-side with 2015 title rival Adderly Fong, the Hong Kong driver just happy to be in the field after a big accident in practice forced an overnight rebuild by the Absolute Racing team, the only drama a loose turbo pipe which kept him from posting a quick lap.

 

Rounding out the field was the Team FIST with AAI Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo with Lin Yu behind the wheel, the GTM class crew just over four seconds shy of O’Young’s Porsche.

 

Ten minutes after the excitement of the opening qualifier, the teams were back in action again for Q2, and very quickly it looked like being a FFF Racing Team by ACM whitewash, with Jeroen Mul and Andrea Amici battling over the top spot whilst Friday’s pace setter Marchy Lee looked on helplessly in the garage.

 

As expected, Anthony Liu got in on the action and at one stage had split the two Lamborghini’s before Andrea Amici put in a late flyer to take back P2 whilst behind them, Jonathan Venter showed impressive pace to claim a fourth placed start.

 

Former GT Asia Series race winner Matt Solomon was next, taking the gorgeous #66 Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy-Team AAI AMG GT3 to P5 ahead of the ever-improving Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak.

Alex Au carried on the impressive pace of team-leader Alex Yoong to claim P7, just ahead of New Zealand’s returning Jono Lester who admitted that like Sugden, they were struggling to find the perfect balance in the GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R.

 

Sun JingZu claimed ninth in his best ever effort in qualifying, showing immense improvement, the Chinese driver proving just how comfortable the amateur drivers are with extracting pace from the new Audi R8 LMS, whilst Andrew Kim rounded out the ten, the South Korean driver lamenting a lack of laps after team-mate Fong’s accident on Friday afternoon.

 

Piti Bhirombhakdi was a frustrated eleventh, the Thai driver back a lot further than could have been expected, qualifying half a second clear of his cousin Naiyanobh ‘Toy’ Bhirombhakdi in the #91 VLT Porsche of reigning champion Darryl O’Young.

 

Li Chao was next ahead of Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Frank Yu with Jun San Chen doing an impressive job in the GTM class Lamborghini to be 15th ahead of GT3 rookie Zhang Wenhe, whilst Marchy Lee was classified last despite being stranded in the pits with a technical issue, setting up what would be an inspirational drive through the field on Sunday afternoon.

 

Race#1 (Round#9)

Just a week prior to Shanghai, Phoenix Racing Asia’s Alex Yoong had stormed from pole in the Audi R8 LMS Cup to victory in Malaysia holding out DTM star Edoardo Mortara in a great display of driving that was set up by some brilliant team strategy with car setup. That allowed the former F1 star to bolt away from the field off the line, and it was clear they were employing a similar strategy for the opening race in China.

 

Yoong very quickly grabbed the lead from Franky Cheng off the line, but Duncan Tappy had made a better start than the local hero, firing the #9 Bentley up the inside into turn one to drop Cheng back to third.

 

Behind them Maro Engel grabbed fourth from team-mate Nico Bastian, with Richard Lyons sixth, although the experience GT Asia Series campaigner was soon back through to fifth, taking Bastian at turn three, whilst behind them Edo Liberati managed to stay ahead of title rival Davide Rizzo.

 

As he had done a week before, Yoong started to eke out a small gap to Tappy, but sadly for the Malaysian, he wasn’t able to stretch or maintain it, Tappy quickly locking in under the rear wing of the Takchun/Double Duck Audi and applying maximum pressure.

 

Yoong did everything he could to hold the position and he did so for much of the opening stint before Tappy ultimately made a move stick up the inside at turn one, although not without the slightest of touches as Yoong moved across to try and protect his lead. From there Tappy bolted, but like Yoong, his advantage was short-lived as traffic came into play allowing the Malaysian to tuck in behind him as they came in for the compulsory pit stop [CPS] in the closing stages of the pit-stop window.

 

Behind the leading trio Maro Engel was sitting in a watching brief, whilst behind him, Nico Bastian had worked his way past Lyons in the Porsche to lock onto the tail of his team-mate, and at one stage in traffic, pull alongside..

 

Further back the championship battle was firing up, and Davide Rizzo was caught between a pair of Lamborghinis, but that battle was soon won in favour of the Ferrari who entered the pits early to bolt on a fresh set of rubber and send Anthony Liu out to complete the job. 

 

Sadly for Richard Antinucci who’d been holding down a strong position inside the top ten, a tyre failure on the left rear after contact earlier in the race saw the American forced off the circuit and out of the race ahead of the scheduled stop.

 

After the stops were completed though it was Thailand’s Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak who held a strong lead over Alex Au in the #6 Audi he shared with Alex Yoong, the former Audi Cup Amateur Class champion charging early to quickly catch the #9 Bentley, whilst behind them, Anthony Liu was on a mission, working his way through the pack to be third but more than 20-seconds back with 15 minutes remaining in the race.

 

Au looked to be the greatest threat to Vutthikorn’s lead, but as the Audi driver was preparing to make a move, light rain began to fall, the ‘Parabolica’ especially wet which caused some concern for the Bentley driver who had been struggling with exit-oversteer.

 

That was all the incentive that Liu needed, the two drivers in front of him losing up to four seconds a lap on the local Ferrari as Liu ranged in to catch them for a three-way fight for the lead.

 

Two laps from home he made a huge dive under brakes at turn 11, running well past the corner and into the runoff zone, Alex Au later admitting he could see the Ferrari coming so braked as late as he dared, allowing Vutthikorn a brief reprieve.

 

Very quickly Liu was back on their tail and through on Au ahead of the final lap, the three drivers doing everything they could to hang on in the slippery conditions, with drive off the corners almost impossible to come by. In the end it came down to the final corner, with Liu side-by-side with the Bentley on the run into the final corner, but out of position for a move, but Vutthikorn was off the ideal line on the exit allowing the Ferrari to pull alongside. At the same time Au pulled inside the two of them, all three involved in a drag race to the line with limited traction, Liu getting the best of it to win by just five one hundredths of a second, with Au making it three cars across the line in two tenths of a second..

 

Fourth ultimately was Marchy Lee who put in a meteoric drive from towards the back of the field to finish just seven seconds behind the leaders, with Andrea Amici keeping the FFF Racing Team by ACM’s title hopes alive with fifth in the dying stages, the result drawing them equal on points with race winners Liu and Rizzo heading into the tenth round of the season.

 

Sadly for AMG, Amici’s result came in part as a consequence of the retirement of the Matt Solomon Mercedes-AMG GT3, the young Hong Kong driver comfortably the fastest driver on track during his early laps after the CPS, but a technical issue with the gearbox saw him rapidly drop from Liu’s tail and back down the order before the team instructed him to pull off the circuit on the final lap. A quick look at his face post-race revealed what may well have been a repeat performance of his incredible debut win in GT Asia in 2013 with Mika Hakkinen.

 

After a tough qualifier, Piti Bhirombhakdi drove brilliantly through the damp conditions to claim sixth, ahead of Andrew Kim in the #7 Bentley and Jono Lester who put in a storming drive over the closing laps in the #98 GruppeM Porsche.

 

Sun JingZu (Audi) and Keita Sawa (Bentley) completed the ten, with Maro Engel’s team-mate - rookie Zhang Wenhe - an impressive eleventh on debut despite limited laps in the new AMG GT3 and in testing conditions.

 

Frank Yu was next across the line in the Interush Porsche GT3 R from Li Chao in the second GruppeM Porsche, whilst the Lin/Chen combination claimed the win in the GTM Class in the Team FIST by AAI Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo.

 

Race#2 (Round#10)

The opening race might have been exciting but even before a lap was turned for Sunday’s tenth round race you could feel the tension in pit lane with the championship entering the last but two races of the year. The emotions continued on the grid which had attracted a number of local celebrities, one of which was Shanghai’s former NBA basketball superstar Yao Ming, standing beside him, the relatively diminutive Mika Hakkinen - this race was building up to be the highlight of the year..

 

As expected the FFF Racing Team by ACM Lamborghinis were quickly into formation in turn one, with Mul leading Amici who was holding the fast starting Liu at bay in third, the Ferrari driver though under attack from Keita Sawa and Matt Solomon.

 

Perfectly to the script, by the close of the lap Amici was through on Mul who acted as ‘tail gunner’ for the his title contending team-mate, keeping Liu at bay as the #55 Huracan began to punch out a sequence of fastest laps at the front of the field.

 

Sadly for the #37 Ferrari, there was little Liu could do about Mul, having used two sets of their prime Michelin tyres in the opening race, Liu had little to offer the leaders, instead he was doing his best to defend from attack by Sawa behind him.

 

For Sawa and team-mate Jonathan Venter, they knew that race two was their chance to get back into the title fight, and Sawa was on a charge. Quickly through on Liu, he set off after the leaders and quickly caught Mul who managed to stay in front ahead of his CPS. After building an eleven second lead, Amici was into the pits for his CPS at the mid-point of the race, handing the car to team-mate Edoardo Liberati who emerged from the pits behind new race leader Tim Sugden.

 

That lead battle very quickly became a three-way affair with Jonathan Venter emerging from pit lane to pull alongside Liberati on the run into turn one, the Australian keeping the joint points-leader at bay before settling into a comfortable rhythm to set off in pursuit of Sugden.

 

Venter was quickly through, but behind him - mindful of the bigger picture - Liberati took a more conservative approach and the experienced Sugden was well aware that the young Italian would not jeopardise points with any desperate moves, so he was able to hold the Lamborghini at bay for a number of laps.

 

Sadly, despite showing pace good enough for a podium position, Sugden was forced down pit lane, an investigation revealing that the team had released him too soon during the CPS, incurring a frustrating drive-through penalty as a result, a position which also claimed the #66 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Matt Solomon and Nico Bastian, which effectively ended their charge for the podium.

 

Behind the leaders Duncan Tappy and Adderly Fong were on a charge through the pack, Tappy though on older rubber, whilst Fong was taking advantage of a fresh set of tyres, the team shuffling the order to let the Hong Kong driver through, although very quickly Tappy showed his used tyre pace was better, the Englishman taking back the position in the closing stages to cross the line third, two seconds down on Liberati.

 

Up front though there was no denying the winner, Jonathan Venter setting a cracking pace to cross the line almost 12-seconds clear of the field, whilst Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong put in one of the drives of the day to claim fifth behind Adderly Fong after starting from the rear of the field.

 

Richard Antinucci crossed the line sixth, with the hard charging Alex Yoong in the #6 Audi locked under his rear wing with Franky Cheng right on his tail.

 

Nico Bastian recovered for ninth, with Davide Rizzo a frustrated tenth, splitting the two Mercedes-AMG GT3s, the result dropping the BBT Ferrari team to second in the points. Starting well back in the pack, Maro Engel was comfortably the fastest driver in the field over the closing laps, the 2016 Nurburgring 24-Hour race winner setting a new lap record for the F1 circuit of 2:06.224 as he battled his way through the pack.

 

Darryl O’Young recovered 12th for the Craft-Bamboo Racing team after a frustrating opening stanza of the race which saw his team-mate ‘Toy’ Bhirombhakdi and team-boss Frank Yu making contact on the way into turn one. That spun both cars around, and saw Yu stranded mid-circuit facing the flow of traffic and unable initially to get the car started. For a brief moment that brought the Safety Car onto the circuit, but the Series veteran was able to recover, handing Richard Lyons the car at the start of the CPS to go on and complete the race.

 

Carlo Van Dam was another driver forced to make a recovery, the Fuji race winner working his way back through the field despite a slow leak in a tyre to claim 13th ahead of Sugden, whilst Zhang Dasheng crossed the line on the tail of his GruppeM team-mate just clear of Lyons in the identical Porsche GT3 R, whilst Lin Yu completed the field in the GTM Class Lamborghini.

 

As a result of their second placed finish and the struggle across the final laps by the BBT Ferrari team, the title fight comes down to the wire once more - a haulmark of the GT Asia Series over recent years - with Liberati and Amici holding a nine point lead over Liu and Rizzo, the Ferrari drivers though just a similar distance clear of a string of teams including two-time winners Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong, Okayama winners Adderly Fong and Andrew Kim, and their Bentley team-mate Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak.

 

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1. Davide Rizzo (#37 BBT Ferrari 488 GT3) 
“At the beginning I just tried to hold my qualifying position. I lost a couple of positions off the start which was pretty messy, but the main thing was to avoid any contact, but then I made them back. I had a good fight with Edoardo [Liberati], he made the job a little tougher, but I eventually got past him. The win in Shanghai was more important than thinking about the championship, we still have three races ahead to do that.”

 

1. Anthony Liu (#37 BBT Ferrari 488 GT3) 
“Third was our target all along, as long as Davide maintained or improved his position, the simulation showed that third would be possible. If the rain hadn’t come today, there was no way we would have won. When the rain started to fall I could see the cars around me braking earlier but I was still able to brake at the same point, that’s when I knew it was possible. I saw at turn 13 - the ‘Parabolica’ that some drifting was required, so I knew it was possible because I actually like oversteer in a car.”

 

2. Duncan Tappy (#9 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) 
“I much prefer to drive than watch, my nerves can’t handle it. My stint was pretty good, I got a good start and managed to tuck in behind Alex [Yoong] and over the first few laps I wondered if we had the pace to run with him, but then I could see that his tyres were starting to go off and a few places where we were quicker, so then it was just a matter of biding my time until I could find the best place to overtake, and I managed to do that in turn one. From there I pulled a bit of a gap, but the back markers allowed Alex [Yoong] to close again at the pit stop which probably didn’t help us. Vutthi did a brilliant job. We elected to stay on the same tyres we’d used in my stint, whilst everyone around us changed to fresh rubber, which in the end wasn’t the ideal scenario.”

 

2. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (#9 Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) 
“My pace wasn’t as good as I needed - I tried to push, but couldn’t do anything more to go quicker. It got worse after the rain started to fall, lots of oversteer, so I had to brake much earlier and be very smooth on the throttle.”

 

3. Alex Yoong (#6 Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) 
“I’m very happy with our first podium of the year - it’s come quite late in the year, but we’ve just been getting better and better at every round we’ve come to. We’ve been experimenting with some quite different setups and it seems to have paid off. Our long run pace in the race saw the car develop oversteer from about lap three or four, so I knew it would be a struggle. The Bentley got us just before the pit stops, but I was right on its tail as he came in. We changed tyres and Alex did a really great job, he was charging hard at the end and I really thought we had a chance for a win at one point.”

 

3. Alex Au (#6 Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3)
 “My only complaint is really the rain. I was catching, catching and catching and when the rain started I was catching even more - he [Bentley] really defended the inside well, I could outbrake him on the outside but there was no move there, but by the time I’d constructed an overtake, a big red car was behind me and I had to start to think about him from then on..”

 

 

1. Keita Sawa (#8 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3)
 “We didn’t have such a great start to the weekend, and actually yesterday we still had some problems, but the team worked very hard on the car overnight and there were no issues today. I was more concerned with tyre conservation, so focused more on the last ten minutes before the pit stop and passed a few cars leaving my stop until the final minutes of the window to hand Jono the car. From there he was able to take the lead and pull away.”

 

1. Jonathan Venter (#8 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) 
“That was a hard second stint, especially without the cool suit, it made the closing laps very difficult. This was very much a team result, because yesterday we had some damage to the front and rear of the car so they worked hard overnight to make repairs and today the car was absolutely perfect. Earlier in the weekend we struggled to find the perfect balance in the car, so we sat down to figure that out and I think today showed that as a team we were able to work around that and find a good solid solution. Sawa-san had a great start as always and had good pace and when he handed across to me I knew we had a good shot for the lead and we managed to stay in front of the Lamborghini and pass the Porsche [Sugden]. Hopefully that momentum will carry over to the next race, but for now we’re going to enjoy this one..!”

 

2. Andrea Amici (#55 FFF Racing  by ACM Lamborghini Huracan GT3) 
“It’s been a hard weekend, especially when you’re fighting for a championship, you have to be very focused. We have worked as a team all weekend to have the best setup we can. Yesterday I was not so happy with my qualifying time, I made a small mistake, but my job today was to open a gap and hand the car to Edo and that meant we were in a position to get a podium finish. The final stint of the race was hard too, because Edo didn’t have fresh tyres so he had to work hard for the finish. Yesterday it was important to finish in either P5 or P6 because to keep ourselves in the championship at a minimum we have to be P5 or P6 in one race and on the podium in the other, so it was fantastic that we were able to do that in the closing laps.”

 

2. Edoardo Liberati (#55 FFF Racing  by ACM Lamborghini Huracan GT3)
 “It was really, really tough following the Porsche [Sugden] around for so long, because at this track there’s a big drop-off in tyres, especially in these temperatures and our car develops a lot of understeer when you follow someone closely behind, but I also didn’t want to take any risk of contact. We’d saved a fresh set of tyres for the second race because we knew with our extra pitstop time penalty in race one it was impossible.”

 

3. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (#9 Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) 
“I started in P6 and wanted to hand Duncan the car in the same position but I couldn’t manage to do that because my tyre pressures came in very late which was the plan, so I gave him the car from P7 and he put in some great moves in the final ten minutes to give us P3.”

 

3. Duncan Tappy (#9 Bentley Team Absolute Bentley Continental GT3)
 “Our pace was pretty similar to yesterday to be honest, but we didn’t have any new tyres for today so we had to just do our best. Yesterday we had to think about whether we’d go all out for the win, or play the numbers game and try and get some podiums for the weekend. In some ways I regretted it a bit because I would have loved the win yesterday, but two podiums was pretty good, especially in todays race when we had the additional 9-second pit stop penalty for yesterday’s result.”

 

Shanghai International Circuit, China (20 August, 2016)

Qualifying #1 (15-minutes)

1. 6. Alex Yoong (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:05.906

2. 13. Franky Cheng (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:05.931

3. 9. Duncan Tappy (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:05.938

4. 68. Maro Engel (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:06.033

5. 66. Nico Bastian (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:06.136

6. 88. Richard Lyons (Craft-Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:06.157

7. 55. Edoardo Liberati (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:06.410

8. 37. Davide Rizzo (BBT Ferrari 488 GT3) - 2:06.541

9. 8. Jonathan Venter (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:06.813

10. 15. Richard Antinucci (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:06.851

11. 12. Carlo Van Dam (Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 2:06.857

12. 5. Shaun Thong (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:06.963

13. 96. Zhang Dasheng (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:08.010

14. 98. Tim Sugden (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:08.063

15. 91. Darryl O’Young (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:08.253

16. 7. Adderly Fong (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:11.166

17. 90. Lin Yu (Team FIST with AAI Lamborghini Super Trofeo) - 2:12.402

 

Qualifying #2 (15-minutes)

1. 15. Jeroen Mul (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:06.297

2. 55. Andrea Amici (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:06.584

3. 37. Anthony Liu (BBT Ferrari 488 GT3) - 2:06.736

4. 8. Keita Sawa (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:06.803

5. 66. Matt Solomon (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:07.174

6. 9. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:07.243

7. 6. Alex Au (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:07.827

8. 98. Jono Lester (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:08.237

9. 13. Jingzu Sun (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:08.962

10. 7. Andrew Kim (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:08.968

11. 12. Piti Bhirombhakdi (Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 2:09.108

12. 91. Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (Craft-Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:09.644

13. 96. Chao Li (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:09.962

14. 88. Frank Yu (Craft-Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:10.181

15. 90. Jun San Chen (Team FIST with AAI Lamborghini Super Trofeo) - 2:11.048

16. 68. Zhang Wenhe (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:11.390

17. 5. Marchy Lee (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - NTR

 

Race#1 (60-minutes)

1. 37. Rizzo/Liu (BBT Ferrari 488 GT3) - 28-laps

2. 9. Tappy/Inthraphuvasak (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) +0.052

3. 6. Yoong/Au (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) +0.221

4. 5. Thong/Lee (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) +7.503

5. 55. Liberati/Amici (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) +30.971

6. 12. Van Dam/Bhirombhakdi (Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3) +32.820

7. 7. Fong/Kim (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) +33.188

8. 98. Sugden/Lester (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) +38.261

9. 13. Cheng/Sun (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3) +44.516

10. 8. Venter/Sawa (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) +55.751

11. 68. Engel/Zhang (Mercedes-AMG GT3) + 1:05.900

12. 88. Lyons/Yu (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) +1:34.275

13. 96. Zhang/Li (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) + 2:08.605

14. 66. Bastian/Solomon (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 27-laps

15. 91. O’Young/Bhirombhakdi (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 26-laps

16. 90. Lin/Chen (Team FIST with AAI Lamborghini Super Trofeo)

17. 15. Antinucci/Mul (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 9-laps

 

Shanghai International Circuit, China (21 August, 2016)

Race#2 (60-minutes)

1. 8. Venter/Sawa (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 28-laps

2. 55. Liberati/Amici (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) +11.515

3. 9. Tappy/Inthraphuvasak (Absolute Bentley Continental GT3) +13.386

4. 7. Fong/Kim (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) +14.425

5. 5. Thong/Lee (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) +17.096

6. 15. Mul/Antinucci (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) +20.292

7. 6. Au/Yoong (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) +20.851

8. 13. Sun/Cheng (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3) +21.412

9. 66. Solomon/Bastian (Mercedes-AMG GT3) +23.647

10. 37. Liu/Rizzo (BBT Ferrari 488 GT3) +37.664

11. 68. Zhang/Engel (Mercedes-AMG GT3) + 44.805

12. 91. Bhirombhakdi/O’Young (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) +47.468

13. 12. Bhirombhakdi/Van Dam (Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 GT3) +50.850

14. 98. Lester/Sugden (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) +54.560

15. 96. Li/Zhang (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) +55.757

16. 88. Yu/Lyons (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) +1:39.011

17. 90. Chen/Lin (Team FIST with AAI Lamborghini Super Trofeo) - 26-laps

 

GT3 Championship points (after ten rounds of 12)

1. Edoardo Liberati/Andrea Amici (119-points), 2. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (110), 3. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (96), 4. Marchy Lee/Shaun Thong (94), 5. Adderly Fong/Andrew Kim (92), 6. Jonathan Venter (91), 7. Keita Sawa, Piti Bhirombhakdi/Carlo Van Dam (84), 8. Duncan Tappy (81), 9. Alex Yoong/Alex Au (80), 10. Frank Yu/Richard Lyons, Tim Sugden (56), 11. Darryl O’Young/Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (49), 12. Jono Lester (32), 13. Mok Weng Sun (28), 14. George Miedecke (18), 15. Gianmaria Bruni (15), 16. George Richardson (14), 17. Ashley Walsh, Franky Cheng/JingZu Sun, Richard Wee (13), 18. Philip Ma (10), 19. Andrew Palmer (8), 20. Christer Jöns, Fabian Hamprecht (7), 21. Nathan Morcom (5)

 

Pro-Am Cup points (after ten rounds of 12)

1. Anthony Liu (123-points), 2. Shaun Thong (119), 3. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (110), 4. Andrew Kim (109), 5. Piti Bhirombhakdi (105), 6. Alex Au (100), 7. Frank Yu (76), 8. Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (72), 9. Philip Ma (25), 10. Mok Weng Sun (17), 10. JingZu Sun (16)

 

Pro Cup points (after ten rounds of 12)

1. Edoardo Liberati/Andrea Amici (119), 2. Davide Rizzo (110), 3. Marchy Lee (94), 4. Adderly Fong (92), 5. Jonathan Venter (91), 6. Keita Sawa, Carlo Van Dam (84), 8. Duncan Tappy (81), 9. Alex Yoong (80), 11. Tim Sugden (62), 12. Richard Lyons (56), 13. Darryl O’Young (50), 14. Jono Lester (32), 15. George Miedecke (17), 16. Gianmaria Bruni (15), 17. George Richardson (14), 18. Franky Cheng, Ashley Walsh (13), 20. Andrew Palmer (8), 21. Christer Jöns, Fabian Hamprecht (7), 23. Nathan Morcom (4)

 

GT Cup points (after ten rounds of 12)

1. Kantasak Kusiri/Bhurit Bhirombhakdi (84-points), 3. Voravud Bhirombhakdi/Tin Sritra (34), 5. Aekrat Discharoen (32), 6. Suttiluck Buncharoen, Toshihito Funai/Masayuki Ueda (16), 9. Akihiro Asai/Ken Seto (14)

 

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This season Fox Sports Asia and Star Sports in China will also broadcast every event of the GT Asia Series live (race two in full, with highlights from the opening race), whilst the series itself will also live-stream every round with experienced commentators Jonathan Green - the voice of GT Asia - joined by Steve Martin to call both live television and live streaming action as it unfolds. 

 

Details of the streams and the broadcast times will be available on the GT Asia Series website - www.gtasiaseries.com - and through social media; www.facebook.com/GTAsiaSeries will also post news, video clips, images and updates, and you can also get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/GTAsiaSeries 

 

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The GT Asia Series is sanctioned by the FIA as an International Series and is clearly recognised as the Region’s leading GT Championship. It is solely managed and promoted by Motorsport Asia Ltd and is backed by Singha, Michelin, KW Automotive, Motul, Race Room, Panta, YOFC and Tunewear.

Shanghai International Circuit, China

Rnd#9/10, 2016 GT Asia Series - 19-21 August, 2016

 

• GT Asia Series arrives in Shanghai with the most competitive field of the season

• Audi emerge as the fastest team from the three official practice sessions

• Eight tenths of a second separates the top ten teams, and all seven marques

 

It has been billed as an epic round of the GT Asia Series, and with good reason. Already 2016 has proven to be the most competitive season on record, the addition of some impressive new entries has only bolstered that reputation, and after official practice at Shanghai International Circuit, there’s next to nothing separating the top teams heading into qualifying.

 

In fact all seven marques are separated by just eight tenths of a second around the 5.451-kilometre Formula One venue, and whilst Audi can perhaps claim credit for topping all three sessions, their margin of advantage is too slight to lay down any predictions.

 

Interestingly it was two-time 2016 race winner Marchy Lee who topped the opening session, punching out an impressive 2:05.796 in the opening laps of the first session, just eight one thousandths faster than his Phoenix Racing Asia team-mate Alex Yoong, the two Audi veterans laying down the gauntlet for their rivals, who were ultimately unable to match them.

 

That experience - especially of the Shanghai circuit - was the feature of day one, the local stars and experienced GT Asia Series crews the ones who emerged on top at the conclusion of the three 60-minute sessions. In the end, despite some spirited driving and some qualifying simulations late in the day, Lee’s opening session best was the fastest of the day, Yoong retaining P2 overall, whilst their Nurburgring 24-Hour team-mate Franky Cheng in the Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS, was fastest in sessions two and three to finish fourth fastest for the day.

 

Another local crew too was keeping the new teams honest, Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo in the BBT Ferrari showing just how quick they can be at their home circuit, putting in some blistering times to really push the Audis, however a technical issue in the final session saw them unable to record a time, but as former winners and pole-sitters, they still provide one of the greatest threats this weekend.

 

Points-leaders Lamborghini too were fast, but it was the established pairing of Andrea Amici and Edoardo Liberati who were quickest despite the experience of the team’s second [#15] entry of Richard Antinucci and Jeroen Mul, they - like the highly-rated AMG factory drivers - were finding out first-hand just how quick the GT Asia Series regulars can be.

 

Fresh from back-to-back podiums in the USA last weekend, 2016 race winner Adderly Fong was quick too during the opening session, the Hong Kong Bentley driver looking for more in session two, but he ultimately paid the price after a spin and heavy contact with the barriers in the final corner. That contact forced the second red flag of the session (the first for debris) whilst safety crews recovered the stricken Bentley which had suffered significant damage to the right front corner.

 

Fong was understandably disappointed, with data supporting the fact that apart from running slightly wide on the exit, he’d done little wrong. Perhaps the vagaries of international flight though may have impacted his usually impressive reaction time.

 

With Fong and Kim back in the garage for the following session, the Bentley charge was left in the capable hands of two-time 2016 winners Keita Sawa and Jonathan Venter, the popular Japanese-Australian pairing sixth fastest in session two, immediately ahead of the first of the AMG GT3 pairings of Nico Bastian and Matt Solomon.

 

Making their maiden appearance in GT Asia, and with typical German precision (the local AAI team are being supported technically from Germany), the two pristine white AMGs spent their three sessions establishing a strong baseline setup from which to push during qualifying, whilst also ensuring that new recruit Zhang Wenhe could take as much time behind the wheel under the guidance of team-mate Maro Engel.

 

In the end the team pronounced themselves happy with their pace, whilst some suggested the successful international marque were ‘foxing’ ahead of qualifying, a not uncommon sight in world motorsport, however qualifying - the most important session of the weekend - usually gives a better indication of where the performance really lies.

 

As the fastest driver in the two prior visits to Shanghai for the GT Asia Series, Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Richard Lyons was also in the mix, however the reigning driver’s champions were still looking to extract more performance from their Porsche GT3 Rs, so too the [now] two-car GruppeM operation who added 2014 podium-placegetters Zhang Dasheng and Li Chao to their driver roster.

 

So what could we take from official practice.. Ultimately the heat affected the performance of some cars during the middle of the day, whilst the morning session saw the fastest lap times of the day, a time of day when qualifying will take place, and with what teams uncovered during their extended three hour sessions, you could perhaps expect a low 2:04-minute lap time to take the top spot.

 

As for the racing, practice proved what everyone expected - that the competition will be tight - with less than a second covering ten cars over a two-minute lap, this weekend could belong to anyone, but keep an eye on the established teams to dominate the podium, although don’t be too surprised if the international stars make an impression, that’s certainly their intent..!

 

Teams now prepare for qualifying at 9:40am (CST time) on Saturday morning with two 15-minute sessions separated by a ten minute break, ahead of the opening round in China at 4:05pm, in the peak of the heat of the day where temperatures are expected to hit 37 degrees with some chance of an afternoon storm. Round ten (race two at Shanghai) will be held at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon, with increasing chances that thunderstorms will hit during the day.

 

This season Fox Sports Asia and Star Sports in China will broadcast every event of GT Asia Series live (race two in full, with highlights of the opening race), whilst the series itself will also live-stream every round with commentators Jonathan Green - the voice of GT Asia - joined by Steve Martin to call both live television and live streaming.

 

Details of the streams and the broadcast times will be available on the GT Asia Series website - www.gtasiaseries.com - and through social media; www.facebook.com/GTAsiaSeries will also post news, video clips, images and updates, and you can also get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/GTAsiaSeries 

 

Shanghai International Circuit, China (19 August, 2016)

Official Practice#1 (60-minutes)

1. 5. Lee/Thong (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:05.796

2. 6. Yoong/Au (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:05.804

3. 37. Rizzo/Liu (BBT Ferrari 488 GT3) - 2:05.839

4. 7. Fong/Kim (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:06.267

5. 55. Liberati/Amici (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:06.329

6. 13. Cheng/Sun (Absolute Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:06.612

7. 66. Bastian/Solomon (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:06.948

8. 68. Engel/Zhang (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:06.964

9. 12. Bhirombhakdi/Van Dam (Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 2:07.086

10. 8. Venter/Sawa (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:06.307

11. 91. O’Young/Bhirombakdi (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:07.342

12. 9. Tappy/Inthraphuvasak (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:07.707

13. 88. Lyons/ Yu (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:07.750

14. 15. Antinucci/Mul (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:08.065

15. 96. Zhang/Li (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:08.614

16. 98. Sugden/Lester (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:08.815

17. 90. Lin/Chen (Team FIST with AAI Lamborghini Super Trofeo) - 2:13.637

 

Official Practice#2 (60-minutes)

1. 13. Cheng/Sun (Absolute Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:06.026

2. 37. Rizzo/Liu (BBT Ferrari 488 GT3) - 2:06.192

3. 88. Lyons/ Yu (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:06.381

4. 5. Lee/Thong (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:06.441

5. 66. Bastian/Solomon (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:06.551

6. 8. Venter/Sawa (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:06.767

7. 68. Engel/Zhang (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:06.928

8. 91. O’Young/Bhirombakdi (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:07.272

9. 55. Liberati/Amici (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:07.512

10. 12. Bhirombhakdi/Van Dam (Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 2:07.532

11. 98. Sugden/Lester (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:07.981

12. 15. Antinucci/Mul (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:08.062

13. 9. Tappy/Inthraphuvasak (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:08.123

14. 6. Yoong/Au (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:08.389

15. 96. Zhang/Li (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:09.665

16. 7. Fong/Kim (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:10.626

17. 90. Lin/Chen (Team FIST with AAI Lamborghini Super Trofeo) - 2:16.737

 

Official Practice#3 (60-minutes)

1. 13. Cheng/Sun (Absolute Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:05.971

2. 6. Yoong/Au (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:06.110

3. 9. Tappy/Inthraphuvasak (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:06.184

4. 5. Lee/Thong (Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS GT3) - 2:06.245

5. 66. Bastian/Solomon (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:06.297

6. 88. Lyons/ Yu (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:06.409

7. 8. Venter/Sawa (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) - 2:06.509

8. 68. Engel/Zhang (Mercedes-AMG GT3) - 2:06.674

9. 55. Liberati/Amici (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:06.801

10. 15. Antinucci/Mul (FFF Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3) - 2:07.162

11. 12. Bhirombhakdi/Van Dam (Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) - 2:07.477

12. 98. Sugden/Lester (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:07.550

13. 96. Zhang/Li (GruppeM Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:08.166

14. 91. O’Young/Bhirombakdi (Craft Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3-R) - 2:08.604

15. 90. Lin/Chen (Team FIST with AAI Lamborghini Super Trofeo) - 2:15.024

NTR. 7. Fong/Kim (Absolute Racing Bentley Continental GT3) 

NTR. 37. Rizzo/Liu (BBT Ferrari 488 GT3)

 

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This season Fox Sports Asia and Star Sports in China will also broadcast every event of the GT Asia Series live (race two in full, with highlights from the opening race), whilst the series itself will also live-stream every round with experienced commentators Jonathan Green - the voice of GT Asia - joined by Steve Martin to call both live television and live streaming action as it unfolds. 

 

Details of the streams and the broadcast times will be available on the GT Asia Series website - www.gtasiaseries.com - and through social media; www.facebook.com/GTAsiaSeries will also post news, video clips, images and updates, and you can also get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/GTAsiaSeries 

 

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Jiading, Shanghai, China

Track length: 5.451-kilometres

Corners: 16

Rotation: clockwise

Designer/Circuit first opened: Hermann Tilke, 2004

GT3 Lap record: 1:47.107 - Race (Richard Lyons, 2015), 1:46.985  - Qualifying (Richard Lyons, 2015)

Support classes: TCR Asia Series, Asian Formula Renault, Clio Cup China

Number of times GT Asia Series has competed at Sepang previously: 2 (2014/2015)

 

2016 will see the third visit by the GT Asia Series to the Chinese Formula One venue. During the Series’ first visit, local stars Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo claimed pole position for both races and the first ever victory at the 5.5-kilometre venue. For the second race the local Ferrari stars were in the mix again, but contact with the debuting Absolute Racing Bentley ended their run at the front, allowing Clearwater Racing’s Mok Weng Sun and Keita Sawa to claim a victory which would all but seal Mok’s third championship crown.

 

Last year Liu and Rizzo claimed second in race two at Shanghai, but again they were right in the mix, but it was Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Darryl O’Young and Daniel Lloyd who claimed back-to-back wins.. the interesting point being that the Shanghai winners on Sunday in both 2014 and last year have both gone on to claim the championship crown.. an ominous sign perhaps!!

 

There is one difference in 2016 however, for the first time the Series will use the full 5.453-kilometre Grand Prix circuit unlike the shorter version (which eliminates turns 5 and 6) used in 2014 and 2015

 

2015 GT Asia Series - Rnd#8 (50-minutes - 24-laps) - 26 September

Pole position: Richard Lyons (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) - 1:46.985

1. Darryl O’Young/Daniel Lloyd (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) 

2. Carlo Van Dam/Piti Bhirombhakdi (TP12 Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) +1.751

3. Keita Sawa/Adderly Fong (Absolute Team Bentley Continental GT3) +5.067

 

2015 GT Asia Series - Rnd#9 (50-minutes - 26-laps) - 27 September

Pole position: Daniel Lloyd (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) - 1:47.292

1. Daniel Lloyd/Darryl O’Young (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) 

2. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (BBT Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) +9.310

3. Adderly Fong/Keita Sawa (Absolute Team Bentley Continental GT3) +10.946

 

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Schedule (CST - GMT +8)

 

09:40 - Qualifying #1 (15-minutes)

10:05 - Qualifying #2 (15-minutes)

16:05 - Race#1 (60-minutes)

 

14:00 - Race#2 (60-minutes)

 

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GT3 Championship points (after eight rounds of 12)

1. Edoardo Liberati/Andrea Amici (94-points), 3. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (85), 5. Marchy Lee/Shaun Thong, Adderly Fong/Andrew Kim (75), 9. Piti Bhirombhakdi/Carlo Van Dam (71), 11. Jonathan Venter (68), 12. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (66), 13. Keita Sawa (61), 14. Alex Yoong/Alex Au (58), 16. Duncan Tappy (51), 17. Frank Yu/Richard Lyons (50), 19. Tim Sugden (46), 20. Darryl O’Young/Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (41), 22. Mok Weng Sun (28), 23. Jono Lester (22), 24. George Miedecke (18), 25. Gianmaria Bruni (15), 26. George Richardson (14), 27. Ashley Walsh, Franky Cheng/JingZu Sun, Richard Wee (13), 31. Philip Ma (10), 32. Andrew Palmer (8), 33. Christer Jöns, Fabian Hamprecht (7), 35. Nathan Morcom (5)

 

Pro-Am Cup points (after eight rounds of 12)

1. Anthony Liu (96-points), 2. Shaun Thong (95), 3. Piti Bhirombhakdi (89), 4. Andrew Kim (85), 5. Alex Au, Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (76), 7. Frank Yu (63), 8. Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (58), 9. Philip Ma (25), 10. Mok Weng Sun (17), 11. JingZu Sun (16)

 

Pro Cup points (after eight rounds of 12)

1. Edoardo Liberati/Andrea Amici (94-points), 3. Davide Rizzo (85), 4. Adderly Fong, Marchy Lee (75), 6. Carlo Van Dam (71), 7. Jonathan Venter (68), 8. Keita Sawa (61), 9. Alex Yoong (58), 10. Tim Sugden (52), 11. Duncan Tappy (51), 12. Richard Lyons (50), 13. Darryl O’Young (42), 14. Jono Lester (22), 15. George Miedecke (17), 16. Gianmaria Bruni (15), 17. George Richardson (14), 18. Ash Walsh, Franky Cheng (13), 20. Andrew Palmer (8), 21. Christer Jöns, Fabian Hamprecht (7), 23. Nathan Morcom (4)

 

GT Cup points (after eight rounds of 12)

1. Kantasak Kusiri/Bhurit Bhirombhakdi (102-points), 3. Voravud Bhirombhakdi/Tin Sritra (34), 5. Aekrat Discharoen, Toshihito Funai/Masayuki Ueda (32), 8. Akihiro Asai/Ken Seto (28), 10. Suttiluck Buncharoen, (16)

Shanghai International Circuit, China

Rnd#9/10, 2016 GT Asia Series - 19-21 August, 2016

 

• GT Asia Series arrives in Shanghai with the most competitive field of the season

• Mercedes-AMG returns to GT Asia with new AMG GT3

• FFF Racing add a second car to boost championship aspirations

 

The GT Asia Series arrives at the Shanghai Formula One circuit in China for the penultimate event of the 2016 season, a season which has already delivered some incredible racing, but as always, Shanghai is preparing to step things up to a whole new level with a title fight on the line, and the addition of some seriously talented entries.

 

Just days ago Mercedes-AMG announced they would make an all-out assault on the Shanghai round, with the addition of two new Mercedes-AMG GT3s, whilst points leaders FFF Racing Team by ACM had an announcement of their own, adding a second Huracan GT3 for Lamborghini Squadra Corse drivers Jeroen Mul and Richard Antinucci

 

They aren’t the only ones either, 2014 podium place-getters Zhang Dasheng and Li Chao will make a welcome return, joining Tim Sugden and Jono Lester in the GruppeM Racing team in a second Porsche GT3 R, whilst Lin Yu and Jun San Chen will share a Lamborghini Super Trofeo in the GTM category, run under the same AAI banner as the two Merecedes-AMG GT3s.

 

The new teams will be looking to ‘shake things up’ because they’re not in championship contention, but don’t discount the title contenders, any and all points will contribute to the overall standings as they head towards the final event of the season, so they’re not going to just lay down and let the new teams dictate, it will be all out war!

 

Leading the charge for the established teams is FFF Racing duo Edoardo Liberati and Andrea Amici, the two Lamborghini junior drivers took their maiden win of the season last time out in Fuji to take the championship lead by just nine points from the BBT Ferrari pairing of Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo - but now the Lamborghini drivers are in Anthony Liu’s back yard!

 

Two years ago - during their maiden season in GT Asia - Liu and Rizzo set pole position for both legs of the first ever Shanghai event for the successful Asian championship, out-qualifying all challengers to go on and win the opening race. During the second race of 2014, they came up against the debut of the mighty Bentley Continental GT3 - which since then has been one of the most successful marques in the Series - and lost out after contact battling into the final turn. That contact effectively cost them the championship, Liu going on to finish second in the driver’s championship, just five points behind Clearwater Racing’s Mok Weng Sun.

 

12-months ago the BBT duo were back in action at Shanghai, finishing second in race two, so they know the circuit and are looking to get back into the championship fight, although they may have to contend with the two Lamborghinis of another local - FFF team-boss Sean Fu - in order to do so.

 

The 2016 GT Asia Series has been such a tight affair this season, that any slip by the leaders could result in a vastly different point-score on Sunday evening. Team Bentley Absolute have won three of the eight races so far in season 2016, and they’ll be hoping that the Lamborghini and Ferrari battle will allow them to move through to claim the top spot, especially as Adderly Fong and Andrew Kim sit just 10-points back from Liu and Rizzo in the championship - but the Bentley duo have their own battle to contest.

 

Former Series regular Marchy Lee arrived at the opening round in South Korea with one of the most impressive operations anywhere in the world of GT3 racing, after agreeing terms with German powerhouse Phoenix Racing to form Phoenix Racing Asia, and in just their maiden season, Lee and team-mate Shaun Thong have gone on to claim two wins (Thailand and Okayama) to share third place in the points with Fong and Kim.

 

Both teams are expected to challenge at the front of the field, and Fong especially is race-ready, the Hong Kong-based driver having come off back-to-back podium finishes at Utah in the USA last weekend in his Bentley Continental GT3, so he is ready for a fight..

 

So too Keita Sawa and Jonathan Venter, the Bentley duo dominated the opening round of the season with back-to-back wins in South Korea, but since that point have suffered a string of DNFs which have dropped them well back in the points, their only chance to get back into the title fight comes by battling for the top points and they both well understand that. Last time out in Fuji they finished second to the Lamborghini so are mounting a recovery and have every chance of claiming the top step, especially considering Sawa is a former race winner at Shanghai (2014).

 

Three years ago AMG made a one-off appearance in that year’s GT Asia Series, campaigning two SLS AMG GT3s at Zhuhai, one of which was driven by three-time Formula One world champion Mika Hakkinen and a rising young teenage star from Hong Kong, Matt Solomon..

 

It’s in the history books now, but the duo claimed the win on their maiden attempt after a desperate last lap pass for the lead by then 17-year old Solomon who returns to the fold this weekend as one of four drivers for the AAI-supported AMG Customer Racing team.

 

Joining Solomon in the #66 car will be another rising young star, Germany’s Nico Bastian who has done a lot of miles in the new AMG GT3, whilst Solomon’s 2013 mentor Hakkinen will also make an appearance at Shanghai, although due to his elite driver ranking, and Solomon’s subsequent leap up the rankings in recent years, he’s unable to drive. Always popular with the Chinese fans, Hakkinen will be at Shanghai for AMG, and the organisers have tasked the Finn with waving the chequered flag for the two GT Asia Series races.

 

As for the second car, it too will have an impressive lineup with the new ‘King of Macau’ Maro Engel (2014-2015 winner on the Guia Circuit) joining emerging Chinese star Zhang Wenhe in the #68 entry. Engel is expected to push the new car to the limit, the former DTM star and factory AMG favourite is widely regarded as one of the best GT3 drivers in the world, whilst Solomon has already taken the new car to victory in Australia earlier in the year.

 

You could be forgiven for thinking these teams would provide more than enough ingredients for what will be the biggest and best race of the season, but that’s without taking into consideration the most experienced team in GT Asia - Craft-Bamboo Racing.. The 2015 driver’s champions made a marque change last year from Aston Martin to Porsche, and since the opening round have been on an aggressive development curve, and that curve delivered great results at Fuji with team-leader Frank Yu and experienced Asian GT3 star Richard Lyons claiming a pair of podium finishes.

 

12-months ago Shanghai was all about Craft-Bamboo with Series champion Darryl O’Young and English team-mate Daniel Lloyd claiming victory in both 50-minute races, whilst Lyons holds an unbeaten record at Shanghai for the category as the outright lap record holder for both qualifying (1:46.985) and the race (1:47.107). With the new Porsche GT3 R now sorted, you couldn’t discount Craft-Bamboo continuing that winning streak this weekend.

 

As for the second of the teams campaigning the new Type 991 Porsche GT3 R - GruppeM Racing, they’ve already been on the 2016 Series podium with Englishman Tim Sudgen and rapid New Zealander Jono Lester. Lester stood down at Okayama for team-leader Philip Ma, but he’s back in for this weekend and desperate to prove he is still one of the best GT3 drivers in the Pan-Asian region by taking the new team to another podium, and if the stars align, the first win of the year for Porsche could fall their way..

 

Throw in a couple more stars - former F1 driver Alex Yoong, and Chinese motorsport hero Franky Cheng - both in identical Audi R8 LMS GT3s, and opening race Fuji winners Carlo Van Dam and Piti Bhirombhakdi in their Singha Motorsport Ferrari 458 and you have the perfect recipe for an event which will keep you captivated across both 60-minute races..!

 

Where do we start.. This year it has been a challenge to predict who will make a GT Asia podium, but the addition of some seriously talented drivers, some impressive new equipment and an A-list of current drivers who are right in the title battle suggests it would be easier to predict the lottery numbers..!

 

If this season has shown anything, it’s that any number of the teams entered have a chance to claim a podium finish, and with the title on the line ahead of the final round, this weekend could provide plenty of fireworks.. if you need a prediction you’re not going to get it, but if you need some sage advice.. don’t miss this one, it’s going to be memorable!

 

This season Fox Sports Asia and Star Sports in China will also broadcast every event of the GT Asia Series live (race two in full, with highlights from the opening race), whilst the series itself will also live-stream every round with experienced commentators Jonathan Green - the voice of GT Asia - joined by Steve Martin to call both live television and live streaming action as it unfolds. 

 

Details of the streams and the broadcast times will be available on the GT Asia Series website - www.gtasiaseries.com - and through social media; www.facebook.com/GTAsiaSeries will also post news, video clips, images and updates, and you can also get involved in the conversation on www.twitter.com/GTAsiaSeries 

 

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Jiading, Shanghai, China

Track length: 5.451-kilometres

Corners: 16

Rotation: clockwise

Designer/Circuit first opened: Hermann Tilke, 2004

GT3 Lap record: 1:47.107 - Race (Richard Lyons, 2015), 1:46.985  - Qualifying (Richard Lyons, 2015)

Support classes: TCR Asia Series, Asian Formula Renault, Clio Cup China

Number of times GT Asia Series has competed at Sepang previously: 2 (2014/2015)

 

2016 will see the third visit by the GT Asia Series to the Chinese Formula One venue. During the Series’ first visit, local stars Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo claimed pole position for both races and the first ever victory at the 5.5-kilometre venue. For the second race the local Ferrari stars were in the mix again, but contact with the debuting Absolute Racing Bentley ended their run at the front, allowing Clearwater Racing’s Mok Weng Sun and Keita Sawa to claim a victory which would all but seal Mok’s third championship crown.

 

Last year Liu and Rizzo claimed second in race two at Shanghai, but again they were right in the mix, but it was Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Darryl O’Young and Daniel Lloyd who claimed back-to-back wins.. the interesting point being that the Shanghai winners on Sunday in both 2014 and last year have both gone on to claim the championship crown.. an ominous sign perhaps!!

 

There is one difference in 2016 however, for the first time the Series will use the full 5.453-kilometre Grand Prix circuit unlike the shorter version (which eliminates turns 5 and 6) used in 2014 and 2015

 

2015 GT Asia Series - Rnd#8 (50-minutes - 24-laps) - 26 September

Pole position: Richard Lyons (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) - 1:46.985

1. Darryl O’Young/Daniel Lloyd (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) 

2. Carlo Van Dam/Piti Bhirombhakdi (TP12 Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) +1.751

3. Keita Sawa/Adderly Fong (Absolute Team Bentley Continental GT3) +5.067

 

2015 GT Asia Series - Rnd#9 (50-minutes - 26-laps) - 27 September

Pole position: Daniel Lloyd (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) - 1:47.292

1. Daniel Lloyd/Darryl O’Young (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3) 

2. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (BBT Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) +9.310

3. Adderly Fong/Keita Sawa (Absolute Team Bentley Continental GT3) +10.946

 

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Schedule (CST - GMT +8)

 

09:00 - Practice #1 (60-minutes)

12:40 - Practice #2 (60-minutes)

15:10 - Practice #3 (60-minutes)

 

09:40 - Qualifying #1 (15-minutes)

10:05 - Qualifying #2 (15-minutes)

16:05 - Race#1 (60-minutes)

 

14:00 - Race#2 (60-minutes)

 

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GT3 Championship points (after eight rounds of 12)

1. Edoardo Liberati/Andrea Amici (94-points), 3. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (85), 5. Marchy Lee/Shaun Thong, Adderly Fong/Andrew Kim (75), 9. Piti Bhirombhakdi/Carlo Van Dam (71), 11. Jonathan Venter (68), 12. Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (66), 13. Keita Sawa (61), 14. Alex Yoong/Alex Au (58), 16. Duncan Tappy (51), 17. Frank Yu/Richard Lyons (50), 19. Tim Sugden (46), 20. Darryl O’Young/Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (41), 22. Mok Weng Sun (28), 23. Jono Lester (22), 24. George Miedecke (18), 25. Gianmaria Bruni (15), 26. George Richardson (14), 27. Ashley Walsh, Franky Cheng/JingZu Sun, Richard Wee (13), 31. Philip Ma (10), 32. Andrew Palmer (8), 33. Christer Jöns, Fabian Hamprecht (7), 35. Nathan Morcom (5)

 

Pro-Am Cup points (after eight rounds of 12)

1. Anthony Liu (96-points), 2. Shaun Thong (95), 3. Piti Bhirombhakdi (89), 4. Andrew Kim (85), 5. Alex Au, Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (76), 7. Frank Yu (63), 8. Naiyanobh Bhirombhakdi (58), 9. Philip Ma (25), 10. Mok Weng Sun (17), 11. JingZu Sun (16)

 

Pro Cup points (after eight rounds of 12)

1. Edoardo Liberati/Andrea Amici (94-points), 3. Davide Rizzo (85), 4. Adderly Fong, Marchy Lee (75), 6. Carlo Van Dam (71), 7. Jonathan Venter (68), 8. Keita Sawa (61), 9. Alex Yoong (58), 10. Tim Sugden (52), 11. Duncan Tappy (51), 12. Richard Lyons (50), 13. Darryl O’Young (42), 14. Jono Lester (22), 15. George Miedecke (17), 16. Gianmaria Bruni (15), 17. George Richardson (14), 18. Ash Walsh, Franky Cheng (13), 20. Andrew Palmer (8), 21. Christer Jöns, Fabian Hamprecht (7), 23. Nathan Morcom (4)

 

GT Cup points (after eight rounds of 12)

1. Kantasak Kusiri/Bhurit Bhirombhakdi (102-points), 3. Voravud Bhirombhakdi/Tin Sritra (34), 5. Aekrat Discharoen, Toshihito Funai/Masayuki Ueda (32), 8. Akihiro Asai/Ken Seto (28), 10. Suttiluck Buncharoen, (16)

 

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The GT Asia Series is sanctioned by the FIA as an International Series and is clearly recognised as the Region’s leading GT Championship. It is solely managed and promoted by Motorsport Asia Ltd and is backed by Singha, Michelin, KW Automotive, Motul, Race Room, Panta, YOFC and Tunewear.