Anthony Liu lifts GTWC Asia title for CRAFT Bamboo Racing

While Absolute Racing and R&B Racing did textbook races in the final weekend of the 2023 FANATEC GT World Challenge Asia season with the No. 11 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II and the No. 4 Porsche 992 GT3R, it was Anthony Liu who celebrated with the season trophy with a rational race for the No. 37 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo that also had Daniel Juncadella at the wheel.
 

With a home straight that has acres of space, everybody was bunching up together before Turns 1 and 2 in Race, and obviously this would bring trouble as multiple cars had contact and suffered damage, including the No. 911 AAS Porsche, which moved for only a few meters before coming to a full stop.
 
With 13 minutes to clean the mess being spent behind the Safety Car, the race resumed with the No. 11 Absolute Audi for only a few seconds before a red flag was declared as the No. 72 HubAuto Porsche had a brake failure in the final hairpin, slid over the gravel trap and flew over the armco to stop in the tire barriers, which had to be repaired and reordered during the interruption.
 
While the order prevailed in the second restart, the No. 62 B-Quik Audi was making moves as Akash Nandy jumped to third overall and Silver Cup leader. The same couldn’t be said about the No. 3 Climax Mercedes, which stepped too far off the track and spun right into the gravel, throwing the Am Cup lead away in the process while the No. 26 B-Quik Audi capitalized in the misfortune of Hu Yuqi.
 
The cars were separated after the pit window, with the No. 11 Absolute Audi and the No. 37 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes stretching the gap as Eshan Pieris decided to form a moving wall to keep the No. 62 B-Quik Audi in third overall, and since the No. 992 Absolute Porsche and the No. 88 Triple Eight Mercedes were trapping the No. 87 R&B Porsche, it would only be beneficial for him to stay on the defensive.
 
It needed some degree of bravery to beat Pieris, and Mikael Granier did it but outbraking the No. 62 and put the No. 88 in second, which opened the gates for the other cars in the pack to do the same, and the change of lead in class came when the No. 18 PCO Porsche bullied the No. 62 off the line and went off track, with the No. 87 passing both cars in the confusion.
 
The final minutes of racing were going to a status quo in favor of the No. 11 Absolute Audi, and with the No. 3 Climax Mercedes deep into the barriers, nothing really changed in the order.
 
GTWC Asia - Sepang Race 1 results
 
The No. 87 R&B Porsche kept the Silver Cup win with top-5 pace from Ye Hongli, while the No. 30 Modena Porsche comfortably won the Am Cup as the No. 51 AMAC Porsche was too far behind to attack Antares Au.
 

Porsches flocked in the front rows for Race 2, and the No. 72 HubAuto entry kept the No. 4 R&B car in check as Alvaro Parente won the initial drag race.
 
While the Pro-Am field was close but estabilized and the No. 87 R&B Porsche was leading the Silver Cup for a country mile, tension in the Am Cup rose as the No. 3 Climax Mercedes suffered a left front puncture and left the door open for the No. 51 AMAC Porsche to get the lead while obviously keeping attention in the No. 30 Modena Porsche behind.
 
The pro drivers of the Pro-Am Cup did the longer stint as expected, with the leaders bringing the cars to the pitlane with only a minute left of the pit window, with no changes in the order after the service.
 
On track, Lu Wei brought the No. 4 ahead while the Silver Cup leading No. 87 R&B Porsche took third place overall from the No. 88 Triple Eight Mercedes, with the second place also being gifted to Bo Yuan as the No. 72 dropped to fourth. Further down, the No. 37 CRAFT Bamboo was trying to maximize its title chances when rear contact with the No. 888 Triple Eight Mercedes sent Anthony Liu to an unusual spin.
 
With the No. 4 and No. 87 R&B Porsches leading the Pro-Am Cup and Silver and doing an overall 1-2, it was just a question of bringing it home as no threat was on their radar, while on the other side of the table, Antares Au guided the No. 30 Modena Porsche to an Am Cup sweep in Malaysia as Andrew MacPherson couldn`t hold the No. 51 AMAC Porsche in the class lead.
 
GTWC Asia - Sepang Race 2 results
 
While not exactly having a spectacular weekend on track, Anthony Liu scored 142 points against 137 from Abu Bakar Ibrahim, which secured the GTWC Asia title to him, while the Pro-Am Cup battle ended with 144 vs. 141 for Liu.
 
Kang Ling and Cao Qi brought the Silver Cup title to Phantom Pro Racing, with 248 points against 211 from Bo Yuan and Ye Hongli. Despite the problematic weekend, Hu Yuqi and Bian Ye took the Am Cup title for Climax Racing, scoring 212 points and against 193 from MacPherson and Ben Porter.
 
R&B Racing took the teams title with 207 against 189 from Absolute Racing and 171 from CRAFT Bamboo Racing, proving the power of the Chinese teams of the long standing Hong Kong outfit in their return to the series.
 
In the GT4 class, YZ Racing with Team Studie, Masato Kano and Max Orido had matters settled in their favor before the Sepang weekend, with drivers and teams titles going to the Japanese squad.
 
The rejuvenated 2024 calendar will start at the same Sepang Circuit on 20 and 21 April, with a standalone Japan Cup round confirmed and the return of China to the GTWC Asia map, at a venue yet to be confirmed.
 
PHOTOS: SRO