Origine and JMR prevail in GTWC Asia weekend at Sepang

While the first weekend of GT World Challenge Asia saw different winners for different reasons, it is undeniable that the Pro-Am Cup seem to be more in control of things in this initial moment of the season, with the No. 87 Origine Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R of Yuan Bo and Hongli Ye prevailing on pace while the lady luck smiled on Sunday to Jeffri Ibrahim and Alexander Sims in the No. 99 JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, which was also the first win of the bowtie manufacturer in the competition.
 
The race to the first corners in Race 1 had the No. 45 FAW Phantom Audi led the way while the No. 16 Uno Audi was swallowed up by the field and spun around in the second corner, while the No. 4 Origine Porsche and the No. 2 Climax Mercedes having puncture and the newly acquired No. 66 JMR Corvette having bonnet damage, so the Safety Car had to be called, which meant the No. 87 Origine Porsche climbing to second place and the No. 96 Harmony Ferrari jumped to third.
 
After 10 minutes of track cleaning, the race was resumed, and the positions stood as they were until the pit window, and then the order suffered change, as the No. 87 Origine Porsche was leading a Pro-Am Cup charge with the No. 37 Absolute Porsche, with both leaving the No. 45 FAW Phantom Audi and the Silver-Am Cup leading No. 89 KRC BMW.
 
While Alexander Sims had the Pro-Am Cup podium for the No. 99 JMR Corvette, the overall top-5 wasn’t satisfactory as the Silver Cup leading No. 45 was holding him, with an overtake in the final hairpin leaving James Yu behind, but when the move was finally done there was no much time left to crush the gap to the leaders, which meant that the No. 87 Origine Porsche took overall and Pro-Am Cup honors.
 
GTWC Asia - Sepang Race 1 results
 
The No. 89 KRC BMW still managed to stay ahead of the No. 99 JMR Corvette and took the overall podium and Silver-Am Cup honors, while the No. 45 FAW Phantom Audi remained unchallenged on top of the Silver Cup, also scoring an overall top 5 finish.
 
The history of the day actually comes from the Am Cup, as the No. 51 AMAC Porsche won in the class with Ben Porter taking the two stints as an injured Andrew MacPherson couldn’t take part of the race, while also scoring a top-- 10 overall, staying ahead of most of the Pro-Am Cup and Silver-Am Cup fields.
 

The No. 2 Climax Mercedes led the way in the second race while the No. 89 KRC BMW had to barge its way past the No. 37 Absolute Porsche for second place, which essentially splits the Pro-Am Cup contenders and keeps Dorian Boccolacci exposed to the attacks of those behind him, like the No. 99 JMR Corvette and the No. 4 Origine Porsche.
 
To make matters worse for the No. 37, Boccolacci got a five second penalty due to blocking during the starting procedure, so there was hurry to recover the lost ground and stay in the lead battle to cover for the losses, but the No. 2 and the No. 89 were distancing themselves little by little. The No. 99 still had time before the pit window to battle its way to third as Alexander Sims muscled his way through Boccolacci after two laps of relentless attacks.
 
With the No. 66 JMR Corvette being massively damaged due to contact, the Safety Car was called during pit window time, and after 10 minutes of track clearance, the field was free to race again, with the No. 4 Origine Porsche going past the No. 99 for second place and aiming for the No. 2 and the race lead.
 
With six minutes to go, the No. 2 spun when leaving the second corner, which promoted the No. 4 to the lead, only for it to be penalized with a drive through due to avoidable contact, which promoted the No. 99 JMR Corvette to the lead with 30 seconds to go, so he just needed another lap to celebrate the win, and with no time to suffer a reversal, Jeffri Ibrahim just brought the car home to celebrate then home win.
 
GTWC Asia - Sepang Race 2 results
 
With all that happened in the final minutes, the other class had a real jump in their final classifications, as the No. 45 FAW Phantom Audi won the Silver Cup inside the overall podium, with the No. 89 KRC BMW dominating the Silver-Am Cup right behind them. The No. 75 Garage 75 Ferrari took Am Cup honors while staying just outside the overall top 15.
 
GTWC Asia returns to action in about a month, as the so much awaited first visit to the Mandalika International Circuit in Indonesia will happen on 10 and 11 May.
 
PHOTOS: SRO