FAW and Origine win in GTWC Asia weekend at Sepang

The 2024 season of the renewed FANATEC GT World Challenge Asia started at Sepang and saw quite the balance across all classes, with the No. 36 FAW Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo2 of Cheng Congfu and Adderly Fong winning on Saturday while the No. 4 Origine Porsche 911 GT3R of Laurin Heinrich and Lu Wei commanded the Sunday, showing that entries from different classes will be able to contest for overall honors over the course of the season.
 
Procedures for Race 1 had to be delayed by an hour as the usual heavy rain fell out at Sepang, but when the cars aligned  it was at least damp on track as the usual high temperatures from Malaysia evaporated some of the standing water. After two laps behind the Safety Car to assess the track condition, the polesitting No. 36 FAW Audi overshot the last corner before the green flag was waved, showing the low grip available at the moment.
 
The blunder before the start actually created a gap for the No. 36, leaving the No. 87 Origine Porsche to defend the Silver-Am lead  from third as the No. 6 VSR Lamborghini got second place overall and the Pro-Am Cup lead, which soon turned into the overall lead as Bian Ye was finding better ways through the slippery track as most of the field was taking a cautious approach.
 
The overall lead would finally reflected the situation of the top of the table with 15 minutes of racing, as the the No. 777 D’Station Aston Martin and the No. 30 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes found the way past the No. 36 to start the chase for the Pro-Am Cup leader, with at least three more cars from the class in the overall top-10.
 
A brief full course yellow was called as the No. 77 Harmony Ferrari was stuck in the gravel and soon after that, the pit window was on. The No. 30 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes worked better and took the overall and Pro-Am Cup leads, but the problem for Daniel Morad was that the No. 36 FAW Audi had less than a second behind and the No. 6 VSR Lamborghini had around 1.5 seconds back, which meant open fight for the race win.
 
A moment of open door from Morad allowed Adderly Fong to pass for the lead and brought Edoardo Liberati closer, and when it was looking like the second place battle would let the No. 36 go away, the No. 6 found the way past the No. 30 and started charging.
 
The fight for third soon became a multi-car contest until things settled down and the No. 87 Origine Porsche took it along with the Silver-Am Cup lead. With the overall top-3 leading different classes, no one would make risky moves for an extra place, so the No. 36 FAW Audi had no threats to win overall and in the Silver Cup, with the No. 6 VSR Lamborghini finishing in second to win the Pro-Am Cup and the No. 87 Origine Porsche completing the overall podium to win the Silver-Am Cup.
 
The only class that stood out of the overall top-10 was understandably the Am Cup, as the No. 75 Garage 75 Ferrari had complete domination in the final part of the race.
 
GTWC Asia - Sepang Race 1 results
 

For the second race, dry weather and bright sunlight meant favorable conditions for more attacking moves, which made some cars see the other way at Turn 1 while the No. 4 Origine Porsche was commanding the field with a fleet of Pro-Am Cup cars behind that was led by the No. 30 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes.
 
The No. 4 was pulling out from the chasing pack and kept the lead after the pit window, but a full course yellow cooled down the momentum as the No. 3 Elegant Mercedes crashed and stood where it was. The gap between the No. 4 and the No. 30 went back and forth during the final 15 minutes of racing, but things never went out of the control of the No. 4 Origine Porsche, which comfortably won overall and in the Pro-Am Cup.
 
The No. 77 Harmony Ferrari won the Silver Cup with an overall podium finish after the No. 1 Absolute Porsche was penalized for contact with the No. 22 Climax Mercedes, while the No. 87 Origine Porsche scored a Silver-Am Cup from just outside the overall top-5. The No. 19 Spirit of FFF Audi completed the list of class winner with the Am Cup triumph from outside the overall top-20.
 
GTWC Asia - Sepang Race 2 results
 
The next GTWC Asia weekend will be in three weeks as Buriram hosts it on 11 and 12 May.
 
PHOTOS: SRO