Absolute and Origine win GTWC Asia races at Buriram

FANATEC GT World Challenge Asia keeps delivering the show on track as it was seen last weekend at Buriram, with the No. 40 Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II of Ruo Han Huang and Markus Winkelhock winning on Saturday by leading the team’s 1-2 finish while the No. 4 Origine Racing Porsche 992 GT3R of Patrick Pilet and Wei Lu worked hard to win on Sunday. It needs to be said that again it was the case of almost all classes having a shot at the win in both races, which even led to surprising performances in both races.
 
Due to heavy rain hitting the circuit before the Race 1, some the clock was running while the field did a recognisance lap before the green flag, and the No. 41 Absolute Audi took the lead and it was bringing the No. 60 LMcorsa Ferrari along as both cars were finding a away to open a gap from the rest of the field.
 
Once the pit window was done and dusted, the Pro-Am Cup entries started to shine and those near the top were chasing the Silver Cup cars, like the No. 40 Absolute Audi that jumped to the Pro-Am Cup lead and was featuring in second overall as Markus Winkelhock was approaching Akash Nandy for the overall lead.
 
With Absolute Racing dominating two classes and having the top-2 overall, Winkelhock opted for a more methodical and risk-free approach despite the pace advantage, as passing would be a mere formality. Due to Nandy’s slightly wider lines, the No. 40 took the overall lead and pulled away immediately,
 
Both Absolute Audis had a significant gap to the opposition, with the No. 40 car winning overall and in the Pro-Am Cup while the No. 41 car won the Silver Cup from second overall. The No. 87 Origine Porsche won the Silver-Am Cup while Ye Hongli wasn’t content with the class win, racing the No. 1 Absolute Porsche for fourth overall, losing the battle in the final minutes. The Am Cup almost had a winner change as the No. 19 Spirit of FFF Audi nearly lost to the No. 75 Garage 75 Ferrari after dominating with ease the first stint, slipping barely outside of the overall top-20.
 
GTWC Asia - Buriram Race 1 results
 

The Sunday race had a totally different front row with Mercedes machinery on three of the top four positions, but the No. 500 5ZIGEN Nissan was decided to spoil the German party for two corners until the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes took the lead, only to fall off to fifth while the No. 30 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes took both the overall and Pro-Am Cup top spots, being followed by the No. 22 Climax Mercedes while the No. 500 settled for third with the Silver-Am Cup lead.
 
While the No. 500 fell to fourth as the No. 4 Origine Porsche went into the podium positions, Yu Kanamaru was giving the Pro-Am Cup competitors a run for their money during the pro driver time, being totally boxed by factory drivers. An off track visit by Ralf Aron made the No. 22 tumble down the order, putting the No. 4 right in the route to approach the No. 30, although no change occurred until the pit window.
 
The pit window influenced the change of position at the top as the No. 30 had a stop and go due to pit time infringement, handing it over to the No. 4, which had 10 seconds ahead to the No. 500, and with Hirobon more focused on defending second place from Anthony Liu in the No. 1 Absolute Porsche, the No. 4 was safe for the remainder of the race.
 
With no further changes in the order, the No. 4 Origine Porsche won comfortably the race overall and in the Pro-Am Cup, while the No. 500 5ZIGEN Nissan got a very celebrated Silver-Am Cup win from second place overall. The No. 911 Absolute Porsche got nowhere near the overall contenders but won the Silver Cup with certain ease, while the No. 75 Garage 75 Ferrari finally got the Am Cup after Saturday’s near miss.
 
GTWC Asia - Buriram Race 2 results
 
Wei Lu (No. 4) leads the table with 56 points while the duo Cheng/Fong (No. 36) has 46 points and the duo Yuan/Ye (No. 87) has 45 points in third. GTWC Asia returns at Fuji Speedway on 22 and 23 June, but before that the FANATEC Japan Cup starts its 2024 season with a standalone weekend at Sportsland SUGO on 8 and 9 June.
 
PHOTOS: SRO