Origine and Absolute conquer Fuji wins in GTWC Asia

After the debut of the FANATEC Japan Cup at SUGO, the FANATEC GT World Challenge Asia was back to action to share the track with the newest series of the block, with contrasting races at Fuji Speedway giving the victories to the No. 87 Origine Porsche 911 GT3R of Yuan Bo and Hongli Ye and the No. 1 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3R of Anthony Liu and Alessio Picariello.
 
A clear sky with a few clouds was a contrast to the rainy practice sessions, but the bad luck actually fell over the Race 1 polesitter No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes as the left front brake was overheating. Meaning that the No. 36 FAW Audi holding the bunch of Porsches behind Congfu Cheng.
 
With the No. 87 Origine Porsche leading the Silver-Am Cup fron second overall, so the No. 911 Absolute Porsche would have a barrier to get the overall and Silver Cup leads from the No. 36. Eshan Pieris was actually falling prey of the No. 41 Absolute Audi, and James Yu actually had the pace to chase the top two ahead of him, but had a drive through penalty to deal with as he was out of position at the start.
 
With Wei Lu failing to put the No. 4 Origine Porsche ahead of the No. 911, the No. 6 VSR Lamborghini took the fourth place and tried to deal with Pieris. The pit window and a brief full course yellow made the job of flipping the order, which put the No. 87 Origine Porsche in front with a good margin to the pair of VSR Lamborghinis, while the No. 911 just fell to fourth overall but jumped to the Silver Cup lead in the process.
 
Hongli Ye had nothing to worry about for the rest of the race as the VSR Lamborghinis were protecting the Pro-Am Cup 1-2, so the Korean driver brought the No. 87 Origine Porsche to the overall and Silver-Am Cup wins. The No. 6 VSR Lamborghini led the No. 63 VSR Lamborghini for Pro-Am Cup honors, while the No. 911 Absolute Porsche fell down two places overall but still conquered the Silver Cup. Almost off the overall top 20, the No. 75 Garage 75 Ferrari galloped straight to the Am Cup win.
 
GTWC Asia - Fuji Race 1 results
 

The weather on Sunday returned to the pattern seen before the weekend arrived, with fog descending from Mount Fuji while a damp track would make the teams question their tire choices. The No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes was again the polesitter and was able to depart from the position, but the No. 22 Climax Mercedes jumped in front as Jules Gounon just waited two corners to make the overtake.
 
With the No. 777 D’Station Aston Martin and the and the No. 93 AAS Phantom stationary with massive damage, the Safety Car was called, which would actually give time to the gamblers on slick tires to assess the track condition as even the water in the lower areas of the track would eventually dissipate.
 
Nearly 15 minutes later, the race was under green flag again with the pit window coming in a few minutes and a somewhat humid track to deal with. Maro Engel carried the No. 30 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes to second place. While Gounon and Engel disappeared with first and second places, Luca Stolz was firm in his defense of the third place, creating a queue of Porsches behind the No. 888 that were exchanging blows as they were taking turns trying to pass the German.
 
During the pit window, the No. 4 Origine Porsche and the No. 13 Phantom Global Porsche were finally able to do a pincer move on the No. 888, and Patrick Pilet jumped ahead and took third place, only to go to the pits for regular service, bringing the rest of the pack with him.
 
After a brief Safety Car period, and the pack racing was benefical to the No. 30 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes as it took the lead, with the No. 1 Absolute Porsche making the overtake for second a while later. Behind the Pro-Am Cup battle, the Silver-Am Cup had an open fight for the class win as the No. 500 5ZIGEN Nissan was trying all the maneuvers in the rulebook to pass the No. 296 Absolute Ferrari, and in the Am Cup, the No. 19 Spirit of FFF Audi slipped off the lead with a spin, handing it over to the No. 51 AMAC Porsche.
 
Cao Qi, Anthony Liu and Congfu Cheng were exchanging blows all over the place for the overall lead, only for a full course yellow due to debris on track to interfere, and when the race was resumed, there was only the final lap, with the No. 1 Absolute Porsche opening the gap and taking the overall and Pro-Am Cup wins, while the No. 30 CRAFT Bamboo Mercedes was second and the No. 36 FAW Audi won the Silver Cup from third overall.
 
The No. 500 5ZIGEN Nissan was able to pass the No. 296 Absolute Ferrari and scored the Silver-Am Cup win, with the No. 51 AMAC Porsche winning the Am Cup right behind the Nissan GT-R GT3.
 
GTWC Asia - Fuji Race 2 results
 
Liu and Picariello (No. 1) hold the lead with 72 points, but Bo and Ye (No. 87) are just behind with 70 points. The series moves to Suzuka to host the July double header on the 6th and 7th.
 
PHOTOS: SRO