- Multiple Authors
- Jul 24, 2025
- 9 min read
GT World Challenge Asia - Round 3 - Yu's last lap overtake seals Audi's first victory of the season
GT World Challenge Asia visited the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand, and delivered two exciting races filled with action, last lap battles, and track limits impacting the outcomes, with Audi and Corvette taking victories.
Contributions by Charlie Thornton and Nando
QUALIFYING
Q1
As the session got underway in damp conditions, and race control declared the track wet, the #500 Team 5ZIGEN Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 headed into qualifying as the fan favourite after setting the fastest times in pre-qualifying. The pace continued into qualifying one as Hirobon topped the timing boards early in the session with a 1:36.419. The lap times started to tumble as the session progressed, and the track started to dry out with the #4 Origine Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 R, who won last time out in Mandalika, sat on provisional pole when Wei Lu set a 1:35.309, but was quickly beaten by Kailuo Luo in the #96 Winhere Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, setting a 1:34.539. Kailuo Luo’s time in the #96 Ferrari remained at the top of the timesheet for the remainder of the session, seeing the late call-up in place of Weian Chen take pole position for race one.
Q2
The second qualifying session of the weekend saw a duel between two young stars of GT racing with the #99 JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Ben Green sitting on provisional pole for the majority of the session, with the #89 Team KRC BMW M4 GT3 Evo of Maxime Oosten being the closest challenger in the Silver-Am class. Green further improved his time in the Corvette, and took race two pole position, two-tenths clear of Oosten in second position. Daniel Morad in the #31 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo secured the third spot with the current championship leader of Leo Ye Hongli in the #87 Origine Motorsport Porsche completed the second row.
RACE 1
Before the race had even gone green, the chaos had began as Frankie Cheng in the #45 FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II hit the rear of the pole-sitting #96 Winhere Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Kailuo Luo in a gamble to anticipate the green, but fortunately, the Ferrari managed to maintain the lead into turn one. Despite the Ferrari maintaining his lead, there was contact at turn one between the #16 Uno Racing Team Audi of Rio and the #37 Phantom Global Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R of Anthony Liu which sent both cars spinning around and rapidly tumbling down the order. However, the carnage at turn one allowed the #4 Origine Motorsport Porsche of Wei Lu and the #60 LM corsa Ferrari 296 GT3 of Shigekazu Wakisaka to come out in third and fourth position respectively. Wakisaka had a particularly impressive opening lap as he later found his way past the #4 Porsche of Wei Lu at the inside of turn seven, after putting intense pressure on the Porsche for several corners prior.
The race settled down after a chaotic start as the two Silver Class cars at the front pulled away from the Ferrari of Wakisaka in third while the #45 Audi was awarded a five second penalty for jump start. Drizzle of rain in the early part of the race as the slippery surface caught out Kerong Li in the #86 Origine Porsche who spun at turn five. Track limits was a huge issue with multiple cars receiving drive-through penalty, notably the #37 Porsche of Anthony Liu as his race went from bad to worse.
There was more trouble for another championship contender just minutes before the pit window opened as Bob Yuan dropped down the order, and stopped on track with smoke billowing out from his #87 Origine Motorsport Porsche. Meanwhile at the front, Luo stretched his stint as long as possible before handing the car to Yi Deng for the remainder of the race, managing to extend their race lead over James Yu in the #45 Audi in second position, who still had a five-second time penalty. However, the gap for Deng would not matter as the safety car was deployed to attend to Yuan's stationary Porsche.
The race resumed with twelve minutes to go, and Giancarlo Fisichella in the #60 LM corsa Ferrari was put under pressure by Bastian Buus in the #4 Origine Porsche for the final step on the podium, with the Italian using every trick in the books to keep the Porsche behind, but his work ended in nothing when he was given a one-second stop-and-go penalty for a short pit stop, which put the #60 Ferrari out of contention for the victory, or a podium spot.
Despite Fisichella’s Ferrari receiving a penalty, there was still a Ferrari leading the race, and started to pull away from the field along with the #45 Audi of Yu, who managed to negate their five-second penalty to nothing as track limits continued to plague other drivers across the field, including front-running Patrick Pilet in the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche and Jordan Love in the #66 JMR Corvette receiving drive-through penalties while running in fourth and sixth positions respectively.
Yi Deng and Kailuo Luo had never taken an overall victory in GT World Challenge Asia, but the pair was set to win for the first time, but a charging James Yu had not given up yet, and was right on the rear of the leading #96 Winhere Harmony Racing Ferrari on the final lap, and after a great exit from Yu out of turn three, he came alongside the Ferrari, and passed around the outside of turn four to take the lead of the race with barely a lap remaining.
Yu was safely in front, and made no mistakes to bring home Audi’s first victory of the season in GT World Challenge Asia alongside his teammate Frankie Cheng, while Deng and Luo had to settle for second position after leading for the majority of the race. Bastian Buus took his first GT World Challenge Asia podium in the #4 Origine Motorsport Porsche, while Yu Kanamaru and Hirobon crossed the line in sixth position overall, and took the Silver-Am victory in their Team 5ZIGEN Nissan. The Am class battle went down to the wire with Martin Berry in the #8 EBM Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo managing to defend the victory from David Tjiptobiantoro in the #75 Garage 75 Ferrari 296 GT3.
RACE 1 PODIUMS IN EACH CLASS (overall winning class first)
SILVER: #45 - FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II - Frankie Cheng & James Yu
PRO-AM: #4 - Origine Motorsport, Porsche 992 GT3 R - Bastian Buus & Wei Lu
SILVER-AM: #500 - Team 5ZIGEN, Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 - Hirobon & Yu Kanamaru
AM: #8 - EBM, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo - Martin Berry & Setiawan Santoso
RACE 2
The second race of the weekend at Chang got underway with Ben Green leading the field in his #99 JMR Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, while drama struck multiple competitors further down the field as the lights switched to green. Contact between the #96 Winhere Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 and the #46 Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II saw the Ferrari spin dramatically, narrowly avoided by multiple other cars, with some taking to the grass to ensure they weren’t collected. The chaos didn’t stop there as the cars headed into turn one, Adderly Fong in the #13 Phantom Global Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R tagged the rear of Patrick Pilet in the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche, sending Pilet spinning across the circuit, and was soon collected by Martin Berry in the #8 EBM Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, triggering an immediate safety car just as the midfield began to battle.
Ben Green maintained his lead after the safety car restart, with Maxime Oosten and Daniel Morad in the #89 Team KRC BMW M4 GT3 Evo and #31 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo respectively, while Green began to gradually pull away along with Oosten. Reigning champion Leo Ye Hongli had a great start in his #87 Origine Motorsport Porsche, and before the safety car, he managed to gain six positions, which put him in the perfect position to continue making his way through the field to pick up more and more points.
However, drama once again struck when Ye was right behind Elias Seppänen in the #55 Winhere Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, after a few laps stuck behind the Ferrari, Ye went for a move in the final corner which saw contact between the two, and sent both cars off through the grass in a high speed incident. Both cars made a pitstop to remove the grass stuck in the radiator to prevent the engines overheating, but the damage was caused and Ye was awarded a drive-through penalty. As the pit window opened, the #66 JMR Corvette of Jordan Love came into the pits, but retired the car due to a brake issue.
Green and Oosten entered the pits nose-to-tail at the latest opportunity, with Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Cunfan Ruan taking over the #99 Corvette and #89 BMW respectively, and while the Team KRC crew got their BMW out faster than the Corvette, the Corvette remained again. Behind the leading two, Mike Zhou emerged out in third in his #2 Climax Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo after jumping the #500 Team 5ZIGEN Nissan GT-R, who had been struggling in the hands of Hirobon in the second stint.
The leading Corvette and BMW remained at the front for the remainder of the race, and the #99 JMR Corvette of Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Ben Green took the chequered flag, with Ibrahim taking his second overall victory of the season so far, followed by Cunfan Ruan just three-tenths back, securing the Silver-Am victory alongside Maxime Oosten in their fifth class win. After a heart-breaking first race at Chang, the #16 Uno Racing Team Audi R8 crew of Rio and Shaun Thong bounced back to score their first Silver class victory in GT World Challenge Asia, while the Am class battle came right down to the line, with the #75 Garage 75 Ferrari 296 GT3 crew of Christian Colombo and David Tjiptobiantoro taking their second class victory of the season, just a second ahead of the #51 AMAC Motorsport Porsche 991.2 GT3 R of William Ben Porter and Andrew Macpherson.
RACE 2 PODIUMS IN EACH CLASS (overall winning class first)
PRO-AM: #99 - Johor Motorsport Racing JMR, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R - Ben Green & Prince Jefri Ibrahim
SILVER: #16 - Uno Racing Team, Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II - Rio & Shaun Thong
SILVER-AM: #89 - Team KRC, BMW M4 GT3 Evo - Maxime Oosten & CunFan Ruan
AM: #75 - Garage 75 - Ferrari 296 GT3 - Christian Colombo & David Tjiptobiantoro
RACING UNDER THE SHADOW OF MOUNT FUJI
Round four of the GT World Challenge Asia heads to the Fuji Speedway in Japan on the 12th - 13th July, where the championship and title battles continue to intensify.
With the Johor Motorsports Racing Corvette of Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Ben Green taking their second victory of the season, Ibrahim now takes the lead of the overall and Pro-Am championships. In the overall championship, the #37 Phantom Global Racing Porsche of Dorian Boccolacci and Anthony Liu sit six points adrift, along with the #89 Team KRC BMW of Cunfan Ruan and Maxime Oosten, while Leo Ye Hongli and Bob Yuan sit fourth with 68 points, seven behind the leading Corvette. Boccolacci and Liu, followed by Yuan and Ye also sit second and third in the Pro-Am championship with 83 and 79 points respectively, with the earlier just ten points behind Ibrahim.
In Silver-Am, Cunfan Ruan and Maxime Oosten sit on 143 points, leading the championship by a massive sixty points to the #29 Absolute Corse Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 crew of Ruohan Huang and Akash Nandy, while Yu Kanamaru in the #500 Team 5ZIGEN Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 sits third with 68 points. So far in the 2025 GT World Challenge Asia season, the #89 Team KRC BMW crew have taken five out of six class victories.
The all Silver crews see Franky Cheng and James Yu lead the championship in the #45 FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II with 120 points, while Yi Deng sits second with 91 points, and the #77 Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo crew of Danial Frost and Jiatong Liang third with 88 points.
Finally, the Am Cup sees the 2024 champions of the #75 Garage 75 Ferrari 296 GT3 crew of Christian Colombo and David Tjiptobiantoro lead with 119 points, with William Ben Porter from the #51 AMAC Motorsport Porsche second with 106 points. In third, and thirty-one points behind the leaders is the #30 Elegant Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo crew of Alex Liu and Reinhold Renger.
Images: SRO Motorsport Group
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