Porsche claimed second-place finishes in both Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS races at the Suzuka International Circuit, thanks to strong performances by the #4 Origine Motorsport and #1 Absolute Racing entries. In Bangsaen, there were overall and class victories for Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand entries in the Thailand Super Series, while Chris van der Drift and Florian Latorre shared the outright honours in Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia

After qualifying fifth, Lu Wei settled into Race 1 and kept the #4 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) in podium contention throughout his opening stint. With the entire field pitting at the same time under the safety car, Laurin Heinrich emerged out in third, which soon became second as he chased down the leader through the latter stages of the contest. The German driver mounted on the pressure through the final laps but narrowly missed out by a car length across the line to finish second.

Behind, the #18 Porsche Center Okazaki of Hiroaki Nagai and Yuta Kamimura made superb progress from 16th on the grid to come home in sixth, and third in the Silver-Am class. Tanart Sathienthirakul and Eshan Pieris finished seventh in the #911 Absolute Racing car, taking their third Silver class victory, with teammates Anthony Liu and Alessio Picariello recovering to eighth in the #1 car, having dropped to 19th after the pit stops.

In Race 2, Picariello made two places on the start to run fifth by the end of the opening lap. Ahead of the pit stops, the Belgian driver climbed another position before handing over to Liu. The reigning GT World Challenge Asia champion came out in second and was challenging for the lead before a Full Course Yellow neutralised the field. The race then finished under a safety car, meaning the #1 Absolute Racing duo had to settle for a runner-up spot.

The #4 Origine Motorsport Porsche made it back-to-back podiums in Japan, with Heinrich showing great pace in the opening stint and Wei securing third to retain his lead in the drivers’ standings. The sister #87 Origine Motorsport car of Yuan Bo and Leo Ye topped the Silver-Am runners in fourth overall, after a penalty dropped them out of the victory battle in Race 1.

Meanwhile, Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter were rewarded for a strong weekend on board the #51 AMAC Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2) with Am class victory on Sunday after running in the overall top 10 in Race 1 before dropping out late on. Sathienthirakul and Pieris rounded out their weekend in third in the Silver category, while Porsche Center Okazaki’s Kiyoshi Uchiyama and Tsubasa Kondo were third in the Silver-Am class.

The battle in the Drivers’ Championship is now hotting up as the series heads into the final four races, as Wei leads Liu and Picariello by just one point. Bo and Ye sit third, 13 points further back and 22 clear in the Silver-Am class. Origine Motorsport extends their advantage in the teams’ standings, now 53 points ahead of Absolute Racing.

In the Japan Cup, Yoshitomo Makino and Daiki Fujiwara finished fourth and seventh aboard the #82 Sunrise BLVD Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in Races 1 and 2 respectively. Makoto Haga was the sole GTC Am entry but put in a pair of strong performances to take 10th and eighth in the GAMA 83 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand

At the Bangsaen Street Circuit, GT4 Am entry Henk Kiks and Erwin de Smit took an overall victory in the Thailand Super Series Race 1 aboard the #26 B-Quik Absolute Racing Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS. Fire Monkey Motorsport’s Am entrant Simon Chan was third overall in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), claiming a GTM victory. AAS Motorsport’s Nattachak Hanjitkasem and Kmik Karnasuta were fifth in GTM, with the team’s GT4 entry, driven by Kantadhee Kusiri and Pitsanu Sirimongkolkasem, also taking a top-five result in class.

Hanjitkasem and Karnasuta claimed a podium result in Race 2, finishing third in the #17 Porsche. Meanwhile, the 2W Zoomies duo of Warren Adulayavichitr and Prakhun Phornprapha led home Kiks and De Smit for a GT4 Am class 1-2.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia

The Porsche Carrera Cup Asia field headed to Bangsaen for the first time in five years, and it was two returning champions, Florian Latorre and Chris van der Drift who took victory.

Latorre secured a double pole position for Team Jebsen in Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2024 campaign. In Race 1, Latorre’s former rival and three-time title-winner Toro Racing’s Chris van der Drift would finish on the top step of the podium, with the French driver second ahead of Porsche Holding’s Martin Ragginger. Phantom Global Racing driver Bao Jinlong won the Pro-Am class, ahead of Kai Shun Liu and Xuanyu Li, while Eric Kwong bested Munkong Sathienthirakul and Max Yao in the Am category.

In Race 2, Latorre would hit back with a victory on the Thailand streets, beating van der Drift and Ragginger, who once again rounded out the podium places. Bao secured a double Pro-Am victory, this time beating Yaqi Zhang and Liu. Sathienthirakul climbed to the top step of the Am class podium, with Henry Kwong second and Qikuan Cao third.

Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “Laurin did an amazing job in both races. In the first stint of Race 2 he was producing some very encouraging lap times. The car was working well throughout the weekend and I want to thank the team for all of their hard work. We will keep pushing at the next one.”

Laurin Heinrich, Origine Motorsport: “I’m really happy with this weekend, back-to-back podiums is a great result. We didn’t expect to be in the fight for victory for Race 2, particularly with the long pit stop, but the car was just flying to be honest. I made a good gap out front during my stint but we were unlucky with the safety car. Still, P2 and P3 is still really positive for the championship.”

Anthony Liu, Absolute Racing: “We knew it would be a tough weekend at Suzuka. The team worked hard and we scored a podium in Race 2, which keeps us well in contention for the championship. We will do our best in the last two events of the season.”

Alessio Picariello, Absolute Racing: “We managed to get second in Race 2 for some valuable points after a strong performance. The safety car set us back on Saturday, but we managed to climb back to eighth from 19th, so we can be happy with that. A well-deserved break is coming up for everyone before an intense end to the season.”

Yuan Bo, Origine Motorsport: “It was a really unlucky weekend for us. The car was working well around Suzuka, but we couldn’t fully maximise the result. Still, we are in a good position for the championship and Race 2 was another strong points haul. I’m looking forward to the next one at Okayama.”

Leo Ye, Origine Motorsport: “I’d like to apologise for the first race. I was trying to fight back after losing a position and made a mistake. We did a great job on Sunday though. My teammate gained a lot of positions before the Full Course Yellow, so it was a nice recovery. Thankfully we’re still in a good position for the championship and I will make sure to keep things clean for the final two race weekends.”

Eshan Pieris, Absolute Racing: “I’m delighted to be leaving Suzuka celebrating another victory and podium in the Silver class. It’s an iconic circuit, so we’re really happy to have had a strong weekend here, including another overall top-10 finish. Thanks to the team and to Tanart and looking forward for more at Sepang.”

Brian Lee, GTO Racing Team: “We finally managed to get the car set-up for Race 2, but it was a bit too late to make a significant impact. With so many safety cars and Full Course Yellows, it was always going to be difficult to improve our position.”

Hideto Yasuoka, GTO Racing Team: “First of all, I’d like to thank the marshalls who had to deal with a lot of incidents through the two races. We did our best but didn’t really have the pace. It was another learning weekend and we know that qualifying is an area we need to improve on. There wasn’t a lot of green running, so not many opportunities to make up positions. The aim for Okayama is to find a good baseline set-up straight away. We had our best weekend there last year so I’m aiming for the podium to give something back to the team.”

Andrew Macpherson, AMAC Motorsports: “What can you say about the famous Suzuka Circuit, it’s a privilege to race here. Our sixth time coming here and it’s always special to race in the Am class, which includes such wonderful sportsmanship and camaraderie. Saturday was one of our worst days but we got maximum points on Sunday, so we’re still in the hunt for the Am class championship. The Porsche worked well in Suzuka and Okayama could suit it even more. A special mention goes to the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific support, SRO management, and our amazing Japanese fan base.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “What a weekend for us in Suzuka and Bangsaen, having customers racing in both GT World Challenge Asia and Thailand Super Series, as well as the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

“It has been a fiercely competitive season so far in the GT World Challenge Asia, and it was great to see our customers performing well in both the teams’ and drivers’ standings ahead of the penultimate rounds. To come away with three podium finishes and great results across the classes marks a successful weekend for us.

“The Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand running as part of the Thailand Super Series was fantastic this weekend. The Bangsaen Street Circuit is tough to master, but the teams and drivers did a brilliant job overall.

“Last but certainly not least it was really a pleasure to have Carrera Cup Asia return to this iconic event and circuit after five years. We had some fierce and close battles throughout the classes and now we look forward to the second half of the season.”