Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific is in for a busy weekend, as 13 entries head off to Suzuka to take on Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS and Fanatec Japan Cup, while seven Porsche cars are set for the streets of Bangsaen in Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand, racing alongside Porsche Carrera Cup Asia's 27 entries.

Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia

Current teams’ championship leaders Origine Motorsport picked up their third win of the season in Fuji, but the first of the campaign for the #87 car driven by Leo Ye and Yuan Bo, which sees the duo just two points off the drivers’ championship lead. On the other side of the garage, Lu Wei has Laurin Heinrich as his teammate, replacing Patrick Pilet, in the #4 car for the first time since the opening round in Sepang, where they were victorious in Race 2.

Absolute Racing moved up to second in the team’s standings in Fuji, as Anthony Liu and Alessio Picariello secured victory in the second race of the event, meaning they top the drivers’ championship. Eshan Pieris and Tanart Sathienthirakul will look to continue their strong form in the #911, after taking the lead of the Silver Cup with another class win last time out.

Joel Eriksson will resume alongside Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak in the #93 Phantom Global Racing, following a strong P4 in the opener at Fuji Speedway, while two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Timo Bernhard, will make his series debut in the #13 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).

Porsche Centre Okazaki celebrated their first Silver-Am podiums of the season, with the #25 of Kiyoshi Uchiyama and Tsubasa Kondo, at the first of three home events for the Japanese outfit, while Yuta Kamimura returns to the #18 Porsche alongside Hiroaki Nagai.

Brian Lee and Hideto Yasuoka secured their best results of the season in the Silver-Am class for GTO Racing Team last month, so the second-year pairing will be looking to continue this upwards trend.

Vollgas Motorsport secured a set of Silver-Am P5 finishes, with Han Min-kwan alongside the returning Kim Jae-hyun, while AMAC Motorsport moved to second in the Am standings, as Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter picked up their first victory of the season in Race 2 at Fuji. The 2022 champions will be looking to narrow the gap to the leaders again this weekend at the iconic Suzuka Circuit.

In the Fanatec Japan Cup, Porsche will have two entries, with Sunrise BLVD’s #82 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport driven by Daiki Fujiwara and Yoshitomo Makino. The Japanese duo continued their impressive start to their debut campaign, taking a GT4 victory in Race 2 to leave them within touching distance of the top of the standings.

Makoto Haga will again pilot the GAMA 83 Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup 991, after a pair of P13 finishes at Fuji.

The Suzuka International Racing Course is 5.807-kilometres of motorsport history with iconic corners such as the Esses, Spoon Curve and 130R. The home of the Japanese Grand Prix, this stunning track is unique with its figure-of-eight layout.

Track action gets underway on Friday with Practice 1 taking place at 11:00 local time, and Practice 2 later that day at 16:20. Saturday starts with Qualifying at 9:00, before Race 1 begins at 12:25, with lights out for Race 2 on Sunday at the slightly earlier time of 11:35.

Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand

Meanwhile, seven Porsche entries are ready to take on the Bangsaen Street Circuit in the second round of the Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand.

In the GTM category, Simon Chan will take on the weekend in the #10 Fire Monkey Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992), after picking up a podium in Race 2 at the season opener in Buriram.

AAS Motorsport continue with Nattachak Hanjitkasem and Kmik Karnasuta in the #17 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992) in the GTM class, while Kantadhee Kusiri will look to keep up his strong form in the GT4 class, being joined by Pitsanu Sirimongkolkasem. Previously at Chang International Circuit, Kusiri secured a second-place finish, before going one better in Race 2 to earn the victory.

The #95 2W Zoomies duo of Warren Adulayavichitr and Prakhun Phornprapha also started the campaign strongly taking a double podium in Buriram, and will be looking to keep up their form on the Thai coast.

B-Quik Absolute Racing will field Henk Kiks and Erwin de Smit in the #26 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS, with the team also entering a second car in the category. Sathapona Veerachure and Iaro Razanakoto are set the make their season debut on the streets of Bangsaen.

Finally, Sontaya Kunplome will solo drive the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (Type 997) for Racing Spirit Thailand in the GTC class.

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia

Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will also be in attendance on the Thai coast, with 2022 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup champion Dylan Pereira looking to close the gap on championship leader Alessandro Ghiretti.

The series will also welcome back two former title holders, as reigning champion Florian Latorre and three-time winner Chris van der Drift are ready to do battle once again whilst they stand in as guest drivers, replacing Ghiretti and Mathys Jaubert respectively.

It promises to be an enthralling event with Porsche Carrera Cup Asia returning to Bangsaen for the first time in five years, with around 400,000 spectators expected to attend the event.

Yuan Bo, Origine Motorsport: “Suzuka is a really challenging track, it’s fast and difficult to master. After the last event in Fuji, I feel comfortable in the car so we will be aiming for victory again. We’ll focus on optimising the setup in practice band push throughout to continue our championship challenge!”

Leo Ye, Origine Motorsport: “I always love to race in Japan! Suzuka is an awesome track and we had a solid weekend here as a team last year. Hoping luck is on our side for a smooth event!”

Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “Our eyes are firmly on the podium this weekend! I’m excited to be teaming up with Laurin after our strong performances together at Sepang. We don’t have any success penalties for the first race, so fingers crossed for a good showing and plenty of points!”

Laurin Heinrich, Origine Motorsport: “I’m happy to be back with Origine Motorsport after our success in the first event of the season. It’s going to be my first time racing at Suzuka, and I’m really excited to drive on this legendary circuit, especially in the incredible Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).”

Anthony Liu, Absolute Racing: “After our overall win at Fuji, we feel more confident than ever. However, we know how strong the competition is in this series, and we’ll all need to be on top form if we are going to stand on the podium again at Suzuka.”

Alessio Picariello, Absolute Racing: "I’m looking forward to Suzuka, a track I love. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, so I’m excited to be back. We’re expecting a competitive weekend and it will be a challenge for us to stay in the championship lead, but I believe in our team and car. We need to keep our focus and push in order to maintain our position.”

Tanart Sathienthirakul, Absolute Racing: “Suzuka is one of my favourite tracks, it always feels good to come back here! We had a solid weekend in Fuji last month and now our focus is on continuing to improve and picking up more strong results.”

Eshan Pieris, Absolute Racing: “We’re feeling strong coming into Suzuka after a second Silver class victory of the season at Fuji. It’s always a pleasure working with Absolute Racing and Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific, so I’m really looking forward to getting out on track at the iconic Japanese circuit.”

Timo Bernhard, Phantom Global Racing: “I’m very happy to be making my Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia debut this weekend with Phantom Global Racing. I’ve actually never raced at Suzuka before, so I’m looking forward to getting out there and experiencing the track for the first time, it’s a dream circuit. My goal is to help the team improve further and to secure some good results at the same time.”

Joel Eriksson, Phantom Global Racing: “I’m really looking forward to my first experience on this iconic track. Growing up as a fan, Suzuka always looked awesome and to finally get a taste of it is amazing. I believe we can have a strong weekend as a team, we worked really well together at the Spa 24 Hours last week so we feel in a good position to attack the event.”

Hiroaki Nagai, Porsche Center Okazaki: “It was a solid round in Fuji and I think we’re starting to get back to the results that we showed in the opening round at Sepang. I’m looking forward to pairing up with Yuta again, and hopefully we can stand on the podium at the team’s home circuit.

Yuta Kamimura, Porsche Center Okazaki: “I’m delighted to be back in the #18 car for this weekend’s event at Suzuka, which is one of my favourite tracks. We believe that we can challenge for the Silver-Am win, so that’s the target.”

Kiyoshi Uchiyama, Porsche Center Okazaki: “It was amazing to achieve a brilliant set of results in my home race at Fuji. We’ll look to build on this at Suzuka, even though the conditions are expected to be very tricky with rain forecasted.”

Tsubasa Kondo, Porsche Center Okazaki: “We’re happy with our performance at Fuji, picking up two second place finishes in the Silver-Am Cup, moving us up to P4. Suzuka is a very technical circuit where we struggled last year, but I’m confident of a successful event this time around.”

Brian Lee, GTO Racing Team: “We’re halfway through the season, and while it’s been a challenging one so far, we showed good progress in Fuji to bounce back. I’m excited to get out on my favourite track this weekend, and we’ll look to keep improving throughout the event.”

Andrew Macpherson, AMAC Motorsport: “Ben and I were delighted to pick up our first victory of the season in the Am class last time out at Fuji. Suzuka is one of the most exciting and challenging circuits in the world, so we’re looking forward to getting out there. The aim for the event is to be on the podium in both races which we think is achievable knowing our car will be suited to the track.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “This weekend is set to be a very entertaining one with 20 Porsche entries across three different series, in addition to Porsche Carrera Cup Asia. In Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia, while it was amazing to win both races in Fuji but we know how competitive this grid is, so all the teams will have to be at their best in Suzuka. We’re also delighted to see seven Porsche entries heading to the beach side street circuit in Bangsaen to compete in the Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand with Porsche Carrera Cup Asia in support. We wish all the teams and drivers the best of luck for this thrilling weekend!”