Porsche takes superb 1-2 finish in scorching GT World Challenge Asia season opener
Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific’s customer teams made a strong start to the 2025 GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS, with Origine Motorsport’s Yuan Bo and Leo Ye leading home the Phantom Global Racing entry of Anthony Liu and Dorian Boccolacci in Race 1.
Following an incredible 2024 campaign for the marque, which saw it win both the teams’ and drivers’ titles, 12 entries took on the Sepang International Circuit for this year’s curtain-raising event. The field was met with baking conditions to kick off the campaign, with testing and practice on Thursday and Friday, followed by Qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, with Race 2 on Sunday.
Having started third for Race 1 on Saturday, Bo enjoyed a strong launch in the #87 car to move into second off the line. Meanwhile, Liu had an even better getaway, taking the inside line at Turn 1 and jumping from seventh to fourth.
Good work in the pitlane from both teams meant Leo Ye and Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver Boccolacci sat first and second at the end of the pit window. The pair remained virtually unchallenged for the rest of the race, with Origine Motorsport securing its third win in as many years in Malaysia.
Brian Lee and Nico Menzel took overall points in eighth after a strong performance for GTO Racing Team, just ahead of Ben Porter, who also clinched Am victory in the #51 AMAC Motorsport machine. Absolute Racing’s Li Xuanyu and Daniel Lu Wenlong made it five Porsche entries in the overall points with 10th, also earning third place in the Silver-Am category.
There was a positive Pro-Am class finish for Wang Zhongwei and Patrick Pilet, who were fifth for Absolute Racing, while EBM’s Adrian D’Silva and Dylan Pereira claimed seventh.
Kiyoshi Uchiyama and Yuta Kamimura finished sixth in the Silver-Am category for Porsche Center Okazaki, just ahead of the #86 Origine Motorsport entry of Li Kerong and Anders Fjordbach.
Han Min Kwan and series debutant Dominic Ang were eighth in the same class for second-year Korean team Vollgas Motorsport, with Phantom Global Racing’s Chris Chia and Adderly Fong ninth.
Race 2 saw the #87 and #37 cars in the fight once again, as Ye and Boccolacci held solid positions at the halfway mark. After serving their success penalties from Race 1 and handing over to Bo and Liu respectively, the pair put on an excellent fight for position, eventually crossing the line fifth and sixth to score more solid points for the championship.
Bastian Buus enjoyed a great opening stint in the #4 Origine Motorsport entry, and the team was looking good for another race win when Lu Wei jumped in the car. An unfortunate penalty, however, meant Wei was only able to clinch a point in 10th.
D’Silva and Pereira took their second Pro-Am points finish with eighth, one place ahead of Zhongwei and Pilet.
In the Silver-Am category, Uchiyama and Kamimura stood on the third step of the podium after a solid drive from the Japanese pairing. Han and Ang narrowly missed out on silverware for Vollgas Motorsport in fourth, while Xuanyu and Wenlong completed a positive weekend in fifth. Li and Fjordbach claimed seventh, as Chia and Fong took the final point in 10th. GT World Challenge Asia returns to action next month, when it tackles a brand-new track in the shape of Mandalika International Circuit on 9-11 May.
Yuan Bo, Origine Motorsport: “We’re delighted to begin our title defence with a victory at Sepang. The pace was really good yesterday and I enjoyed being out there. Today it was really hot so not quite so easy. I still managed to make some nice overtakes and Leo brought it home for strong points.”
Leo Ye, Origine Motorsport: “This weekend went really well, the car felt strong yesterday and we were able to start the season in the perfect way by taking victory. Today, we tried a few set-up changes, Bob did a great job and pulled off some amazing overtakes, but we found it difficult to find the right levels of grip, so weren’t able to attack the frontrunners. It was a solid event to kick off the campaign and next time out we’ll look to keep improving.”
Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “It was a difficult weekend for me. In Race 1 we were caught by another car, giving us a puncture and then today I made a mistake when going for the lead of the race. Apologies to the team for this and we’ll look to bounce back next month.”
Bastian Buus, Origine Motorsport: “I’m happy to be with Origine Motorsport for the 2025 GT World Challenge Asia season and it was great to be working alongside the team this weekend. It wasn’t our best event, but we showed we have pace and I’m confident we will fight back in Indonesia.”
Kerong Li, Origine Motorsport: “It wasn’t the smoothest weekend for us, although I’m still pleased to have made my GT World Challenge Asia debut. It’s been a steep learning curve, but one that will benefit me. Today’s race had signs of positives, gaining plenty of positions. Our pace is competitive and I’m confident that we’ll be stronger in Indonesia.”
Anders Fjordbach, Origine Motorsport: “The first round is complete at a very hot Sepang! It’s great to be here and I’m proud to be a part of such a great championship. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the best of luck this weekend with some small hiccups preventing us from scoring points. We have a lot of speed but no results yet, so I’m looking forward to Round 2.”
Dorian Boccolacci, Phantom Global Racing: “I’m very happy with the weekend in Sepang, it was great to be back with Phantom Global Racing! Qualifying was strong and then we had good pace in both races. Anthony drove superbly on Saturday to go from P7 to P4 on the first lap and I was really pleased to bring home the podium finish in second, along with the Fastest Lap. Today we were competitive again despite the success penalty, and took solid points for our championship push. A big thanks to Anthony and the team for their hard work and we’ll look to take the top step at Mandalika next month.”
Wang Zhongwei, Absolute Racing: “It was my first time driving the Porsche 911 GT3 R, so it was difficult for me to extract the maximum, although I improved as the weekend went on. I had a great reference and support from Patrick and was able to close the gap. Hopefully we can build on this and deliver a stronger performance next time out.”
Patrick Pilet, Absolute Racing: “This weekend was a challenging one - the team worked really hard to find the balance and make it easy to drive. We improved throughout the weekend and Wang drove strongly, so we need to keep the positives and look forward to the next races.”
Li Xuanyu, Absolute Racing: “I’ve learned a lot from this weekend, I had some great battles on track and enjoyed the challenge. Now we have to prepare to be all set for the next event at Mandalika!”
Daniel Lu Wenlong, Absolute Racing: “I really enjoyed the opening weekend of the 2025 GT World Challenge Asia campaign. We were still finding pace in the car throughout practice and performed strongly to take a class podium on Saturday. Today we had a few incidents but overall it was a positive season opener.”
Brian Lee, GTO Racing Team: “I’m really happy to be racing alongside Nico. He is quick, reliable and gives great feedback, which helped me learn throughout the weekend. This weekend was a big improvement for the team, and I hope we’ll be even better next time.”
Nico Menzel, GTO Racing Team: “It’s great to be competing in GT World Challenge Asia with GTO Racing, we learned a lot this weekend and took it step by step. Brian did a great job and we were happy to score overall points on Saturday. It could’ve been even more today until Brian got hit, which was a shame. We’re happy with the first event and now looking to learn for the next one.”
Han Min-Kwan, Vollgas Motorsport: “A technical issue prevented us from running on Thursday, but great support from Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific meant we were able to run on Friday. We struggled for pace on Saturday, but made some set-up changes and the car was much more comfortable to drive today. Thanks to the team and to Porsche for a successful first round of the season.”
Dominic Ang, Vollgas Motorsport: “Firstly, a big thanks to Vollgas Motorsport for the opportunity to work with them in my first race for Porsche. Over the weekend we managed to improve this car and hopefully the improvements will roll over to the next round.”
Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “After a long off-season, it felt great to be back at a GT World Challenge Asia event, supporting our teams, drivers and customers. The success of Race 1 made it worth the wait, to finish 1-2 in the opening round is the perfect way to kick off the campaign. As a company, we are very proud to have seven past champions from Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and various Carrera Cup series compete here in the GT3 R, with Dorian, Leo, Daniel, Dylan, Nico, Patrick and Bastian all proving their talent with strong showings this weekend. We’re really happy to have picked up positive results in all categories, and can’t wait for the next round at Mandalika, which is sure to be an interesting test for the whole field”.