Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific secured a podium finish in the second race of the GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS round at Okayama International Circuit with Origine Motorsport’s Lu Wei and Laurin Heinrich, as the Chinese driver took the lead of the championship. Meanwhile, in SRO Japan Cup, Bingo Racing earned an overall podium, while two wins for Zenko Garage RS with Sunrise BLVD earned them the GT4 title.

GT World Challenge Asia

GT World Challenge Asia entered the second half of its season at Okayama, in the final Japanese event of the campaign before the series heads to China for the remaining two rounds. Beginning the race in fourth, Wei had a solid start in the #11 Porsche 911 GT3 R, keeping pace with the leading pack. However, fellow championship contender Anthony Liu had a frustrating opening lap, with contact giving the Phantom Global Racing driver a puncture and forcing him into the pits. Huang Ruohan made strong early progress in the #911 Absolute Racing machine, moving up to ninth, before a rain shower brought an extra challenge to the race.

A spin in these greasy conditions for Haziq Zariel Oh in the HZO Fortis Racing by Absolute Racing car ended his race and brought out a Full Course Yellow, adding an extra layer to the teams’ strategy decisions as the pit window approached. Following the driver changes, Laurin Heinrich and Alessandro Ghiretti found themselves in an entertaining fight, with Heinrich prevailing with an excellent move.

The Origine Motorsport man then continued his march up the points-paying positions, taking advantage of battles ahead and making more fantastic overtakes to work his way up to fourth at the chequered flag, and second in the Pro-Am class. Ghiretti would secure eighth for Absolute Racing, and fourth in the Pro-Am category, while Ayhancan Güven recovered in the #37 Phantom Global Racing car to clinch seventh in the same class. The 2025 DTM champion was one place behind Hiroaki Nagai and Kazuto Kotaka, who enjoyed a strong race on home soil. Season debutant Kazuki Ota took eighth alongside Klaus Bachler for Absolute Racing.

In Silver-Am, Adrian D’Silva and Enzo Trulli made their first appearances of the campaign for EBM, with the Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver making his debut in the championship. Both drivers showed good pace, although a penalty would limit their potential, claiming fourth in category.

An intriguing Am battle featuring almost the entire class in the final minutes of the race made for an exciting climax, with championship leaders Liu Hangcheng and Wang Zhongwei eventually clinching third for Origine Racing. Close behind them, AMAC Motorsport’s Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter fought hard against their rivals, taking fourth.

In Sunday’s Race 2, a dramatic opening lap saw contact up and down the field, with both Ghiretti and Bachler unfortunate to be involved. Ghiretti was forced to retire the #911, while Bachler continued at the back of the pack in the sister Absolute Racing machine. Having started fifth, Heinrich gained a position on the opening tour, while Güven improved by three places to sit just behind in fifth.

Meanwhile, taking his first start in the championship, Trulli expertly avoided the incidents to move from 18th on the grid to an impressive 10th. A Full Course Yellow delayed Heinrich and Güven’s progress, although the Origine Motorsport man quickly jumped up to third at the restart, with the #37 soon following him through. The duo continued to attack and defend with full commitment, as Heinrich worked his way through to second just before the end of his stint.

Wei and Liu then took over in second and fourth respectively, immediately putting pressure on those ahead. However, with the difficulty of overtaking at the twisty Okayama circuit, neither were able to make a move to improve position. Wei attacked hard on the final lap, going side-by-side with the leader over the line, but had to settle for second, while Liu clinched good points in fourth, third in Pro-Am. These results see Wei take the lead of the championship on 106 points, holding a 22-point advantage over both Liu and the duo of Ruohan and Ghiretti.

Nagai and Kotaka continued their strong weekend for Porsche Center Okazaki, picking up their first points finish of the season with a superb drive to 10th, again securing sixth in class. Affected by the early incident, Ota and Bachler worked hard to get back into the race, but could only secure ninth in the category.

Trulli held his position in an impressive opening stint, with D’Silva jumping in the #61 car at half-distance, eventually claiming fourth in the Silver-Am class. Liu Hangcheng and Wang Zhongwei returned to the top step of the podium in the Am class for the fourth time this year with an excellent performance, and now lead the category by 10 points ahead of the final two rounds of the year, while Macpherson and Porter again earned fourth in the class.

GT World Challenge Asia returns to action at Beijing Street Circuit for Round 5 of the 2026 season on 2-4 October.

Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “I’m super happy with the results, we now have a lead in the championship before heading to Beijing. It was a really positive weekend for us, securing two good points finishes. We’ll be looking for more of the same next time out, Beijing is a tough track but we’re aiming to repeat what we did this weekend.”

Laurin Heinrich, Origine Motorsport: “It was a successful weekend in Okayama despite difficult circumstances, with the tough weather and lacking a bit of pace. Both results are massive for the championship, we hoped for the win today and came so close. I’m really proud of Wei and the team for their hard work and I’m hoping they can continue that momentum into Beijing. I’m already looking forward to being back for the finale in Shanghai.”

Ayhancan Güven, Phantom Global Racing: “Today’s race was a big improvement on yesterday. Starting eighth, we had some early battles but I was able to work my way up to fourth. Anthony pushed hard for third and showed great pace but unfortunately couldn’t quite get the move done. We showed positive improvements through the week and scored good points to keep Anthony in the title battle, so I’m hoping for more in Beijing.”

Huang Ruohan, Absolute Racing: “It was a tough weekend, we lost the lead of the championship but we are still in the fight. The BoP didn’t suit us, although we know we are capable of bouncing back, so we have to focus on coming back stronger in Beijing and Shanghai.”

Alessandro Ghiretti, Absolute Racing: “The weekend started off difficult in qualifying, with neither Ron nor I able to find enough pace, which is not what we expected coming into the event. Race 1 was solid, Ron was strong in the first stint and I managed to defend for eighth. Again, we wanted more but we achieved the maximum possible. Today’s race was unfortunate, a chain reaction of cars making contact ahead meant I couldn’t avoid them, giving us damage and forcing an early DNF. We missed out on good points this weekend, but we’re ready to fight back in Shanghai.”

Enzo Trulli, EBM: “It was my first GT World Challenge Asia weekend and I think we can be happy with the progress we made as a team. We came straight into qualifying without any practice, and improved in both races, setting some good lap times. I was very pleased with my opening stint today, gaining eight places. A big thank you to the team and Adrian for having me and I hope to be back in this championship again soon!”

Hiroaki Nagai, Porsche Center Okazaki: “We set up the car well, so it was easy to drive, but the changing weather conditions made it a challenging weekend. We still really enjoyed the event and took two strong finishes, which we’ll look to repeat next time out.”

Kazuto Kotaka, Porsche Center Okazaki: “We had good pace from Free Practice and I’m getting a better understanding of the car and how to set it up at every race. Overall, it was one of our strongest events of the season and we can take away a lot of positives.”

Kazuki Ota, Absolute Racing: “I’m thrilled to have raced with such a fantastic team and co-driver in the Porsche 911 GT3 R. I gained lots of knowledge throughout the event, and started to feel much more comfortable in the car today. A big thanks to Klaus for his support and Absolute Racing for this opportunity. Hoping to be back soon!”

Klaus Bachler, Absolute Racing: “It was a great feeling to return to GT World Challenge Asia and to take on a new track, which was very narrow but lots of fun to drive. The weekend didn’t go to plan, today I tried to avoid the cars in front during the Lap 1 incident but then got hit from behind, so had to pit early. However, we finished both races, and my teammate Kazuki improved a lot during the weekend in his first event in the car, which is a big positive.”

Andrew Macpherson, AMAC Motorsport: “It was a challenging weekend and despite the great effort of the team, we could not quite reach our potential. We’ll look to build on this round and prepare as best we can for the next outing."

Wang Zhongwei, Origine Motorsport: “It was a challenging weekend to find good pace, but thanks to the hard work of the team and my teammate, we were able to claim third yesterday and a win today, two big results for our championship challenge.”

Aaron Lim Say Joon, HZO Fortis Racing by Absolute Racing: “It was an eventful weekend in Okayama, in our second round with the car. We’re continuously learning and improving, it’s not easy with us both tackling a new circuit but every lap gives us more confidence. This weekend’s results don’t reflect our performance, as we were unlucky to be involved in incidents, resulting in two DNFs.”

SRO Japan Cup

Round 3 of the SRO Japan Cup was the final of the season to race on the same weekend of GT World Challenge Asia. Shinji Takei and Ukyo Sasahara kept their championship hopes alive with a strong podium in Race 1 for Bingo Racing, while two victories for Yoshimoto Makino and Takeshi Suehiro confirmed the Zenko RS Garage with Sunrise BLVD duo as GT4 champions.

In the first race of the weekend, Takei took the start for Bingo Racing from 10th on the grid, making solid progress in the opening stint before handing over to Sasahara. The second half of the race was rain affected, with several drivers struggling to keep their cars on the track.

However, Sasahara executed his skills to perfection, keeping out of trouble and making several overtakes to move up to second, claiming a third podium of the season for the #9 Porsche 911 GT3 R. In the GT4 category, Makino and Suehiro continued to show the excellent pace they’ve had all season in the Zenko RS Garage with Sunrise BLVD Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

Makino began the race from class pole, holding the lead all the way before handing over to Suehiro, who steadily brought the car home for the win despite the difficult conditions. Sasahara got a lightning start from third on the grid in Race 2, moving to the front of the field on the opening lap. He maintained the lead throughout his stint before handing over to Takei, who defended strongly from those behind, ultimately narrowly missing out on a podium position in fourth.

Makino and Suehiro repeated their domination from Race 1 in the GT4 category, both setting great lap times and taking a fifth win of the season from pole position, confirming them as GT4 champions with two races left to run.

SRO Japan Cup comes to an end at its next event, when it takes on Suzuka Circuit on 11-13 September. S

hinji Takei, BINGO RACING with LM corsa: “It was a positive weekend, as we were able to understand the car and match our rivals’ pace by Sunday despite the limited track time. We head into the final round second in the championship, thanks to our excellent Porsche and Ukyo’s great pace. We’ll give it everything until the very end.”

Ukyo Sasahara, BINGO RACING with LM corsa: “Despite the extreme heat and changing conditions with rain, we gained many positive points while also identifying areas to improve. We are still in contention for the championship, so we’ll keep pushing hard until the final round. ”

Yoshitomo Makino, ZENKO RS GARAGE with SUNRISE BLVD: “The second half of the race was tough on the tires, but I’m very happy to have finished on top and secured the series championship. Thank you very much for your support!”

Takeshi Suehiro, ZENKO RS GARAGE with SUNRISE BLVD: “At my home circuit in Okayama, I built enough of a gap to cover the time penalty and support Makino, so I’m very satisfied. With the championship secured early, I’m aiming to win the remaining races, starting with Suzuka, and focus on the next step.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “It was not an easy weekend for Porsche in GT World Challenge Asia, but our teams and drivers fought as hard as ever and despite the headwinds, we were able to secure some good results for the championship battle. There’s still a long way to go in this season, Beijing next up will be a tricky one for everybody, but we’re looking forward to it and are hoping to continue our fight for the championship. In Japan Cup, both entries showed great performance throughout. Bingo Racing remains in title contention with one round to go, and we’re pleased for Zenko RS Garage with Sunrise BLVD for their incredible season, wrapping up the title already.”