Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific gears up for an exciting weekend as eight Porsche 911 GT3 R visit the picturesque island of Lombok for Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2026 GT World Challenge Asia season at Mandalika International Street Circuit. Meanwhile in Japan, seven x seven Racing continues its Super GT campaign at Fuji Speedway.

GT World Challenge Asia

After an excellent start to the new GT World Challenge Asia season in Sepang, which saw the marque take victories and podiums across overall, Pro-Am, Silver-Am and Am classes, the eight Porsche entries head to Lombok in high spirits for the championship’s second trip to the venue.

Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti sit top of the Drivers’ Championship for Absolute Racing heading to Lombok, following an outstanding performance last time out, clinching first and third across the two races. The pair’s #911 car will also sport a special livery for this event, inspired by Barong, a character in the Balinese culture. The squad’s second Porsche 911 GT3 R sees Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak joined for this weekend by 2024/25 Asian Le Mans Series GT champion Klaus Bachler in the #918 entry.

Reigning teams’ champions Origine Motorsport continues with Lu Wei and Alessio Picariello in the #4 Porsche 911 GT3 R, with the duo having secured an impressive win in Malaysia.

The outfit’s second entry consists of Liu Hangcheng and Wang Zhongwei, who currently lead the Am-class standings, after finishing first and second in the opening events of 2026. Phantom Global Racing’s Anthony Liu stood on the podium in Sepang and for Rounds 3 and 4 of 2026 is partnered by 2026 Michelin 6H ABU DHABI winner Loek Hartog.

Hiroaki Nagai continues for Porsche Centre Okazaki in the #18 car and will be alongside Super GT race winner Yuichi Nakayama, who makes his debut in the series. Kiyoshi Uchiyama and Tsubasa Kondo delivered a strong showing at the opener, earning Silver-Am first and second to lead the category ahead of this weekend’s action.

AMAC Motorsport’s Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter enjoyed the championship’s maiden visit to Mandalika last year, claiming Am-class pole position as well as two podiums, with the Australian duo aiming to replicate that performance in 2026.

Mandalika International Street Circuit, located on the picturesque island of Lombok, provides some incredible views of the coastline and sea, making for an impressive backdrop for motor racing.

The drivers will be tested around the 4.313-kilometre track all weekend long with hot temperatures, high humidity and potential mixed weather conditions throughout the event.

Official Practice kicks off on Friday from 10:20 local time (UTC+8), with Pre-Qualifying taking place later at 14:45. Saturday’s on-track action begins with Qualifying from 09:15, before the opener gets underway at 13:30. It’s then lights out for the second race of the weekend at 11:30 on Sunday.

Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “I’m hoping that we can continue the performance that we showed during the second event in Sepang, where we took victory. It’s going to be another tough weekend, but we’re aiming to finish both races with strong points.”

Alessio Picariello, Origine Motorsport: “I’m looking forward to being back in Mandalika with the squad and Lu Wei. I really enjoyed the track last year and we took the overall win in Race 2. We’ll aim to carry the momentum from Sepang into this event.”

Wang Zhongwei, Origine Motorsport: “Our results from the opener give me a lot of confidence heading into the second weekend of the year. We’re hopeful that we can keep up this level of performance going to Mandalika.”

Liu Hangcheng, Origine Motorsport: “We’re aiming to stay competitive after finishing first and second in the Am-class in Sepang and I’m confident we can achieve great results again for the team this weekend.”

Huang Ruohan, Absolute Racing: “Mandalika is a circuit I truly enjoy, with its many high-speed corners, it demands a lot from the drivers and a well-balanced car. My partnership with Alessandro worked excellently during the opener in Sepang, as we currently lead the drivers’ standings. I’m confident that the team’s experience and data gathered at the track last year will help us remain competitive this weekend.”

Alessandro Ghiretti, Absolute Racing: “It will be my first visit to Mandalika, and I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback about it, so I’m excited to race there. After the opening rounds, we saw that the performance is clearly there, and we just need to keep developing it. We know that if we put it all together, we can be strong, because the team is always doing an amazing job. I’m looking forward to discovering a new track for me in Mandalika.”

Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak, AAS by Absolute Racing: “In Sepang, we made a strong start to the weekend with a solid qualifying result, but unfortunately the races didn’t go our way. We’re aiming to turn things around in Mandalika. I have a new teammate in Klaus, who I won a GT World Challenge Asia race with in 2023. I’m confident we can be competitive from the outset, work well together, and fight for our first podium of the season.”

Klaus Bachler, AAS by Absolute Racing: “I’m really looking forward to being back in GT World Challenge Asia with AAS by Absolute Racing and Vutthikorn. Two years ago, we had our first race together, and we won the opener in Suzuka, so it’s a great memory. This will be my first time at Mandalika, so there are a lot of new things to learn. I’m hoping for two strong races and good results!”

Loek Hartog, Phantom Global Racing: “I’m excited to make my GT World Challenge Asia debut with Phantom Global Racing in Mandalika. The team and Anthony have already shown great success in this championship, so I’m looking forward to working together. It’ll be my first time at the circuit but I’m confident that I can learn quickly and we can enjoy a positive weekend.”

Hiroaki Nagai, Porsche Center Okazaki: “We’ve worked on the issues that we suffered in Sepang, so this time I want to be competitive from qualifying and secure good points across both races.”

Yuichi Nakayama, Porsche Center Okazaki: “This will be my first time racing at Mandalika, so my priority is to get up to speed as quickly as possible. I’ll focus on adapting fast and look to achieve a strong performance.”

Kiyoshi Uchiyama, Porsche Center Okazaki: “This will be my second visit to Mandalika and, even though I felt good in 2025, luck wasn’t on my side. I think we can carry our strong form which we showed at the opener into this weekend.”

Tsubasa Kondo, Porsche Center Okazaki: “I’m delighted to be back racing in Indonesia! I developed a great understanding of the track last year so I’m hopeful we can have a positive weekend.”

Andrew Macpherson, AMAC Motorsport: “We’re looking forward to Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2026 GT World Challenge Asia season in Mandalika. We achieved solid results here last year, securing Am-category pole position and two podiums, so hopefully we can build and improve on that performance.”

Super GT

seven x seven Racing will be aiming to build on its points-scoring start to the 2026 Super GT season this weekend as the championship visits Shizuoka Prefecture to tackle Fuji Speedway.

Kiyoto Fujinami and Sven Müller finished 12th in the GT300 class last time out at Okayama and the same pairing will take on the second round of the 2026 campaign in the #666 Porsche 911 GT3 R. The Japanese outfit’s last Super GT visit to Fuji Speedway saw them record a pair of top 10 finishes across the double-header in 2025.

With it being Golden Week in Japan, the two-day event will run on a unique schedule taking place on Sunday and Monday. On-track action begins on Sunday with Official Practice at 10:30 local time (UTC+9), before Qualifying starts from 14:20.

Monday sees the three-hour enduro get underway at 14:00.

Kiyoto Fujinami, seven x seven Racing: “Fuji Speedway will be one of the toughest races of our 2026 campaign. We achieved solid results at the track last year so we’re hoping to build on that for this enduro. We’ll give it our all as we aim to fight further towards the front.”

Sven Müller, seven x seven Racing: “It’s always great to race at Fuji Speedway, and I’m especially looking forward to seeing the team again and continuing our work together. We hope to achieve a better result this time and take another step forward in performance and overall improvement.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “We’re looking forward to Rounds 3 and 4 of the GT World Challenge Asia season this weekend at Mandalika. Even with the high-level of competition, we enjoyed an excellent opener in Sepang, which saw Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific customer teams collecting multiple trophies across several classes. This puts us in a strong position heading to Lombok and we must continue operating at a high level to replicate this kind of success. Over in Japan, seven x seven Racing resumes its 2026 Super GT campaign at Fuji Speedway as the squad looks to build on the first round of the year, with Kiyoto and Sven aiming for a strong points finish. We’re excited for another action-packed weekend and to continue supporting our customers at both Mandalika and Fuji Speedway.”