Porsche secured the win in both races as GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS made its first ever trip to Mandalika International Circuit in Indonesia, with the #87 and #4 Origine Motorsport cars topping the podium.

Solid qualifying performances saw the #37 Phantom Global Racing car of Anthony Liu and Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Selected Driver Dorian Boccolacci start Race 1 in third, while Yuan Bo and Leo Ye were close behind in sixth in Origine Motorsport’s #87.

An early Safety Car intervention took up a large portion of the Am drivers’ stints, although Bo picked up positions in the few green flag laps before a second interruption. The second incident saw almost the entire field enter the pit lane, with Bo handing over to Leo Ye, who exited in first place once every car had made their stop.

A chaotic multi-car battle for second then took place as Ye extended his lead, which saw Boccolacci improve to third. Ye secured a comfortable victory for the #87 Porsche 911 GT3 R, their second of the season, while Boccolacci ensured the #37 crew returned to the podium. Alessio Picariello crossed the line in fourth in the #4 car after an impressive drive, but a post-race penalty would drop the second Origine Motorsport entry to 23rd.

EBM’s Adrian D’Silva secured Pro-Am points for the third race in a row alongside season debutant Chris van der Drift in ninth, finishing narrowly in front of Brian Lee and Nico Menzel, who took 10th. Hiroaki Nagai and Kazuto Kotaka crossed the line 14th for Porsche Center Okazaki, and the #911 Absolute Racing of Wang Zhongwei and Harry King was classified 15th, despite battling for a long time inside the overall top-10.

In the Silver-Am Cup, a strong showing from Li Kerong and Anders Fjordbach in the #86 Origine Motorsport machine saw them take second, ahead of Phantom Global Racing’s Chris Chia and Adderly Fong in third. Kiyoshi Uchiyama and Tsubasa Kondo claimed fourth in class for Porsche Center Okazaki, with Han Min-Kwan and Daan Arrow sixth for Vollgas Motorsport. Li Xuanyu and Daniel Lu Wenlong were eighth in the #321 Absolute Racing car.

In the Am class, Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter scored another podium for AMAC Motorsport, finishing third after also earning class pole position.

Sunday’s Race 2 saw strong starts again from the leading Porsche entries, as Boccolacci worked his way into the podium places on Lap 1, with Picariello not far behind. An early Safety Car prevented more early progress, but Picariello was making moves on the restart, finding his way up to fourth.

Boccolacci handed his car over to Liu with 27 minutes remaining, although the pair would lose places during the stop thanks to their five-second success penalty from the previous day. Resuming the race third in the #4 car, Lu Wei was putting pressure on those in front, as Liu quickly regained positions to sit fourth.

A penalty for the leader promoted both Porsche entries onto the podium, but a Safety Car with nine minutes remaining looked like it may dent their chances of a win. However, green flag running resumed with just three minutes left, and both Lu and Liu got past at the restart to secure a terrific one-two for the German marque. Yuan and Ye backed up their win on Saturday with seventh in Race 2, as they continue to lead the way in their defence of the Drivers’ title.

Zhongwei returned to the top-10 in the Pro-Am class in ninth, with series debutant King picking up his first points finish. Nagai and Kotaka narrowly missed out in 11th, ahead of Lee and Menzel in 14th and D’Silva and van der Drift in 15th.

The Vollgas Motorsport duo earned the team’s first Silver-Am podium of the campaign with an excellent drive to third, finishing less than a second ahead of Xuanyu and Wenlong, who clinched fourth. Uchiyama and Kondo secured fifth, ahead of Chia and Fong in sixth, while Li and Fjordbach were forced to retire after being caught up in an early incident in the pack.

Porter moved through the field brilliantly in the final laps for AMAC Motorsport, keeping up the team’s 100% Am class podium record this season with second.

Following its maiden visit to Mandalika, GT World Challenge Asia now travels to Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand, on 30 May – 1 June for Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2025 season.

Next up for Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific is Round 2 of China GT at Shanghai International Circuit, where the marque will look to build on its success at the same circuit last month.

Leo Ye, Origine Motorsport: “Bob drove amazingly in Race 1 to get me out in the lead after the pit stop, so a huge thanks to him for his incredible race pace. We had a difficult qualifying, the balance wasn’t quite there so we will look to improve, but the speed in both events was great. It took me a few laps to find the rhythm on this new track, but after Bob handed me the car in first place, my job was just to bring it home and I’m delighted to have done that.”

Yuan Bo, Origine Motorsport: “We started from a good point in Free Practice, but didn’t have the right set-up in Qualifying, where we also got caught in traffic and encountered a red flag on our best lap. However, our speed in the races was really strong. On Saturday, I gained positions at the start and then focused on handing it to Leo in a good place. Thankfully, he was able to do the rest and bring it home cleanly for our second win of the season. In Race 2 we battled hard from further down the grid to again score points, which is positive moving forward.”

Alessio Picariello, Origine Motorsport: “The team has worked really hard this weekend to find an issue on the car, so we are very thankful to them for their commitment. It wasn’t easy for us today, we picked up damage after being hit in the early stages, which made it tough to drive. However, Lu did an amazing job to defend from behind and attack the leading and can be very proud of his performance, it’s a well-deserved victory for us!”

Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “It’s been a tough season so far, the team did a great job on the car and I’m so impressed with Alessio, he drove brilliantly to put me in a position to win the race. The car was damaged after early contact, so I’m amazed Alessio was able to get us in the position he did. I’m grateful for the whole team’s effort and pleased I could deliver when it mattered to make the move for the win. I’m really happy to take the victory and looking for more next time out.”

Kerong Li, Origine Motorsport: “I’m very happy to have taken the first podium in my racing career, it wasn’t easy but I worked well with Anders and finally got the result we were looking for. The race was intense but the team’s hard work has paid off with this performance. A huge thanks to Anders for his amazing stint and I’m excited for more this season.”

Anders Fjordbach, Origine Motorsport: “It was really cool to take the podium, this is what we race for! The field was tightly-bunched, it was competitive and awesome to drive on such an interesting track. Both Kerong and I had good pace and we will be looking to build on this result in Thailand.”

Dorian Boccolacci, Phantom Global Racing: “I’m very happy with the weekend, two podiums is a great result. We came close to the victory, Anthony was pushing for the win in Race 2 but it wasn’t quite to be. The performance is there for us, the car was strong in both events. Thanks to the team and Anthony for a good weekend and we’re already focusing on Thailand and continuing our championship push.”

Harry King, Absolute Racing: “Thank you to Absolute Racing for the warm welcome as I joined them for my debut in GT World Challenge Asia. After some problems in Free Practice, we weren’t as ready for Qualifying as we would’ve hoped. In the races, we showed strong pace, but some bad luck meant we couldn’t secure the results we aimed for. I’m looking forward to building on this and putting together a stronger performance in the future.”

Daniel Lu Wenlong, Absolute Racing: “We’ve definitely improved from the opening weekend with both the car and our driving, but still need a bit more work on both sides. The event ended on a positive note, even though the races weren’t our best. I’m excited for Buriram now, we are getting towards our potential and can push for good results there.”

Hiroaki Nagai, Porsche Center Okazaki: “It was my first time racing on this circuit, and I enjoyed the track. Our results were not what we aimed or, but we gained valuable experience as we build for the remainder of the season.”

Kazuto Kotaka, Porsche Center Okazaki: “I’m very proud to make my debut in the Porsche 911 GT3 R in such a great championship. I’m hoping we can use this experience to improve ahead of our next event at Fuji, where we will look to score more points in our home race.”

Kiyoshi Uchiyama, Porsche Center Okazaki: “While Race 2 ended disappointingly, I enjoyed the circuit and got a good feel for how to drive here. I’m looking forward to racing here again next year!”

Tsubasa Kondo, Porsche Center Okazaki: “I found it difficult this weekend to get used to the new track, but I’m confident we can use this experience to do better in the next one.”

Han Min-Kwan, Vollgas Motorsport: “We made changes to our set-up overnight for Race 2 and it worked really well, helping us to achieve a class podium. Daan drove superbly and I’m very thankful to him and to Porsche for helping us secure this result. We still have a lot of races to come this season and will keep pushing to climb higher every weekend.”

Daan Arrow, Vollgas Motorsport: “A weekend full of challenges, but capped off with a hard-earned podium finish! The margins were so thin in qualifying, and we had to make set-up changes to stay on the pace, but we worked hard as a team and it paid off. At the start in Race 2 I fought to move up from P28 to P13, and then Min-Kwan delivered an awesome drive, re-claiming P3 on the final lap to secure our podium. A huge thanks to Vollgas Motorsport for having me this weekend and I’m excited to keep building from here!”

Chris van der Drift, EBM: “It was a pleasure to be back in GT World Challenge Asia with Porsche at Mandalika, and a big thanks to Adrian and EBM for the opportunity. We picked up momentum as the week progressed and made lots of positions in Race 1 to take Pro-Am points. Unfortunately in Race 2 I got hit, which damaged the car and meant sadly we didn’t get to see Adrian in action. It was great to be racing again with Porsche and I hope to have another chance soon.”

Brian Lee, GTO Racing: “It was a tough weekend for us with lots of things not going our way. However, I enjoyed the track and would love to race here again in the future.”

Nico Menzel, GTO Racing: “A challenging weekend for us with some issues we unfortunately didn’t get on top of. That’s racing sometimes and part of the journey. Thanks to the team for the hard work and we’ll come back strong in Buriram. We’ve got unfinished business in Mandalika so it would be great to return next year to do better!”

Andrew Macpherson, AMAC Motorsport: “We were excited to bring our car to Round 2 of GT World Challenge Asia to experience a new track in Indonesia! The circuit is fast and technical and a real challenge. Despite a strong field, Ben and I were able to twice finish on the podium, with third and second in the Am class, scoring valuable championship points. Now we move on to Round 3 at Buriram in search of more trophies.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “What a great weekend! Mandalika International Circuit is a new track for the teams and drivers, but they all adapted quickly and we’re very happy to see the hard work pay off with two victories. The field was very tight this weekend, which meant everybody had to be on top of their game. We’re very proud of all the teams - their professionalism and focus is what led to wins and podiums across every class we compete in. It was a thoroughly enjoyable weekend and we’re hoping to carry this momentum forward to Buriram as we hunt for more success.”