Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific’s customers capped off a superb Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia season with two wins at Shanghai International Circuit, as Origine Motorsport's Yuan Bo and Leo Ye took the drivers’ championship in dramatic fashion, in addition to the Silver-Am and teams’ titles won at the previous round in Okayama.
Three Porsche entries were in contention for the overall title, with Lu Wei entering the weekend as the championship leader in the #4 Origine Motorsport car. Their teammates in the #87 machine started the weekend as the closest challengers, while Absolute Racing’s Anthony Liu and Alessio Picariello were also in the mix in the #1 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).
All three crews qualified in the top-10 for both races, ensuring there would be an intense finish to the 12-round campaign.
Saturday’s event saw the title battle turn on its head, with Picariello going on a superb overtaking spree in the second half of the race to earn the #1 car’s second win of the season in style. That meant Liu and Picariello would take the championship lead, but also a 15-second Success Penalty for the final race. Bo and Ye stayed in contention following a fourth-place finish, also securing Silver-Am victory.
However, it was not good news for the #4 car, as Lu Wei was hit early on and forced to retire with damage.
Outside the title battle, Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak and Joel Eriksson put in a magnificent performance in the #93 Phantom Global Racing car, moving up a mammoth 23 positions on their grid slot to earn points in eighth. Just behind them was the Vollgas Motorsport duo of Kim Jae-hyun and Han Min-kwan, who scored a top-10 finish for the second consecutive race in ninth, also earning second in the Silver-Am class.
Now with the title in their own hands, Picariello made a strong start to the season finale, moving up to second. Porsche Driver Laurin Heinrich also enjoyed a positive getaway to keep the #4 car in a position to pounce.
However, Picariello was unable to hold the place, dropping back to fourth and crucially behind Ye in the #87. The 15-second Success Penalty further dented the hopes of the #1 crew, with Liu exiting the pitlane outside the points.
Meanwhile, having already locked up the Silver-Am title at Okayama last time out, Bo had his eyes on overall glory, making an excellent move for the lead of the race with 20 minutes to go. Liu was able to recover to sixth, one position behind Wei in fifth, but victory for the #87 crew was enough for them to go from third to first in the standings.
Chris Chia and Dorian Boccolacci enjoyed an excellent run to fourth for Phantom Global Racing, while Absolute Racing’s #911 duo of Eshan Pieris and Tanart Sathienthirakul ended a strong season with a third-place finish in the Silver Cup. That result was enough for the duo to clinch second in class in the championship.
Fourth in the Silver-Am class saw Vollgas Motorsport’s Han Min-kwan to snatch third in the final standings from Porsche Center Okazaki’s Hiroaki Nagai, completing an excellent first GT World Challenge Asia campaign for the Korean team.
Also ending their season third in class were Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter in the Am category, in a year which saw the AMAC Motorsport duo win twice and take six further podiums in the #51 Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.2).
Yuan Bo, Origine Motorsport: “It was a dramatic weekend full of ups and downs, and we’re delighted to have won the drivers’ title. It’s an amazing feeling, we knew we had a chance after a solid day yesterday, and then Leo gave me a great platform to go after the win. I’m hugely grateful to the team for all their hard work to help us with this achievement and I’m already looking forward to improving further next year!”
Leo Ye, Origine Motorsport: “I’m thrilled to have got my hands on the Drivers’ Championship after many years competing in the series alongside Bob! We recovered well after the start and as soon as Bob got in, I knew there was a chance of the win. I would like to thank the whole team for their hard work this campaign and helping us to deliver this unbelievable achievement.”
Lu Wei, Origine Motorsport: “It’s a pity that I couldn’t hold onto the championship lead until the end but seeing my teammates win the title has made up for the disappointment after the race. A massive thanks to the team for taking care of me throughout this year and I’m delighted that we managed to bring home the teams’ honours.”
Laurin Heinrich, Origine Motorsport: “It’s not the ending to the year we wanted on our side of the garage but I’m happy to be a part of Origine Motorsport taking the teams’ title. The #87 crew produced an excellent weekend and I’ve got to say a huge congratulations to them both.”
Anthony Liu, Absolute Racing: “It’s unfortunate to miss out on the drivers’ title but we can be happy with our performance this year. We gave it our best this weekend and drove really well yesterday to take victory. A huge thanks to Absolute Racing for all their effort and commitment this year, and also to Alessio for his support and amazing speed on track.”
Alessio Picariello, Absolute Racing: “We knew it was going to be tough to overcome the deficit and win the title, but I’m proud of the team and we finished the season strongly with yesterday’s win. Congratulations to Origine Motorsport, it’s been great to compete with them this year and they did an amazing job today.”
Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak, Phantom Global Racing: “The pace yesterday was excellent after a technical issue limited us in qualifying. Coming through to eighth made for a fun race!”
Joel Eriksson, Phantom Global Racing: “It’s a shame that the season is ending because our car has been getting stronger each week. We’ve made excellent progress throughout the year which is a massive positive. Thank you to Phantom Global Racing and Porsche for the opportunity and we’ll see what the future holds.”
Chris Chia, Phantom Global Racing: “It’s been great to make my way back to such a competitive championship after my injury. The team has helped me a lot and I’ve loved being part of this crew, and alongside my partner Dorian as well. It was a strong end to the year with a brilliant drive through the field yesterday, and then finishing fourth in class today. Hopefully we can build on this and start the 2025 campaign well!”
Dorian Boccolacci, Phantom Global Racing: “We put together a great race today, finishing fourth overall and third in class. The car felt excellent and what we’ve done in the last two rounds has been very positive so it’s a lovely way to end the season.”
Kim Jae-hyun and Han Min-kwan, Vollgas Motorsport: “This was our first year in the series and we’ve improved throughout the season to take third in our class. It’s been great to be with Porsche in our maiden campaign and we look forward to coming back next year.”
Brian Lee, GTO Racing Team: “I’m happy with how the weekend unfolded, we improved the car every session and had our best pace of the entire season. Thanks to the whole team for their work all season and to Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific for the incredible support.”
Hideto Yasuoka, GTO Racing Team: “This is the kind of weekend we were looking for ever since we stepped up to the GT3 R. Finishing both races P5 proves our potential and I think we had a chance to fight for the podium with a bit of luck. It’s good to end on a high, although a shame not to stand on the podium this season. We’ll keep pushing!”
Li Xuanyu, EBM: “It was my first experience in a Porsche 911 GT3 R, and the field is full of high-level drivers and there were plenty of challenges. I’ve gained valuable experience from this weekend and I hope that I can use this to achieve better results in future races.”
Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “A massive congratulations to Yuan Bo and Leo Ye on the drivers’ title, adding onto their Silver-Am success in Okayama, as well as Origine Motorsport defending their teams’ championship. It’s brilliant to see the squad come from Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and to then secure back-to-back team honours is so impressive. We’ve also secured the Pro-Am Cup with Absolute Racing which is terrific, and a Porsche 1-2-3 in the overall standings is unbelievable. We’ve shown how strong our entries are not just in overall numbers, but the quality throughout the field, as we’ve been consistently competing for podiums across all classes. Thank you to all our teams this year, and I’m already looking forward to getting back to Sepang next April and defending our titles!”
