A thrilling first four races of the season had left the Clearwater Racing McLaren MP4-12C of Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Rob Bell top of the pile. They were yet to record a win but were proving that consistency is key in a championship as tight as this one. Three different winners in the first four races had shown that any one of around 10 cars could legitimately challenge for the win on pace alone.
Winners of the 1st race at Autopolis last time out Mok Weng Sun and Keita Sawa came to Fuji for rounds 5 & 6 brimming with confidence. Mok Weng Sun, winner at Fuji last year, looked on as Sawa put their car on pole for the 1st race of the weekend. Sawa in the Clearwater Ferrari lined up just ahead of Rob Bell in the Clearwater team’s McLaren. Rounding out the top 4 were Rui Aguas in the Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 and Christopher Mies in the 1st of the two Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultras.
Race 1
Following Typhoon Neoguri which had hit the area around Fuji hard on Thursday there were fears there would be no racing at all. However come race day the sun was out and the drivers were ready for a hard fought dry race.
As the green flag flew Sawa was off and away, getting the jump on the rest of the field and leading through the first corner.
In qualifying Sawa had been a class apart from the rest, with Rob Bell the only one within a second of his pole time. However as was the case in qualifying the chasing group were too close to call. 3rd to 9th on the grid had been split by just 4 tenths of a second in quali and with none of them giving an inch there were bound to be tears.
A hard charging Stefan Mucke in one of the CRAFT Bamboo Aston Martins was left with nowhere to go coming into the first corner hitting Rui Aguas Ferrari hard from behind. Aguas had to limp round the lap with rear damage and a puncture, but Mucke came off worse. Initially he was able to continue but eventually the car was retired as a result of the front end damage.
With that incident and another tangle further down the GTM field the safety car was deployed to remove debris on the circuit. Sawa’s lead was reduced to nothing and Rob Bell could smell his opportunity. Behind Bell was a very strong showing from the B-Max Racing Nissan GT-R. Katsumasa Chiyo had kept his nose clean and kept out of trouble leap frogging four cars from the start.
At the restart any hope of Bell getting a run on Sawa was immediately quashed by another textbook restart by the Ferrari driver. The first corner again was the site of another incident, this time straight from the restart. Joel Camathius in the NB team Mercedes SLS clipped Tomonobu Fujii’s Porsche 997 from behind end his race and spinning the Porsche out of contention.
As the cars came in for their mandatory stops the top two emerged in formation, with Hamaguchi determined to chase down and pass Mok Weng Sun’s Ferrari. Behind them the pit stops had really shaken things up. A slow stop for the 3rd placed Nissan all but ruined a well calculated 1st stint dropping them out of the top 5. Up to 3rd had come the Absolute Audi in the hands Jeffrey Lee.
As the laps ticked down Hamaguchi could seemingly do nothing to counter the leader’s pace and as the two crossed the line they were separated by just 2 and a half seconds a gap that made it seem closer than it truthfully was. The fight for 3rd was fought to the wire and just a few laps from the end Anthony Liu, winner of the first round of the season, got past a very unlucky Jeffrey Lee to take the final podium place. Lee held on to bring the Audi home 4th and was followed over the line by another Ferrari in the hand of Taiyou Iida in the Direction racing machine.
In GTM the pole sitting Ferrari of Chou and Chan had collided early on in the race with one of the top class Aston Martins and had been forced to retire. That left Wayne Chen to take the chequered flag first in his Porsche. 2nd was the now championship leading Fjordback and Liu Ferrari and rounding out the top 3 was the Yeung and Vong Audi.
Race Result
1. 3. Keita Sawa/Mok Weng Sun (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 33-laps
2. 32. Rob Bell/Hiroshi Hamaguchi (Clearwater Racing McLaren MP4-12C)
3. 37. Davide Rizzo/ Anthony Liu (BBT Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
4. 7. Christopher Mies/Jeffrey Lee (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3)
5. 26. Tatsuya Kataoka/Taiyou Iida (Direction Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
6. 99. Kevin Gleason/Jonathan Venter (CRAFT Racing Aston Martin)
7. 9. Max Wiser/Jiang Xin (NB Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3)
8. 13. Katsumasa Chiyo/Robert Hori (B-Max Racing Nissan GT-R GT3)
9. 11. Pit Bhirombhakdi/Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (Singha Porsche 997 GT3-R)
10. 12. Craig Baird/Richard Wee (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
11. 98. Alex Yoong/Phillip Ma (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3)
12. 92. Tomonobu Fujii/Takashi Hata (Team KRM Porsche 997 GT3-R) – 32-laps
13. 16. Wayne Shen (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup)*
14. 27. Soichirou Mano/Kenji Nakahara (Direction Racing Porsche 997 GT3-R)
15. 18. Thomas Fjordbach/Craig Liu (Taiwan Top Speed 458 Challenge)*
16. 77. Jacky Yeung/Keith Vong (Tiger Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3)*
17. 8. Keo Chang/Robert Lee (Taiwan Top Speed Ferrari 458 Challenge)*
18. 38. Rui Aguas/Nasrat Muzayyin (Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 31-laps
19. 68. John Shen (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup)*
20. 86. Francis Hideki Onda (Tunewear/RacerLink Audi R8 LMS GT3)*
21. 33. Fukujirou (Team KRM Porsche 997 GT3 Cup)*
22. 58. Ryo Fukuda/Terry Fang (Taiwan Top Speed Ferrari 458 Challenge)*
23. 96. Michael Chua/Joseph Chua (Mike Racing Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3)
24. 51. Ishihara Masayuki/Gamisan (CFR Ferrari 458 Challenge)*
25. 22. Joe Hsu Cheng Chang/Lin Tsung Han (Taiwan Top Speed 458 Challenge)* – 30-laps
DNF. 97. Frank Yu/Stefan Mucke (CRAFT Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage) – 24-laps
DNF. 28. Max Chen/Evan Chen (A-1 Racing Corvette C6R) – 22-laps
DNF. 88. George Chou/Samson Chan (Taiwan Top Speed 458 Challenge)* – 21-laps
DNF. 47. Satoshi Hoshino (D’Station Hai Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 15-laps
DNF. 34. Takuma Aoki/Dilantha Malagamuwa (Dilango Racing Gallardo LP560 GT3) – 7-laps
DNF. 5. Joel Camathias/Fu Song Yang (NB Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3) – 3-laps
DNF. 21. Francis Tija (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup)* – 0-laps
DNF. 35. Sky Chen/Aki Miyazaki (Team KRM Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 0-laps
DNS. 17. Jian Wei Wang/Sun Jing Zu (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3)
*GTM class
Race 2
After the extreme weather in the week leading up to the race weekend it was little surprise that heavy rain greeted the field on Sunday morning for race 2. Visibility was poor and with the top three coming over the line side by side it was a real close your eyes and hope first corner. Pole sitter Hamaguchi in his McLaren held on to the lead through the first corner, hot on his heals were the Ferraris of Liu and Weng Sun. However by the end of the first lap Liu had spun in the heavy rain. He was one of 4 cars to spin in the early laps including Frank Yu in the 1st of the CRAFT Bamboo Aston Martins. Yu had been circulating in 4th.
The big mover in the rain though was the Porsche of Thai driver Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak who dragged himself from 7th on the grid to the lead by the time the pit stops came round. Being passed for the lead seemed to wake Hamaguchi and for the next few laps the Porsche and the McLaren sat nose to tail with the ever present Weng Sun sat waiting for a mistake ahead.
As they all pitted Rob Bell emerged 1st in the McLaren closely followed by the all Thai Porsche with Sawa’s Ferrari a few seconds back after they were forced to stop for 4 seconds longer than Bell due to their previous day’s race win.
Bell began to pull away in the lead and Sawa began to pressure the Porsche. The pressure began to tell and eventually became too much as the Porsche spun out of contention. Sawa was about to receive another slice of luck as Bell was called into the pits for a penalty after an infringement at the pit stop.
Sawa was now clear of the field but the gap between him and the 2nd placed Audi of Mies was vanishing fast. Mies was flying in the rain and with only a couple of laps to go passed Sawa for the lead. The other late excitement came from a very rapid and very unfortunate Rob Bell. After his penalty Bell set fastest lap after fastest lap in search of a podium. But it wasn’t to be, Bell crossed the line in 6th, the first time him and Hamaguchi haven’t been seen on the podium this year.
So Mies crossed the line first to give the Audi it’s 1st win this year in GT Asia. Sawa followed in 2nd to complete a very satisfying weekend for him and Weng Sun. 3rd was a slightly disappointed Stefan Mucke in the CRAFT Bamboo Aston Martin and a very creditable 4th was the all Thai Singha Porsche 997.
In GTM Satoshi Hoshino made it a double Audi win with Round 5 winner Wayne Shen in 2nd and Francis Tjia in his Porsche coming home 3rd
With nearly a month before the next rounds in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia the teams will have time to regroup as they near halfway point of this 13 race season.
Championship leaders Bell and Hamaguchi are still looking for their first win and with a clean race they will surely pick one up soon. Sawa and Weng Sun draw level on points with Frank Yu to form the chasing pack.
Race Result
1. 7. Jeffrey Lee/Christopher Mies (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3) – 30-laps
2. 3. Mok Weng Sun/Keita Sawa (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
3. 97. Frank Yu/Stefan Mucke (CRAFT Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage)
4. 11. Piti Bhirombhakdi/Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (Singha Porsche 997 GT3-R)
5. 98. Phillip Ma/Alex Yoong (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3)
6. 32. Hiroshi Hamaguchi/Rob Bell (Clearwater Racing McLaren MP4-12C)
7. 26. Taiyou Iida/Tatsuya Kataoka (Direction Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
8. 99. Jonathan Venter/Kevin Gleason (CRAFT Racing Aston Martin)
9. 13. Robert Hori/Katsumasa Chiyo (B-Max Racing Nissan GT-R GT3)
10. 37. Anthony Liu/Davide Rizzo (BBT Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
11. 38. Nasrat Muzayyin/Rui Aguas (Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 Italia GT3)
12. 92. Takashi Hata/Tomonobu Fujii (Team KRM Porsche 997 GT3-R)
13. 9. Jiang Xin/Max Wiser (NB Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3)
14. 47. Satoshi Hoshino (D’Station Hai Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3)*
15. 16. Wayne Shen (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup)* – 29-laps
16. 21. Francis Tija (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup)*
17. 27. Kenji Nakahara/Soichirou Mano (Direction Racing Porsche 997 GT3-R)
18. 88. Samson Chan/George Chou (Taiwan Top Speed 458 Challenge)*
19. 5. Fu Song Yang/Joel Camathias (NB Team Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3)
20. 68. John Shen (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup)*
21. 58. Terry Fang/Ryo Fukuda (Taiwan Top Speed Ferrari 458 Challenge)*
22. 86. Francis Hideki Onda (Tunewear/RacerLink Audi R8 LMS GT3)*
23. 8. Robert Lee/Keo Chang (Taiwan Top Speed Ferrari 458 Challenge)*
24. 51. Gamisan/Ishihara Masayuki (CFR Ferrari 458 Challenge)* – 28-laps
25. 77. Keith Vong/Jacky Yeung (Tiger Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3)*
26. 96. Joseph Chua/Michael Chua (Mike Racing Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3)
27. 22. Lin Tsung Han/Joe Hsu Cheng Chang (Taiwan Top Speed 458 Challenge)* – 27-laps
DNF. 35. Aki Miyazaki/Sky Chen (Team KRM Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 27-laps
DNF. 33. Fukujirou (Team KRM Porsche 997 GT3 Cup)* – 24-laps
DNF. 34. Takuma Aoki/Dilantha Malagamuwa (Dilango Racing Gallardo LP560 GT3) – 17-laps
DNF. 12. Richard Wee/Craig Baird (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 6-laps
DNF. 28. Evan Chen/Max Chen (A-1 Racing Corvette C6R) – 1-lap
DNF. 18. Craig Liu/Thomas Fjordbach/ (Taiwan Top Speed 458 Challenge)* – 0-laps
DNS. 17. Jian Wei Wang/Sun Jing Zu (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3)
*GTM class
Bell/Hamaguchi McLaren 86 points
Sawa/Weng Sun Ferrari 71 points
Yu Aston Martin 71 points
Rizzo/Liu Ferrari 64 points
Wiser/Xin Aston Martin 50 points
James Goodwin
