Rounds 11 and 12 of the GT ASIA series saw the series share the bill with the Asian Le Mans Series in Shanghai.
Going into the weekend the championship was still wide open but with only a single race in Macau to come it was more an opportunity to drop out of the title race than win it. Sadly the first team to suffer misfortune did so before they even got to qualifying. In one of Thursday’s practice sessions Hiroshi Hamaguchi had a slight moment but hit the barriers hard. The accident all but destroyed his McLaren which he shares with Rob Bell. Hamaguchi was thankfully okay but it meant that the championship leaders were looking unlikely to race. A cruel twist which would surely see them drop out of the running in a title they had led since round three.
Come qualifying though the traditional Sportscar pit lane spirit had shone through and Hamaguchi and Bell would line up in a rival team’s spare McLaren. Not ideal but far better than the alternative.
Race 1
Qualifying for race one saw title protagonists Rizzo and Liu take pole in the BBT Ferrari. Sharing the front row was the CRAFT-Bamboo Aston Martin driven by Frank Yu joined this weekend by the rapid Richard Lyons. Then came a one off entry for JRM with a Porsche GT3-R who were alongside the Mies/Lee Audi R8.
With three of the four title contenders further down the top ten and the addition of the Absolute Racing Bentley the race promised to be a cracker.
From the start there promised to be fireworks. Lyons Challenged to pole sitter Liu’s Ferrari down to turn one and was forced round the outside a move that would have given him the inside line for turn 3. Jean-Karl Vernay had other ideas though. Vernay had taken the Bentley from 5th on the grid to the lead by turn 3. An ominous start if ever there was one for Bentley in Asia.
Before the lap was up though two of the leaders were to find themselves scrabbling through the gravel trying to re-join. First to go was Lyons and joining close behind was Mies in his Audi. Damage to the rear of the Audi hinted it had not been a self-inflicted off.
After the early mayhem the top three shook out as Vernay in the Bentley comfortably a few seconds in front of Liu’s Ferrari and then came Rui Aguas in his Ferrari.
In the first stint though the man on the move was a recovering Lyons. One by one picking off top ten runners before reaching Aguas. The spirit of Race Ferrari made things a little tougher but after Aguas made a minor mistake Lyons pounced. Lyons then set about Liu ahead. Liu proved to be a little more inviting than Aguas and going into the pit stops Lyons found himself back up in 2nd.
One team that was having a bad day was the NB team Aston Martin of Max Wiser. He was struggling with clutch problems and would eventually have to retire when they couldn’t engage 1st gear after their pit stop.
The top three were shaken up at the stops in what would be vital changes in position. Liu had stopped early and the Ferrari now in the hands of Rizzo was flying. So when Lyons and Vernay pitted together a few laps later it promised to be tight between all three. Gilles Vannelet exited in the Bentley right ahead of Rizzo but Yu in the Aston was nowhere to be seen. A slow stop had cost the CRAFT-Bamboo squad and Yu now sat a full ten seconds back from the top two.
Within a lap or two Rizzo had made light work of Vannelet and took a well-deserved lead he would hold to the flag. Yu set out on an assault to take Vannelet in the closing laps but sensibly backed off with a few laps to go accepting the fact that as the Bentley would not be scoring championship points he had nothing to gain and everything to lose.
So at the line the positions were as follows:
#37 Ferrari Rizzo/Liu
#4 Bentley Vernay/Vannelet
#97 Aston Martin Lyons/Yu
#3 Ferrari Sawa/Weng Sun
#66 Porsche Chao/Zhang
#32 McLaren Bell/Hamaguchi
The GTM top 3
#77 Audi Soloman/Yeung
#18 Ferrari Fukuda/Liu
#34 Lamborghini Aoki/Urata
Race 2
Qualifying had seen another pole position for the Rizzo/Liu Ferrari who were clearly loving Shanghai. 2nd though was the retirees from the first race the NB Team Aston Martin of Massimiliano and Jiang. 3rd was another strong showing from the Mies/Lee Audi and alongside them was the new Bentley.
Rizzo wasn’t going to have it all his own way in the race though. Jiang Xin in the NB Aston Martin got a great start and took the lead into turn one. Chasing hard behind Rizzo were Lee, Yu and Vannelet. The Bentley eventually shaking the other two off and making an immediate move on Rizzo’s Ferrari. Neither would give an inch and inevitably contact led to a dramatic spin for Rizzo down the pit lane entry road. Suspension damaged the title contenders were out but the Bentley was able to continue.
A tight chasing pack meant positions were changing frequently but there was also a bit of bumping and barging. Jeffrey Lee and Mok Weng Sun spent most of a lap side by side both leaving the track once each but keeping their foot in. Something had to give though and an ill judged block saw Lee’s Audi pitched hard in to the barriers. The car was a wreck but Lee was fine.
To clear the debris the safety car was deployed. It stayed out for 5 laps and there was very little of the pit window left once it was withdrawn. With the pit shut while the safety car was out almost the whole field rushed in immediately when it went back green. One car that stayed out though was the Clearwater McLaren, Hamaguchi had been heavily delayed by an electrical issue and the inspired decision not to follow the safety car in brought the car back into contention.
The race though was to be dominated by the two Aston Martins. Max Wiser leading Richard Lyons for the whole second stint as they traded fastest laps. But Wiser it was that took the flag first Lyons a couple of seconds back. That though was not the end of it. Both cars were given 40 second penalties post-race for fractionally breaking their pit stop time limits by leaving the pits fractionally early.
CRAFT-Bamboo elected to appeal but winners NB did not. That left the result provisional but as they crossed the line the positions were as follows:
#9 Aston Martin Wiser/Jiang
#97 Aston Martin Lyons/Yu
#12 Ferrari Griffin/Wee
#3 Ferrari Sawa/Mok
#66 Porsche Chao/Zhang
#4 Bentley Vernay/Vannelet
GTM top 3:
#77 Audi Soloman/Yeung
#34 Lamborghini Aoki/Urata
#18 Ferrari Fukuda/Liu
With the result not yet confirmed it is difficult to analyse how this has left the championship standings going in to the final round at Macau. But one thing is certain the championship will go down to the wire. At least 3 possibly 4 teams have a very good chance of glory and with the unpredictability that has been witnessed so far all the protagonists will be confident.
James Goodwin
