Race 1: Yuan and Ye maintain strong start to 2025 with victory at Mandalika
Bob Yuan and Leo Ye Hongli have claimed their third GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS victory in the last four starts – including the final round of 2024 – in the first-ever international car race held at Mandalika International Circuit in Indonesia.
The reigning champions’ Origine Porsche took the chequered flag 5.2s ahead of Climax Racing’s Mercedes-AMG shared by Mike Zhou and Ralf Aron who fended off the advances of Phantom Global Racing’s Anthony Liu and Dorian Boccolacci.
All three crews benefited from two Full Course Yellow and Safety Car periods in the opening stint that particularly compromised the Silver entries run by FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom and Craft-Bamboo.
Instead, Silver class victory went to Winhere Harmony’s Chen Weian and Deng Yi, who also finished an excellent fourth overall after Origine’s #4 911 incurred a post-race penalty in lieu of a drive-through, while Maxime Oosten’s elbows-out stint helped Team KRC’s BMW and Ruan Cun Fan maintain their 100% Silver-Am record in 2025.
But there was a new winner in the Am class where Elegant Racing’s Mercedes-AMG shared by Alex Liu and Reinhold Renger took victory ahead of home favourites Garage 75.
A historic race began in orderly fashion with pole sitter Cheng Congfu fending off Danial Frost and Anthony Liu into Turn 1 before Chen passed Phantom’s Porsche early in the lap to make it three Silver class cars in the top three.
Their natural pace advantage should have allowed the Audi, Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari to break clear of the pursuing Pro-Am pack. But their progress was checked by Zhang Yaqi’s heavy accident after seven minutes, that necessitated a lengthy Full Course Yellow and Safety Car period.
A second neutralisation was then required soon after the restart due to Liu Hangcheng’s stranded Ferrari. The FCY coincided with the pit window opening, which further compromised the three leading Silver contenders, whose minimum pitstop time was seven seconds longer than those in the other classes.
Phantom’s Porsche should have been the chief beneficiary. But the busy pitlane resulted in Boccolacci being blocked in, all of which allowed Ye to jump from fifth to first.
20 minutes remained when racing resumed, Ye making the most of squabbling behind to build an unassailable lead – via fastest lap – en route to a comfortable win.
Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMG rejoined in second place despite serving its extra Silver pitstop time but was immediately under pressure from the likes of Aron – up four places from seventh before the driver changes – Boccolacci, Deng, Akash Nandy, Alessio Picariello and the erstwhile leading Audi which had served an additional five seconds on top of its seven for finishing third at Sepang.
There was wheel-to-wheel action up and down the field thereafter, but nowhere more intense than the initial battle for second that was, at times, four cars wide. Aron ultimately emerged ahead of Boccolacci and Picariello, while Deng overcame Liang Jiatong to bag maximum Silver class points in fifth overall before gaining a position post-race at Origine’s expense.
Fifth and a third Silver-Am win in as many races went to KRC’s BMW thanks to Oosten’s swashbuckling stint that culminated in a class-winning move on Nandy. Absolute Corse’s Lamborghini might have finished right behind were it not for team-mate Harry King who nudged the Huracan around at Turn 1.
Instead, the Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG and FAW/Phantom Audi that led before the stops completed the Silver podium in sixth and seventh, while the first of JMR’s Corvettes, CBR’s other Mercedes-AMG and Absolute Corse Ferrari rounded out the top 10.
Further back, Liu and Renger scored their and Elegant’s first Am class victory by beating Garage 75’s David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo by eight seconds.
Race 2: Lu and Picariello beat Phantom Global’s Liu/Boccolacci to victory
Origine Motorsport sealed its second win of the Mandalika weekend by beating Phantom Global Racing to victory in Race 2.
Lu Wei, who shared the #4 Porsche with Alessio Picariello, crossed the line 0.6s ahead of his compatriot Anthony Liu (partnered by Dorian Boccolacci) after both passed Team 5ZIGEN’s Motoki Takami at the final Safety Car restart.
Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMG featuring Danial Frost and Liang Jiatong completed the overall podium and claimed Silver class victory following a frantic last few corners where the Nissan was spun around, while Ruan Cun Fan and Maxime Oosten continued their remarkable start to the campaign by scoring a fourth consecutive Silver-Am win for Team KRC.
Further back, EBM rebounded from its early Race 1 retirement to claim Am class victory. Setiawan Santoso – who won on home soil – and Andrew Bentley became the fourth different winners in as many races.
On another day this race would have been won by either Craft-Bamboo or Team 5ZIGEN, both of whom led before top spot definitively changed hands at the start of the penultimate lap.
Pole man Jayden Ojeda initially fended off the fast-starting Yu Kanamaru while Lorenzo Patrese, who shared the front row, dropped back behind Boccolacci, Thierry Vermuelen and Picariello before hitting the latter’s Porsche entering Turn 1 for the first time. That contact was sufficient to break the Winhere Harmony Ferrari’s bonnet and bumper, and compromise Origine’s 911 for the rest of the race.
Much heavier contact between Markus Winkelhock and Anders Fjordbach at the final corner on lap one then triggered the first of two Safety Car periods. When racing resumed, Ojeda edged clear of Kanamaru’s Nissan, which spent the rest of the opening stint battling Boccolacci and Picariello who passed Vermuelen with a daring lunge into Turn 1 after 18 minutes.
Four seconds separated Ojeda from Kanamaru when the front runners stopped within a lap of each other towards the end of the pit window. The Mercedes-AMG’s advantage had grown to seven seconds when it resumed, now with Cao Qi onboard, and steadily grew to 10 as Takami focused on Lu behind.
But what should have been a regulation run to the chequered flag was upended by a one-second stop-go penalty for Craft-Bamboo. Suddenly, 5ZIGEN’s GT-R was in the box seat, albeit with two Porsches for company. The second of them had dropped back to seventh during the pit sequence thanks to its five-second success penalty, but Liu’s pace helped him recoup the lost places and make it a three-way lead battle.
Nissan straight line speed versus Porsche agility meant the order remained close but unchanged as the race ticked into its final 10 minutes. Lu and Liu both realistically required a Safety Car to help their cause, and that’s exactly what they got when Am leader Alex Liu beached his Elegant Mercedes-AMG.
Two laps remained when the race resumed. Lu immediately attacked Takami, first getting a perfect run on to the start/finish straight before lunging down the inside into Turn 1. His momentum also forced Takami just wide enough for Liu to squeeze into second, after which the 911s scampered clear.
The Nissan remained on course for Silver-Am victory and third overall until it was nudged around by Harmony’s #96 Ferrari at the penultimate corner of the final lap.
Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMG was the prime beneficiary. The car shared by Frost and Jiatong started 19th, was running 11th at the final restart, and picked its way through the Ams and late chaos to win Silver and take third overall. It was a sweet end to the weekend for a car that also started Race 1 on the front row.
Behind, KRC’s BMW did what KRC’s BMW does best: win Silver-Am. Oosten completed the opening stint in eighth before Ruan moved forward at the start of his. P4 overall and a fourth class win in as many starts helps them occupy third in the overall standings behind yesterday’s winners Bob Yuan and Leo Ye Hongli, and Liu and Boccolacci.
Harmony’s post-race penalty in lieu of a drive-through for the late contact with 5ZIGEN’s Nissan promoted Absolute Corse’s Andrea Anatra and Edoardo Mortara to fifth, while Yuan and Ye – who completed a particularly impressive pass on Andy Deng before setting fastest lap – consolidated their championship lead with sixth.
LM Corsa’s Ferrari shared by Shigekazu Wakisaka and Giancarlo Fisichella, plus the first of JMR’s Corvettes completed the top eight.
Cars and equipment now travel to Thailand and specifically Chang International Circuit for the third and final event of the championship’s Southeast Asia leg on May 30 – 1 June.
Images © SRO Motorsports Group
