> Hartog joins points’ leader for penultimate event
> Three crews in tight battle for second
> Provisional entry list
Champions could be crowned in Beijing’s E-Town this weekend when GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS stages two hour-long sprint races on the streets of China’s capital.
Fittingly, Chinese drivers occupy the top four positions in the standings. But it’s Origine’s Lu Wei – who so agonisingly lost the title on countback at the same circuit last season – who has a chance to make history by becoming the first driver to clinch GT3’s overall title at the penultimate event.
He starts 22 points clear of Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti (Absolute Racing) who are tied for second with Anthony Liu (Phantom Global), while Silver class and China Cup leaders Cheng Congfu and Yu Kuai (FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom) sit a point further back in fourth.
Lu, partnered for the first time this weekend by Loek Hartog, also leads Liu in the Pro-Am standings, while GTO with KRC’s Brian Lee and Maxime Oosten are 10 points clear of their nearest Silver-Am rival Liang Jiatong (Craft-Bamboo). The same difference also separates Am leaders Liu Hangcheng and Wang Zhongwei (Origine) from Zhou Bi Huang and Setiawan Santoso (Climax Racing).
SRO GT Academy’s search for GT World Asia’s best young Silver driver also continues. Okayama’s results leave Yu in pole position to win a fully funded seat at next year’s 24 Hours of Spa, although Oosten remains very much in contention 14 points behind.
In the teams’ standings, Origine’s three-year winning streak appears seriously under threat from Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom and Absolute Racing who occupy first and second with four races left to run. However, there’s still time for that to change with a maximum of 172 points available over the final two events.
Elsewhere, China’s domestic GT4 series, SRO GT Cup, is also in town. Four 30-minute races – two more than usual – will be held across Saturday and Sunday to compensate for those originally scheduled to take place at Shanghai. The Greater Bay Area GT Cup race held on Macau’s iconic streets will round out the season as planned in November.
But it’s another city track, albeit one that staged its maiden motorsport event only 12 months ago, that takes centre stage this weekend. The 4.9km, 12-turn Beijing Street Circuit in E-Town was custom built for GT World Asia and remains unchanged ahead of its second appearance on the continental calendar. 5ZIGEN’s Nissan and Harmony’s Ferrari triumphed there last year.
TITLE RACE HOTTING UP WITH FOUR TO GO
Following the heartbreak of 2025, there would be no more fitting a place than Beijing for Lu to finally claim a drivers’ title he has come close to winning for the past three seasons. Doing so won’t be easy: his current 22-point lead must extend to 51 by Sunday afternoon. But there is a chance, at least, that history could be made.
Ironically, he’s joined by a driver who shared Mandalika victory with championship rival, Liu. Hartog has made global headlines since then but will be fully focused on becoming the third pro after Alessio Picariello and Laurin Heinrich to help Lu win a race this year. Their best chance will likely come on Sunday given the 10-second success penalty to be served in Race 1.
That handicap leaves the door ajar for the other championship contenders to reduce their arrears.
Huang and Ghiretti began the season in imperious fashion but have scored just 14 points in the last four races, which included a first lap retirement in Okayama’s second outing. They must bounce back in Beijing to harbour realistic hopes come Shanghai at the end of October.
Liu was a title contender in Beijing last year but ultimately crashed out of both races in his spectacular attempt to claw back points. Time is on his side with another event to come in his home city, so expect a more measured approach from the 2023 champion between Beijing’s unforgiving concrete walls. Like Huang and Ghiretti, Phantom’s Porsche contests Saturday’s race without additional pitstop time.
The same applies to Cheng and Yu who won for the second time this season in Okayama. The Silver duo have scored the bulk of their points on Saturdays, and the same again should see them heading to Shanghai with at least a sniff of the overall crown.
But they will face stiff opposition from the other Silver crews, including Atsushi Miyake and Takayuki Aoki whose 5ZIGEN Nissan won Beijing’s inaugural race last year.
Compatriot and Super GT driver Takuro Shinohara, who was also part of PONOS Racing’s Suzuka 1000km line up, will be a threat on debut with Harmony, Dean Chen returns to partner Liang at Craft-Bamboo, and Jesse Krohn makes his first appearance with KRC since Mandalika.
There’s also a change in Absolute’s #918 Porsche, which now features championship returnee and recently crowned IGTC Independent Cup champion Li Kerong.
Both qualifying sessions and all six races are live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and Chinese streaming platforms, while Sunday’s Asia race will be shown across the country by national television broadcaster CCTV5.
