> Result: Official Practice 1
Patrick Pilet set fastest time on his final lap to give R&B Racing’s #4 Porsche early bragging rights in Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS’s first official practice session at Sepang.
The 911 GT3 R he shares with title contender Lu Wei set 2m03.892s to deny Triple Eight JMR’s Broc Feeney top spot by 0.094s, while Dennis Lind (Climax Racing) completed a top-three covered by just over a tenth.
Pilet’s time wasn’t quite as quick as Mikael Grenier lapped during Thursday’s second test session but was still one of just two drivers to dip below 2m04s in Official Practice 1. The other, Feeney, had looked set to maintain Triple Eight JMR’s streak after posting fastest time with seven minutes remaining but ultimately had to settle for second place.
Klaus Bachler (AAS Motorsport by Absolute Racing) and Mikkel Mac (Phantom Racing) also spent time at the top before being pushed back to fourth and fifth, while the leading Silver entry – B-Quik’s Audi shared by Eshan Pieris and home favourite Akash Nandy – completed the top-six.
However, two of the four overall title contenders had low key sessions. Championship leader Anthony Liu – who leads Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak by just one point – ended up 24th in Craft-Bamboo Mercedes-AMG, and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim – who lies third – was 20th.
Friday’s second hour-long session begins at 15:45.