> Top two separated by one point ahead of penultimate Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS outing
> Japan Cup titles to be decided at domestic season finale
> Entry lists: Fanatec GT Asia & Japan Cup
Okayama stages 2024’s final SRO GT PowerTour event this weekend when 48 GT cars gather for the Japan Cup title showdown and penultimate round of Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS.
Both championships last raced in early July at Suzuka where Lu Wei and Anthony Liu/Alessio Picariello continued their frantic scrap for this year’s Fanatec GT Asia crown. Just one point now separates the Origine Motorsport and Absolute Racing Porsches with four 60-minute races – two this weekend and two more in Shanghai – remaining.
Local form makes Liu – a winner at Okayama last year – and Picariello – pole and second there 12 months ago – slight favourites, although their Race 1 hopes are hampered somewhat by a 10-second Success Penalty.
Japan Cup’s overall GT3 drivers’ championship, on the other hand, appears far more clear cut with only two rounds left to run. A third win of the season and sixth podium in as many outings leaves Daisuke Yamawaki and Shinichi Takagi 36 points ahead of K-tunes team-mates Kazunori Suenaga and Morio Nitta. The latter pairing must therefore win at least once this weekend if they’re to have any hope of overhauling the Ferrari.
Team MACCHINA’s Tadao Uematsu also retains a slim title shot but must win both races if he’s to bridge the 45-point starting deficit. Instead, his focus will be on sealing the Am class championship, which he currently leads by 17 points.
Several GT4 Japan Cup titles are also up for grabs. Just seven points separate the top three crews in the overall and Silver-Am standings, both of which Takeshi Suehiro leads. Fellow Toyota driver Haridarma Manoppo is six points back, while Yuki Fujii and Masaki Kano cannot be discounted either in third.
Qualifying and all four races are live with English commentary on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel this Saturday and Sunday, while J Sports will broadcast live and delayed race coverage across Japan.
FANATEC GT ASIA
There really is nothing to choose between Fanatec GT Asia’s leading contenders as Season 6 heads towards its home straight. Four races in the space of three weeks at Fuji and Suzuka helped to narrow down the realistic title candidates to just three crews, which are covered by 13 points, with only Okayama and Shanghai left to run.
Long time leader Lu is back on top, albeit by the slimmest of margins, after dropping to third post-Fuji where Origine’s #4 Porsche collected just six points. Liu and Picariello were chief beneficiaries before the maximum Success Penalty in Suzuka’s first race restricted their result, while Bob Yuan and Leo Ye Hongli have picked up just 12 points – all in Race 2 at Suzuka – since winning Fuji’s opener.
Lu and Liu/Picariello’s respective five and 10-second pitstop handicaps therefore make this Saturday’s race a potentially season-defining hour for Origine’s second crew who must take full advantage of their rivals’ penalties before potentially serving their own in Race 2.
Their China Cup rivals Franky Cheng and Adderly Fong, meanwhile, will be desperate to make up ground of their own this weekend following a frustrating run of results that has seen them fall away from the overall title battle. The FAW Audi Sport Asia entry should, along with all other Silver crews, at least have the upper hand in Q1 where a Race 1 front row grid slot could pave the way towards a much needed second win of the campaign.
But the same qualifying scenario also benefits their chief Silver championship rivals Eshan Pieris and Tanart Sathienthirakul (Absolute Racing) who top the class standings – albeit by just three points – despite being some distance behind Cheng and Fong in the overall table.
Elsewhere, 22 points separate Silver-Am’s top two crews after Yuan/Ye and Team 5ZIGEN’s Hirobon/Yu Kanamaru shared the class spoils at Suzuka – an event that will be remembered for the latter’s overall victory aboard their Nissan GT-R.
Suzuka’s second race also went to first-time winners: Zhou Bihuang and Jules Gounon, whose Pro seat is filled by Ralf Aron this weekend. The maximum 15-second Success Penalty will limit their chances on Saturday, but expect Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMGs – the second of which features multiple Super GT champion Joao Paulo de Oliveira – to be a contender pace-wise. After all, the team and car won at Okayama last year.
Further back, the battle for Am honours will again primarily feature David Tjiptobiantoro (Garage 75) and Andrew Macpherson/Ben Porter (AMAC Motorsport) who are separated by 20 points.
CAN CHAMPIONS BE CROWNED?
All Fanatec GT Asia drivers’ titles could be decided with an event to spare this weekend. But that is dependent on each leading crew amassing a 51-point advantage after Race 2. Origine, meanwhile, needs an 87-point lead to seal the teams’ championship before its home outing at Shanghai. It currently leads Absolute Racing by 53.
In some specific cases 50 and 86-point leads – the amount for winning twice or securing two one-two finishes – could be enough to win a championship. But this is dependent on results countback.
