> Seven points separate Yuan/Ye from Ibrahim
> Class championships also up for grabs in Japan
> Le Mans winner Ye Yifei joins Harmony
> Provisional entry list: Okayama
The battle to be crowned GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS champion continues this weekend at Okayama where Bob Yuan and Leo Ye are looking to extend their seven-point advantage over Prince Jefri Ibrahim.
Origine’s Porsche and JMR’s Corvette shared a victory apiece in Fuji to move clear of a chasing pack that had previously harboured title aspirations of its own. Instead, Yu Kuai and Cheng Congfu (FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom), Anthony Liu and Dorian Boccolacci (Phantom Global Racing) and Ruan Cun Fan and Maxime Oosten (Team KRC) are locked together on 69 points: 42 adrift of the leaders.
100 points remain on offer for winning the final four races, an almost impossible task considering the scale of success penalty served by the victorious crew.
Instead, and without a seriously unfortunate run of luck, the scrap for overall honours now appears to be between the top two. Their advantage means Yuan and Ye could potentially clinch the title on Sunday, but only if they first win Race 1 and Ibrahim fails to score.
Success penalty allocation makes that scenario unlikely, however. First and second places for the title rivals, albeit in reverse championship order, achieved amidst Fuji’s chaotic climax means the Corvette and Porsche will be stationary for an additional 15 and 10 seconds, respectively, on Saturday. Fully overcoming such handicaps is incredibly rare.
Those directly behind must therefore make the most of their opportunity, something that Liu/Boccolacci and Ruan/Oosten failed to capitalise on last time out. Zero points across both races has left them with a mountain to climb if they’re to make Beijing’s finale more than a two-horse contest.
KRC’s BMW does at least have the Silver-Am class title to fight for, and potentially wrap up with an event to spare. Ruan and Oosten are 45 points ahead of Huang Ruohan and Akash Nandy (Absolute Corse) while Yu Kanamaru (Team 5ZIGEN) cannot be discounted either in third.
The same goes for Silver leaders Yu and Cheng. They’re 17 points ahead of Harmony’s Andy Yi and another seven clear of Alex Liang (Craft-Bamboo). Yu was a winner at Okayama with Audi 12 months ago.
In the Am class, Garage 75’s Ferrari shared by David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo has an outside chance of retaining its crown in Race 2. The duo currently lead AMAC’s Ben Porter by 25 points.
Elsewhere, Elegant Racing’s Am class Mercedes-AMG returns after skipping Fuji, Sepang winner Alexander Sims makes his second appearance of the year with JMR (albeit in the #66 Corvette), Super GT300 championship leader Naoya Gamou debuts with Porsche Center Okazaki, Edoardo Mortara returns with Absolute Corse, and Craft-Bamboo’s #77 Mercedes-AMG once again features Daniel Frost who was forced to miss Fuji due to National Service in his native Singapore.
The grid will also feature a reigning overall Le Mans winner in the shape of Ye Yifei who joins compatriot and fellow debutant Song Jiajun aboard Harmony’s #55 Ferrari.
However, another Chinese team – Climax – has been forced to withdraw its #2 Mercedes-AMG due to chassis damage. 30 cars are therefore set to start both races this Saturday and Sunday.
Both, as well as qualifying and the Japan Cup races, are live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.