> Reigning champions Yuan and Ye head cast of championship hopefuls
> Silver, Silver-Am and Am titles also up for grabs
> All-new Beijing Street Circuit closes out Asia’s 2025 campaign
> Entry list: Beijing
Seven crews – a joint championship record – will battle for 2025’s GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS drivers’ title around the streets of Beijing this weekend when China’s capital hosts the series’ season finale.
Two 60-minute contests close out a 12-race campaign that has already visited Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. However, this is the first time the championship has ever competed on a street circuit, which has been built specifically for this event.
Overseen by Apex Circuit Design, the 4.9-kilometre-long, 12-turn track uses public roads and highways to wind its way between modern architecture and the Tongming Lake Park in Beijing’s picturesque Economic-Technological Development Area known as E-Town.
Fittingly, the 24-strong entry features 25 Chinese nationals, eight of whom are among the overall title contenders.
Yuan Bo and Leo Ye start as favourites to retain their crown thanks to a 14-point advantage over compatriot and Origine team-mate Lu Wei, while Prince Jefri Ibrahim (JMR) lies one point further back. 2023 title winner Anthony Liu and his Phantom co-driver Dorian Boccolacci are also in the mix along with Silver class leaders Cheng Congfu and Yu Kuai (FAW/Phantom), Silver-Am champions-elect Ruan CunFan and Maxime Oosten (Team KRC), and Cao Qi (Craft-Bamboo).
All of the challengers can take some comfort from Yuan and Ye’s 10-place grid penalty, which should make for an intriguing Saturday afternoon.
Ferrari factory driver and 2025 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Ye Yifei (Harmony) leads the significant cast of drivers eager to star on home soil. Among them are Deng Yi (Harmony), Liang Jiatong (Craft-Bamboo), Rio and Shaun Thong (Uno Racing) who remain in Silver class title contention.
Yu Kanamaru (5ZIGEN) is the only driver capable of beating Ruan and Oosten to the Silver-Am crown. However, he starts 36 points behind, and only 50 are available for winning both races.
David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo also comfortably top the Am standings. Their only remaining rivals, Ben Porter (AMAC) and Setiawan Santoso (EBM), must overturn 38 and 40-point deficits, respectively, whilst hoping Garage 75’s Ferrari endures an uncharacteristically difficult weekend.
This will not be the first time that an SRO-organised championship has raced on China’s streets: Zhuhai’s public roads hosted the BPR Global GT Series in 1994 and 1995 before switching to the city’s then-new purpose-built circuit. The FIA GT1 World Championship also held a demonstration outside the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium in 2011.
GT World Challenge Asia, meanwhile, has previously raced at the Shanghai International Circuit, Ningbo and Zhejiang. It shares the Beijing event with SRO GT Cup, a new championship for Chinese GT4 teams that is staging its penultimate round of the season this weekend.
Qualifying and both races are live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel, and national broadcaster CCTV will show Sunday’s race live across China.
AND STILLLLLLL…?
No driver has won GT World Challenge Asia’s overall title twice. Equally, on paper at least, no duo has arguably had a better chance of doing so than Yuan and Ye who enjoy a comfortable advantage over team-mate Lu. What’s more, the latter is the only member of this year’s title contenders to have a success penalty – and the maximum 15 seconds at that – in Saturday’s pitstop.
However, Lu can perhaps take inspiration from last year’s finale when he lost the championship to Yuan and Ye despite starting 16 points ahead.
The same goes for Ibrahim who must overcome a 15-point deficit despite winning three times this year – the same number as Origine’s championship leaders. The outcome of Porsche versus Corvette on Saturday could have a huge bearing on the destination of 2025’s crown.
And that’s where things could get interesting. The accident triggered by Ye at the start of Okayama’s second race has earned #87 a 10-place grid penalty for Beijing’s opener. Pressure will therefore be on Yuan to make up ground during the opening stint at a circuit where overtaking will be more difficult than most venues.
Liu and Boccolacci are the only other realistic championship contenders but must still make up 20 points to have any hope of toppling Yuan and Ye. They’ve finished second three times this year but will most likely require a first victory to challenge for the crown. Indeed, no driver has won the title without visiting Victory Lane at least once during the season.
With 50 points available across both races, the crews in fifth and sixth overall face the monumental task of overturning their 39 and 46-point deficits. Instead, their focus will be on converting class leads into class titles.
Yu and 2024 champion Cheng have led the Silver standings for much of the year and arrive at the finale 16 points ahead of Yi, while 35 covers all four contenders.
Five class wins from the first six races left Ruan and Oosten fully in charge of Silver-Am. However, no further victories since Thailand has given Kanamaru at least a chance of upsetting the odds despite trailing by 36 points.
The final overall championship contender is Cao who’s reunited with Jayden Ojeda this weekend. He’s yet to win in 2025 but has scored points in nine of the 10 races – more than anyone else. That consistency partly explains why Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMG remains a mathematical but unlikely championship challenger.
BEIJING STREET CIRCUIT TIMETABLE
Friday 17 October
09:00 – 10:00: Test 1
12:50 – 13:50: Test 2
15:25 – 16:25: Official Practice
16:30 – 17:00: Bronze Session
Saturday 18 October
09:00 – 10:00: Pre-Qualifying
12:20 – 12:35: Qualifying 1
12:42 – 12:57: Qualifying 2
16:15 – 17:15: Race 1
Sunday 19 October
15:05 – 16:05: Race 2
