• Special Indonesian-inspired livery for early leaders Huang and Ghiretti
• 2025 Mandalika winners Lu and Picariello amongst chasing pack
• Entry list: Mandalika
Sun, sea and supercars! Following a triumphant first outing 12 months ago GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS returns to the tropical island of Lombok this weekend for Rounds 3 and 4 at the coastal Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit.
Home favourite and series debutant Sean Gelael makes his first-ever competitive appearance at Indonesia’s 4.3km-long, 17-turn MotoGP venue where Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti will be eager to extend their early championship lead.
Recent results suggest they will be amongst the favourites. Absolute Racing’s new pairing and 911 GT3 R Evo won first time out at Sepang, while Porsches – albeit entered by Origine – cleaned up at Mandalika last season.
Changes amongst the pro ranks include Japanese duo Yuichi Nakayama and Kimiya Sato joining Porsche Center Okazaki and 5ZIGEN, Loek Hartog and Klaus Bachler replacing their Porsche counterparts at Phantom and Absolute, and Jesse Krohn teaming up with KRC.
The entry list features six of the 10 global GT World Challenge manufacturers – Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche – as well as Nissan, while six drivers are battling for SRO GT Academy points and a prize drive at the 2027 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
A packed weekend of on-track action includes BRZ, Superstar Sportscar Series, Time Attack and Krida Agya OMR, while both GT World Asia races, as well as qualifying, are live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel and app.
Mandalika braced for Tropic Thunder
Many expected Absolute’s Huang and reigning Porshe Supercup champion Ghiretti to impress at Sepang. Few, however, would have predicted victory, another podium and the early championship lead.
Their Porsche features a special livery this weekend. Inspired by the ‘Barong’ of Indonesian traditional culture – a symbol of protection and strength – the mythical guardian represents both respect for the circuit and a desire for victory under its protection.
Huang and Ghiretti arrive seven points clear of Lu Wei and Alessio Picariello after Origine’s duo struck back in Sepang’s second race. They were also winners at Mandalika last season but will struggle to repeat that on Saturday, at least, thanks to the maximum 15-second Success Penalty.
Anthony Liu and Dorian Boccolacci underscored Porsche’s early advantage by also bagging a podium in Malaysia. They now occupy third in the standings but will be racing 13,500 kilometres apart this weekend thanks to the latter’s GT World Europe commitments in the UK. Another of Stuttgart’s young drivers, Loek Hartog, subs for the Frenchman.
Qualifying regulations make Race 1 the best opportunity for Silver class entries to score heavily, so expect to see the likes of Cheng Congfu and Yu Kuai (FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom) and Akash Nandy (Absolute Corse) firmly in the mix on Saturday. The same is true for Gelael who, like Nandy, drives Garage 75’s Ferrari solo.
Nandy and Cheng/Yu both feature in the championship’s overall top five, but it’s the Malaysian and his Absolute Corse Lamborghini that leads the class standings thanks to victory and second place on home soil. His Audi rivals are tied second with Takayuki Aoki and Atsushi Miyake whose Super GT commitments see Sato parachuted into 5ZIGEN’s Nissan GT-R. The same car came within a whisker of winning at Mandalika last season.
Compatriots Kiyoshi Uchiyama and Tsubasa Kondo enjoyed their most successful GT World Asia weekend ever at Sepang where a class victory and second place helped them assume the early Silver-Am lead from reigning champion Maxime Oosten and his GTO with KRC co-driver Brian Lee.
Reigning Am champions David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo are absent from Mandalika. Liu Hangcheng and Wang Zhongwei (Origine), who top the standings after a strong start at Sepang, will be the chief beneficiaries, while Indonesian Setiawan Santoso lies second with Climax co-driver Zhou Bihuang. The class is completed by AMAC’s Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter.
Just a point separates China Cup’s early pace setters Cheng and Yu from Craft-Bamboo’s Dean Chen and Liang Jiatong.
And in the SRO GT Academy, Miyake’s absence offers the likes of Oosten, Yu, Nandy, Deng Yi, Elias Seppanen and Liu Kaishun an opportunity to reduce their arrears in the race for a fully funded seat at next year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
