> Absolute’s Porsche duo 20 points clear of chasing pack
> Asia’s series joins Japan Cup on packed Fuji bill
> Entry list: GT World Challenge Asia
GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS heads to the foothills of Mount Fuji this weekend for Rounds 5 and 6 of the continental series.
The campaign resumes a little more than two months after the previous event at Mandalika where Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti (Absolute Racing) extended their overall lead to a commanding 20 points. Akash Nandy (Absolute Racing) edged further clear in the Silver class standings, Dean Chen and Alex Jiatong (Craft-Bamboo) twice triumphed in Silver-Am and also top the China Cup classification, and Liu Hangcheng and Wang Zhongwei (Origine) established themselves as the Am duo to beat.
Elsewhere, and with three outright wins from four, Porsche appears to be Asia’s dominant manufacturer this year. That bodes well for its pursuit of Mercedes-AMG in the global GT World Challenge where just 15 points separate the German manufacturers following the most recent round at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
SRO’s domestic multi-class series, Japan Cup, is also back in action following its season opener at Sugo in mid-May. And with just two of this year’s eight hour-long races complete it’s unsurprising the championship battle should remain tight: two points cover the top three crews, with Ukyo Sasahara and Shinji Takei leading the way.
Porsche Sprint Challenge Japan, Road Star Cup and Road Star Party Race add further variety to the SRO GT Powertour event, which will also include a paddock display featuring some of the world’s rarest hypercars and a fan pitwalk on both Saturday and Sunday.
SRO’s four 60-minute races, split equally between GT World Asia and Japan Cup, take place on Saturday and Sunday. All, as well as qualifying, are live with English and Japanese commentary on the GT World YouTube channel and official app, while tickets are available from https://en.fujimotorsportsforest.jp/motorsports/2026_gtwca
ABSOLUTE FIRMLY ON TOP
Huang and Ghiretti have made an ominous start to their title bid by claiming overall podiums in each of the first four races. Their chances of continuing that streak are again hampered by a success penalty in Race 1 – something they’ve overcome three times already this season – but also bolstered by recent GT World Asia history at Fuji where Porsches have won three of the last four races.
One of those victories was achieved by Anthony Liu who remains Huang and Ghiretti’s nearest title rival thanks to a long overdue win at Mandalika last time out alongside Loek Hartog who deputised for Dorian Boccolacci. The Frenchman returns this weekend, albeit with the prospect of 15 seconds extra to serve during Race 1’s pitstop.
Those success penalties for the championship’s top two play perfectly into the hands of Cheng Congfu and Yu Kuai who got their championship challenge back on track with victory in Mandalika’s first race. Still, 33 points remains a considerable deficit, so a big result in Race 1 – for which Silver combinations like them should qualify well – is imperative.
Their Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom team-mates Andres Pato and Jaxon Evans lie one position and point further back in the standings after scoring a double podium at Mandalika, while Lu Wei – who currently occupies fifth and has Porsche factory ace Laurin Heinrich for company this weekend – can take comfort from Origine’s two wins in as many years at Fuji.
Silver-Am is currently led by Chen and Liang. However, the latter is joined by a new co-driver this weekend in the shape of 2024 Japan Cup champion and former Super Taikyu title winner Daisuke Yamawaki.
The same class features a new entry at Fuji, albeit one ineligible to score points. GT World America duo Kyle Washington and Tom Sargent have linked up with Absolute Racing for a one-off outing in a Porsche.
The same team has a busy weekend ahead thanks to two more guest entries. The first pairs Andy Tan with Thierry Vermeulen who have raced together before in Asia, and most recently at Sepang, but are swapping their familiar Ferrari for an Audi R8 – a car with which Absolute has previously achieved significant success.
The other sees Malaysians Aaron Lim Say Joon and Haziq Zairel Oh contest the Am class in a Porsche.
Former series regulars LM Corsa and Shigekazu Wakisaka are also back, Chen Weian steps into Harmony’s #96 Ferrari alongside Silver class contender Liu Kaishun, one of KRC’s two BMWs features factory driver Max Hesse, and Atsushi Miyake returns behind the wheel of 5ZIGEN’s Nissan following his Super GT outing that clashed with Mandalika. Skipping the round helped Yu Kuai replace the Japanese driver at the top of Asia’s SRO GT Academy standings.
Meanwhile, the switch of co-drivers prevents Liang from scoring China Cup points at Fuji, handing the advantage to Cheng and Yu who currently lie two points behind.
Finally, an operation has forced Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak to miss this weekend’s action on medical grounds. Absolute’s #918 Porsche is expected to return at the next event in Okayama.
