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GT Asia Series win #2 for Audi and Phoenix Racing Asia at Okayama

After a brilliant opening race at Okayama, the GT Asia Series field regrouped for a second round at the former Formula One venue on Sunday, and the legions of fans who attended the circuit and watched the event unfold live online, were not disappointed..!

Marcy Lee
Marcy Lee

Ultimately victory went to Phoenix Racing Asia’s Marchy Lee and Shaun Thong, but not before one of the greatest races in recent GT Asia Series history, which included some of the best overtaking moves we’ve seen.

In a weekend of surprises, it was perhaps no surprise that the teams that have proven strongest over the opening rounds of the season were the ones standing on the podium – points leaders Anthony Liu and Davide Rizzo joined by Absolute Team Bentley’s winners from 24-hours prior, Adderly Fong and Andrew Kim.

 

Sadly for pole-sitter Keita Sawa and Jonathan Venter, the South Korean back-to-back winners suffered an horrendous weekend. Turned around in the first corner of the opening race, they suffered a rare mechanical failure in race two – perhaps as a result of the opening race contact – initiating a Safety Car intervention in the process, and that paved the way for a dramatic final 15 minutes..

 

In the Pro-Am battle the top points again went to Shaun Thong, who managed to close the gap slightly to Anthony Liu, whilst Andrew Kim’s third place saw the South Korean as the biggest mover in the category, closing in on the two leaders to put himself right into contention for the title.
Race #2 (Round#6)

Fortunately the start of race two saw none of the dramas that befell Bentley’s Jonathan Venter in the opening race, but across the line the field fanned out immediately to almost seven cars wide, fast starting round five winner Andrew Kim coming off worst, forced onto the grass on the run to turn one, fortunately without losing ground.

 

Pole-sitter Keita Sawa led the field through the opening turn, with Marchy Lee in close pursuit, whilst behind them, everyone else got through cleanly, with Anthony Liu holding the pack at bay as the two leaders set about opening a gap.

 

The pace at the front was hot, with Sawa and Lee breaking free from the pack to open out a strong early gap, but try as he might the 2015 winner was unable to shake Lee who broke through for the lead at turn five on lap four.

 

Behind them Liu held off New Zealand sensation Jono Lester in the GruppeM Porsche, but not for long, low tyre pressures forcing the Buriram winner to conserve early, whilst behind them Andrea Amici in the FFF Racing Lamborghini battled with Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak and Australian GT front runner Nathan Morcom who was showing much better pace in the Miedecke Motorsport Aston Martin.

 

Further back Mok Weng Sun was starting to get back into the rhythm that saw him claim three GT Asia Series titles, the Clearwater Racing star admitting that his Le Mans experience with the GTE class Ferrari saw him change his driving style to suit the lack of ABS and traction control, and he was taking his time to get back the feel of his GT3 mount. 

Despite that he was right in the mix of battle with Piti Bhirombhakdi, Alex Au and Frank Yu, although just as he did in race one, he was about to fall foul again of some close attention, with Yu’s Porsche tapping the Ferrari in turn nine ahead of the compulsory stop, dropping Mok down the order as a result which forced an epic comeback drive from team-mate Gianmaria Bruni.

 

Whilst Lee continued to punch out the fastest laps of the race and extend his lead (he actually broke Bruni’s lap record set on Saturday to a 1:30.526 on lap nine), behind him Liu’s tyres were finally up to pressure and he began the march forward, although Andrea Amici was not planning on making his life easy, the young Italian making the Huracan incredibly wide..

With many of the amateur drivers behind the wheel for the start of the second race, there was no real surprise that a flurry of activity began in pit lane as soon as the compulsory pit stop [CPS] window opened. One of the first in was Singha Motorsport’s Piti Bhirombhakdi, whilst one of the last to pit was race leader Marchy Lee, who was out by more than 12-seconds by the time he hit pit lane.

 

That left Jono Lester to inherit the lead after the Porsche driver had effected an impressive pass on Sawa ahead of the Bentley’s stop, taking him with the cross-over at turn nine then running side by side through the next half a lap to get the position away from the Japanese driver.

 

With their rivals enduring a range of additional compensation penalties during the compulsory stop – Lee and Thong included by virtue of being two silver ranked drivers (they served an additional 16 seconds on top of the compulsory 75 served by as a minimum by every car in the field), Thong still emerged from pit lane in the lead, with a storming Gianmaria Bruni soon forging his way past to put the Clearwater team back on the lead lap.

 

By that stage second was held by Davide Rizzo, with Tim Sugden rejoining third just ahead of round five winner Adderly Fong. With his team-mate leading, Alex Yoong decided he would get in on the action, punching out a succession of quick laps to close in on the battle for third, but before he had too much chance to attack, the Safety Car was brought out onto the track to recover the #8 Bentley of Jonathan Venter.

 

It took three laps to recover the two-time 2016 winning Bentley which had suffered a rare mechanical failure, with some question about whether the impact with Lyons in race one had dislodged something that became an issue as the race wore on.

 

Regardless of how the Safety Car was introduced, what it did do was pave the way for a stunning final stanza, especially as now Bruni – who had just reset the lap record by a stunning eight tenths of a second (1:29.666 on lap 22) – was back on the lead lap and biting at the heels of the leaders.

There was just over 18 minutes remaining when the Safety Car pulled off and Bruni didn’t disappoint, immediately leap frogging the two Craft-Bamboo Porsches and into combat with compatriot Edoardo Liberati in the Lamborghini.

 

Up front Thong endured a couple of anxious laps waiting for tyre temperature to return, whilst Liu and Fong faced a similar situation, the latter quickly past Sugden for third.

 

Behind them Alex Yoong was really starting to find some pace, the former F1 star quickly closing in on Carlo Van Dam. It was clear the Audi had the pace over the Singha Ferrari – perhaps too much pace, the Malaysian driver finding the rear of the Ferrari at turn four as Van Dam moved across to the apex, unaware that Yoong was making a move. The result sadly ending with Van Dam’s retirement, although post race the move was ruled a racing incident.

 

At the front though there was no denying the race winners, Phoenix Racing Asia’s Shaun Thong and Marchy Lee, whilst points leaders Anthon Liu and Davide Rizzo did their title aspirations no harm with their fourth podium of the season, and round five winners Adderly Fong and Andrew Kim likewise added valuable championship points.

 

Yoong held on for fourth, but only just, the two time Audi Cup winner forced once again to contend with fellow former Minardi F1 pilot Gianmaria Bruni over the closing laps, and this time the local star held out the Italian driver.

 

Sixth was a tired but overjoyed Tim Sugden who was able to weather a late challenge from Christer Jöns and Liberati, whilst reigning champion Darryl O’Young got the best of an inter-team battle with Richard Lyons for ninth.

 

Rounding out the field was the Miedecke Stone Motorsport Aston Martin, the Australian team having gained plenty of experience on their GT Asia Series debuts, however they admitted that an ongoing car issue had soured what they felt could have been a successful debut.