Chinese team Climax Racing makes Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia move for 2023

Top Chinese squad, Climax Racing, has confirmed a two-car Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS entry featuring, among others, 2018 champion Dennis Lind.

The Dane joins team owner Zhou Bihuang in a new 992-spec Porsche 911 GT3 R, while Hu Yuqi and Bian Ye share a Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Climax Racing was founded in 2020 to contest its native GT and Porsche Carrera Cup series. It finished second in its first China Endurance Championship campaign before sweeping the same series’ GT3 and GT4 titles the following year.

That same season it was also crowned GT Super Sprint Challenge drivers’ and teams’ champions, and then returned to win both races of the new season less than two weeks ago.

Its star driver Lind hadn’t raced in Fanatec GT Asia since winning the 2018 title alongside Martin Kodric. He was subsequently promoted to Lamborghini factory status and contested several top line series and races before adding the Intelligent Money British GT Championship crown to his collection in 2021.

He’s joined by 2019 China GT GTC class champion Zhou Bihuang, who is also known by his English forename, Mike. His CV includes Porsche Carrera Cup Asia and recent GT3 outings in this year’s Asian Le Mans Series, albeit at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG.

“Joining Fanatec GT Asia is a big deal for our team,” he said. “Climax was founded at the start of the pandemic and has had few opportunities to race outside of the country so far. We have always strived to be a successful Chinese team with international experience, and the latter half of that mission statement really begins in earnest this year. We cannot wait to test ourselves against the best in Asia, and recruiting Dennis really underlines our intention to succeed at the region’s highest levels.”

The team’s second car features GT Super Series Challenge regular Hu who also raced Climax’s Mercedes-AMG last season, as well as Bian who made a China Endurance Championship appearance with the squad in 2022. His CV also includes recent PCCA and GTSSC experience.

Both Climax entries are set to contest Fanatec GT Asia’s opening round in Thailand on May 12-14 before taking in the four Japanese events through the summer. Malaysia closes out the season.