Double Podium Finish for Vutthikorn and Picariello in the Fanatec GT Asia season-opener

Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific customer Absolute Racing , started off the 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS season with a double podium finish by Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak and Alessio Picariello in the team's debut of the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) at the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand.

Saturday was a busy day for the Absolute Racing two-car team, with two qualifying sessions and a race. The first qualifying session for the AM drivers went well for the team, with 2019 championship runner-up Vutthikorn qualifying third fastest and Bao Jinlong in fourth position. In the second qualifying session, Alessio Picariello secured pole position, while Alexander Imperatori qualified in 13th place.

The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon but was delayed due to a heavy downpour on the Thai circuit. After a long wait, the start took place in wet and treacherous conditions. Vutthikorn had a good start and briefly managed to lead the race  during his stint before passing the car to Picariello in second position. The team lost one position in the pits, but Picariello quickly recovered the lost position and overtook the car ahead with a spectacular move from the outside, crossing the finish line in second place in the #911 AAS Motorsport by Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).

Three-time Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Pro-Am champion Bao and Imperatori had a race that was marred by an unfortunate incident in the opening moments. Despite being spun out by an opponent on the opening lap, the Chinese-Swiss pair showed remarkable resilience and bounced back strongly to finish sixth at the flag in the #992 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) car, which sports a striking livery to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit.

On Sunday, Vutthikorn and Picariello took another impressive podium finish. Starting from pole position, Porsche Driver Picariello did what he had to do by putting himself ahead of the pack and tried to build a gap to the rest of the field, as the team had to fulfill a 10-second handicap. However, the two yellow flag periods before the pit stop window opened ruined his chances of giving the car to his teammate with the gap Picariello would have liked. Vutthikorn dropped to fifth after the pit stop, but local hero managed to move up to third after another yellow flag period. A three-car accident with two minutes remaining brought proceedings to an early end, and Vutthikorn and Picariello were classified in third place.

After this weekend's results, Vutthikorn and Picariello are currently leading the GT3 Overall and GT3 Pro-Am Drivers' Standings.

Unfortunately, the #992 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) sister car was taken out earlier in the race.“A messy qualifying left us starting mid pack on Sunday. Once again the car was good and we were on our way to score strong points but I got caught in an accident outside of my control which ended our race early,” explained Imperatori. 

Team Director Fabien Fior said, “We’re really happy to have achieved a double podium and proud of Vutthi and Alessio for their great job. We couldn't be more satisfied with the outcome. For a first race and having received the car quite late, we're happy with the performance and for leading the overall driver standings. It's a shame that the 992 car, which displayed great pace, was eliminated in an accident. We're looking forward to starting the Japan races and showing what we can do.”

The next Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia will take place at Fuji Speedway from June 16 to 18.