Porsche set for Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia title showdown at Sepang

In the Drivers’ standings, Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak sits just one point off the overall leader. The Thai racer teams up with Klaus Bachler in Malaysia, as he did at Suzuka, where the pair took victory in Race 1 for AAS Motorsport by Absolute Racing. Lu Wei heads into the weekend 27 points off the championship lead for R&B Racing, and will need two strong results to clinch the title. Wei partners Patrick Pilet in the #4 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), having claimed podium finishes in both weekends they’ve raced together this year.

Absolute Racing will also be hoping for strong results from newly-crowned Porsche Carrera Cup Asia Pro-Am champion Bao Jinlong in the Year of the Rabbit-liveried #992 car. He’s joined by Edoardo Mortara, with the 10-time race winner in Macau and 2021/22 Formula E runner-up making his first appearance of the season. The team currently tops the GT3 Teams’ Championship, taking a 13-point advantage into the final two rounds. R&B Racing lie third, 21 points behind Absolute Racing, and will need a strong showing from Leo Ye and Yuan Bo in the #87 car to take the title.

Fresh from claiming the Japan Cup crown last time out at Okayama International Circuit, Porsche Center Okazaki’s Hiroaki Nagai and Yuta Kamimura will be hoping to add to their two overall podiums for the season.

EBM Giga Racing bring two cars for the final event of 2023, as Setiawan Santoso partners 2022 Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand champion Tanart Sathienthirakul in the #8 machine. Meanwhile, following his Thailand Super Series podium in Singapore last weekend, Adrian D’Silva joins Reid Harker in the #61 car.

Both HubAuto Racing entries bagged points at the previous event in August, with Brian Lee and Hideto Yasuoka securing seventh in Race 1, before Morris Chen and Alvaro Parente equalled their result in Race 2. Both crews will be hoping for more points and to finish their respective campaigns on a high. Japanese team NK Racing have shown several positive signs in their maiden Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia campaign, regularly qualifying in the top-10. They’ll be hoping to convert their strong one-lap pace into points, with Tsubasa Kondo and Kiyoshi Uchiyama at the wheel of the turquoise-liveried #25 car.

Porsche’s newest entry into the GT3-Am category comes from Modena Motorsports and Hong Kong-basedracer Antares Au. The 2023 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa Bronze category winner will race alone, making his first appearance of the campaign in the #30 car.

Finally, Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter tackle the final event looking to overturn a 33-point deficit in the race for the GT3-Am title. The AMAC Motorsport duo are looking to defend their crown and take the championship for a fourth time in Malaysia.

Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific visited Sepang just last month, with both Porsche Sprint Trophy Thailand and Porsche Carrera Cup Asia competing on the 5.543-kilometre track. A twisty and challenging circuit, the layout mixes tight, slow corners with faster curves, making for an all-around challenge. The heavy braking zones of Turns 1, 9 and 15 offer the best overtaking opportunities, while drivers and teams must always watch overhead, with rain potentially set to be a factor this weekend. Official Practice gets underway on Friday, ahead of qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, before the season comes to a close with the final one-hour event on Sunday.

Vutthikorn Inthraphuvasak, Absolute Racing: “This is going to be the most important event of the season for everyone on the grid. We’re feeling prepared and we’re going to work hard to do our best in the final two rounds. I’m looking forward to the start of the weekend and getting out on track!”

Klaus Bachler, Absolute Racing: “I’m excited for the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia season finale at Sepang. The title race is very open, Vutthi is right in the hunt and I’ll do everything I can to help him and Absolute Racing win the championship. I know the track well, I tested the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) here at the beginning of the year. I’ve been closely following the championship and enjoyed my previous outing at Suzuka, where we took a victory and scored valuable points. Our aim for this weekend is clear, hopefully we can finish the season on a high!”

Bao Jinlong, Absolute Racing: “I’m focused on this weekend, we know we have the pace in the car to compete at the front, so we’ll put in everything we have to secure a strong result.”

Edoardo Mortara, Absolute Racing: “I’m really pleased to be competing at Sepang with Absolute Racing in one of the most competitive series in Asia. I know the team well, and will do my best to support Bao and the squad this weekend.”

Fabian Fior, Absolute Racing Team Principal: “As we head intothe season finale, we are perfectly aware that the GT3 drivers' championship is within our reach, but we remain resolute and focused. We feel no pressure, just pure determination to give it our best on the track this weekend with both cars.”

Yuan Bo, R&B Racing: “First of all, I’d like to thank the whole team for working overtime since the last round to repair the car so we have the opportunity to finish the season in Malaysia. We’ve both raced at Sepang before and we tested the new car here at the beginning of the year so we are familiar with the circuit, which I hope will be a big help. Let’s give everything we’ve got and achieve a strong result to complete the season!”

Leo Ye, R&B Racing: “Our Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia campaign comes to an end this weekend, we’ve gained a lot of experience and enjoyed the fierce competition in the championship. Coming to the last races at Sepang, we hope to show our true speed and strength, and complete the event successfully.”

Lu Wei, R&B Racing: “Heading into the last round of the year, I’m not thinking too much about the championship as there’s a big gap to overcome. My entire focus is on achieving the best result possible in the race, finishing on the podium and then we will see what happens with the title race!”

Patrick Pilet, R&B Racing: “I’m really looking forward to the final race of the championship. Lu still has a shot at the championship, so that’s where my focus lies, achieving the best results possible to give him a chance of the title. It looks like there could be some rain coming this weekend, so we will have to watch out for that. We’ll give everything to finish the season on the top step of the podium!”

Hiroaki Nagai, Porsche Center Okazaki: “After securing the Japan Cup title last time out at Okayama, we’re still aiming for more at Sepang. We know we have the pace, and hopefully we can secure another podium finish.

Yuta Kamimura, Porsche Center Okazaki: “After our Japan Cup success, we’re hoping to continue our good form and finish the season on the podium at Sepang.

Morris Chen, HubAuto Racing: “It’s a great feeling to return to Sepang, a track we’re very familiar with for the final two races of the season. It’s a challenging circuit and I can’t wait to get there and enjoy the speed! As we’ve seen all season, the level of competition is extremely high, so we’re expecting it to be an entertaining weekend. The whole HubAuto team and our cars are ready, and we’re hoping for an excellent performance!”

Alvaro Parente, HubAuto Racing: “It’s the last race weekend of the year and the place we first tested our Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), so I’m looking forward to getting in the car. I enjoy the track and had a great feeling when we drove here before. Morris and I have been working hard throughout the season, and we’ve been competitive in recent rounds. We’ll give everything in the last event to get a good result and finish the championship on a high.”

Brian Lee, HubAuto Racing: “We’re all set for the final weekend of the 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia campaign. We’ll look to find our pace, keep out of trouble and pick up some more points.”

Hideto Yasuoka, HubAuto Racing: “We’ve reached the final round of the season and we’re very happy with the progress made in recent events. Having a strong race at Okayama and taking a healthy haul of points was a fantastic feeling, proving we have the potential to fight higher up the order. This weekend we want to further improve the car, cement the good work we’ve done with the team and build some momentum to take us into 2024.”

Earl Bamber, EBM Giga Racing Team Owner: “We’re really excited to be fielding two cars this weekend at Sepang. Setiawan and Reid have navigated the season superbly together and this weekend they will be separating to race alongside Tanart and Adrian respectively. Adrian we know very well of course, and we’re excited to welcome Tanart back to the team ahead of his upcoming Asian Le Mans Series campaign with Setiawan.”

Kiyoshi Uchiyama, NK Racing: “It’s my debut racing at Sepang, the track is very technical but I’m excited to jump in the car. We’ll be aiming to continue our good qualifying form and secure points in both races.”

Tsubasa Kondo, NK Racing: “It’s the first time either of us will race at Sepang, so the practice sessions will be extremely important this weekend. I’m looking forward to the event and to drive on such an amazing circuit.”

Ben Porter, AMAC Motorsport: “We’re excited to return to Sepang, a track we are fond of. It was the first Asian venue Andrew and I raced at, it’s got a nice flow and diversity of corners. We always enjoy competing there and that’s what we’ll aim to do this weekend. We’re still in GT3-Am title contention, but we’ll need a lot of luck to fall our way. It will be a bittersweet weekend for us as it’s the final time we will race in our Porsche 911 GT3 R (991.1), before we welcome a 991.2 version, a car we hope will help us back to the title next season.”

Alexandre Gibot, Managing Director Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific Ltd.: “The Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia campaign has flown by! We started all the way back in May at Chang International Circuit, where the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) made its racing debut in the Asia-Pacific region. The car has shown great pace all season, as proven by the fact we have two drivers and two teams in the mix for overall titles this weekend. It’s incredible to have 12 entries for the final round of the season, we wish the best to all of our teams and drivers and hope to be celebrating title glory on Sunday ! "