GT World Challenge Asia – Porsche makes a strong start at Sepang, victory for Ghiretti

With eight Porsche With 911 GT3 R entries — the largest contingent on the grid — the Stuttgart brand immediately imposed its rule in Malaysia.

From the very first race, the foundations were laid. Starting third for Absolute Racing, Huang Ruohan perfectly maintained his position during his first stint, resisting the pressure and setting solid lap times against more experienced Silver drivers.

The mid-race driver change proved decisive. Propelled into the lead after the pit stops, Alessandro Ghiretti left no chance for his rivals. Making his GT World Challenge Asia debut, the Porsche Junior 2025 driver demonstrated commanding control, winning by more than six seconds and securing his first GT3 victory.

Behind them, Dorian Boccolacci and Alessio Picariello enlivened the battle, crossing the finish line in fifth and sixth places respectively. The two also completed a Porsche 1-2-3 finish in the Pro-Am class. The marque also shone in Silver-Am with a victory for Kiyoshi Uchiyama and Tsubasa Kondo (Porsche Center Okazaki), who finished eighth overall.

In other categories, Origine Motorsport celebrated a success in Am thanks to Wang Zhongwei and Hangcheng Liu, while the AMAC Motorsport crew of Andrew Macpherson and Ben Porter reached the podium.

Porsche locks out the podium on Sunday

The scenario repeated itself on Sunday, with an even more decisive dominance. While Bastian Buus started from pole position, Alessio Picariello made the best start to take the lead, quickly joined by Ghiretti. The duo set a strong pace, extending their lead before the mandatory pit stop window.

Despite a penalty incurred for its victory the previous day, the No. 911 Porsche remained in contention, but it was ultimately Lu Wei who emerged victorious after the pit stops. The Origine Motorsport driver secured the win, marking his seventh GT World Challenge Asia victory and setting a new record.

Anthony Liu secured second place, while Huang Ruohan, still very solid at the end of the race, completed another Porsche triple after a great maneuver at the end of the event.

As on the previous day, Uchiyama and Kondo distinguished themselves with an eighth place overall, this time meaning second position in Silver-Am. Further back, Hiroaki Nagai and Kazuto Kotaka made a remarkable comeback from the back of the grid to 12th place.

In the Am category, Wang Zhongwei and Hangcheng Liu confirmed their consistency with a second place, ahead of the Macpherson / Porter crew in particular.

Heading to Indonesia

After a dominant opening weekend, Porsche leaves Sepang with a haul of points and a clear message sent to the competition. The 2026 season is off to a flying start.

The GT World Challenge Asia will continue its Asian tour in early May, with a second event scheduled at the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia (May 2-3).

GT WORLD CHALLENGE ASIA – Sepang
Race 1 ranking

1. Huang / Ghiretti (Absolute Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R) – 1:01:18.375
2. Nandy (Absolute Racing, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2) at 6.856
3. Cheng / Yu (FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II) at 7.566
4. Aoki / Miyake (Team 5ZIGEN, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3) at 9.760
5. Liu / Boccolacci (Phantom Global Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 18.137
6. Lu / Picariello (Origine Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 26.867
7. Pato / Evans (Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II) at 27.577
8. Uchiyama / Kondo (Porsche Center Okazaki, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 43.169
9. Tan / Vermeulen (Absolute Corsica, Ferrari 296 GT3) at 48.939
10. Li / Seppänen (Climax Racing, Mercedes Benz-AMG GT3 EVO) at 49.557
11. Ruan / Verhagen (Team KRC, BMW M4 GT3 EVO) at 55.262
12. Inthraphuvasak / Buus (Absolute Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 55.972
13. Chen / Liang (Craft-Bamboo Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) at 1:03.881
14. Sun / Fong (33R Harmony Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3) at 1:07.785
15. Lee / Oosten (Team KRC, BMW M4 GT3 EVO) at 1:13.979
16. Song / Leitch (Winhere Harmony Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3) at 1:16.672
17. Yamaguchi / Ara (BMW Team Studie, BMW M4 GT3 EVO) at 1:17.709
18. Liu / Wang (Origine Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 1:25.812
19. Tjiptobiantoro / Colombo (Garage 75, Ferrari 296 GT3) at 1:27.919
20. Porter / Macpherson (AMAC Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R) 1 lap behind
21. Santoso / Zhou (Climax Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) 1 lap down

Uncategorized: Nagai / Kotaka (Porsche Center Okazaki, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 6 laps); Deng / Liu (Winhere Harmony Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3, 5 laps).

Race 2 ranking

1. Read / Picariello (Origine Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R) – 1:00:11.893
2. Liu / Boccolacci (Phantom Global Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 4.072
3. Huang / Ghiretti (Absolute Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 21.923
4. Ruan / Verhagen (Team KRC, BMW M4 GT3 EVO) at 25.518
5. Lee / Oosten (Team KRC, BMW M4 GT3 EVO) at 44.146
6. Deng / Liu (Winhere Harmony Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3) at 45.046
7. Tan / Vermeulen (Absolute Corse, Ferrari 296 GT3) at 55.124
8. Uchiyama / Kondo (Porsche Center Okazaki, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 56.891
9. Li / Seppänen (Climax Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) at 59.119
10. Nandy (Absolute Racing, Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2) at 1:01.453
11. Song / Leitch (Winhere Harmony Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3) at 1:04.104
12. Nagai / Kotaka (Porsche Center Okazaki, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 1:05.017
13. Santoso / Zhou (Climax Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) at 1:12.057
14. Chen / Liang (Craft-Bamboo Racing, Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO) at 1:12.531
15. Liu / Wang (Origine Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 1:16.619
16. Pato / Evans (Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II) at 1:25.0
17. Yamaguchi / Ara (BMW Team Studie, BMW M4 GT3 EVO) at 1:25.1
18. Tjiptobiantoro / Colombo (Garage 75, Ferrari 296 GT3) at 1:53.684
19. Aoki / Miyake (Team 5ZIGEN, Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3) at 2:00.640
20. Porter / Macpherson (AMAC Motorsport, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 2:01.588
21. Cheng / Yu (FAW Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II) at 2 laps
22. Inthraphuvasak / Buus (Absolute Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R) at 5 laps

Uncategorized: Sun / Fong (33R Harmony Racing, Ferrari 296 GT3, 9 laps).