Bentley Team Absolute has won the GT Asia Series Team Championship in its debut season, taking the title at the 2015 finale at Thailand’s Chang International Circuit. The weekend also saw Bentley Team Absolute drivers Adderly Fong and Keita Sawa take two hard-fought podium finishes to end the season Vice Champions in the Drivers’ Classification, while Duncan Tappy and Bentley Team Absolute newcomer Benny Simonsen celebrated a lights-to-flag victory in Round 10.

After qualifying on pole for Round 10, Tappy led the field in Car #77 and Simonsen continued the charge to take the chequered flag by more than 10 seconds. The Car #08 duo of 2011 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion Sawa and 2013 Audi R8 LMS Cup champion Fong dropped back at the start, but fought their through the field to finish third, putting them on equal points with their rivals heading into the final race of the weekend.

Jeffrey Lee teamed up with 2012 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion Alexandre Imperatori for the final two races of the weekend, finishing just outside the top 10 in Round 10.

In the championship-deciding Round 11, Fong started from pole but lost out at the start to his title rival. Sawa and Fong would ultimately finish third, with Tappy and Simonsen fourth. Imperatori and Lee were eighth, as Bentley Team Absolute secured the team title.

“We are thrilled to have won the team title in our inaugural season of racing in the GT Asia Series, and to have shown the strength and speed of Bentley Team Absolute amongst such a competitive field,” said Absolute Racing director Ingo Matter. “Finishing runners-up in the Drivers Classification with Adderly and Sawa showed our consistency this year, while Duncan and Benny’s win in Car #77 in Round 10 was a great result. We’d like to congratulate the GT Asia Series Champion Darryl O’Young in what was an extremely competitive season, and we look forward to coming back even stronger in 2016.”

Race 1

From pole position, Tappy in Car #77 got away well at the start, and immediately set about building lead. Meanwhile, Sawa and Fong in Car #08 came into the weekend just four points off first place. Sawa began Round 10 from the fourth row and, after initially dropping back, quickly began to make up positions, his main title rival just three cars behind.

By the end of the second lap, Sawa had moved up to ninth, while Imperatori in Car #07 was seventh. In the battle for seventh between the two Bentley Continental GT3 cars and a third rival, Imperatori and Carlo Van Dam made contact, dropping the Bentley Team Absolute driver down to ninth.

When Tappy came in for the mandatory pit stop, he had built a six-second lead as he handed the car to Simonsen, who was making his team and championship debut. Simonsen maintained the lead throughout the remainder of the race, ultimately taking the chequered flag by more than 10 seconds.

Behind the race leader was a hard-charging Sawa, up to seventh when he handed Car #08 to Fong, while Lee took over Car #07 from Imperatori and would go on to finish just outside the to 10.

On the first lap of his stint, Fong moved up to sixth before taking fifth a lap later. He made short work of his rival to climb to fourth, and then began the battle for the final podium place. Fong got past his rival, giving the pair its seventh podium of the season. However, with championship rivals Darryl O’Young and Daniel Lloyd in the #99 Aston Martin finishing fourth, the two teams were equal on points heading into Sunday’s Round 11.

Race 2

Tensions were running high in Round 11, with Fong starting on pole and Lloyd alongside him on the front row. Simonsen was third on the grid, while Lee had qualified 12th.

As a result of their third-place finish, Fong and Sawa had a four-second pit stop penalty, meaning that they would have to be on top form as they fought for the championship title. Fong made a small error at the start, which allowed his rival to get past at the first corner. Following two incidents on the opening lap, the Safety Car was called out, allowing Fong to close up to his rival. However, when the Safety Car pulled off, Fong was unable to make a move. While he pushed hard to stay with the race leader, he couldn’t quite match his rival’s pace.

Simonsen was holding strong in third, but conscious of Fong and Sawa’s championship fight. Car #07 also got off to a dramatic start, after a fuel leak saw Lee start the race from pit lane.

The gap between Fong and first place was more than four seconds by the driver change, with Car #08 having dropped back to third. Lee was the first of the Bentley Team Absolute drivers to come into the pits, handing the car to Imperatori. Simonsen followed, with Car #77 having an extra 12 seconds added to their stop as a result of their win in Round 10.

Sawa took over from Fong and set about trying to make up some ground. However, it was not meant to be and, while the Japanese driver was able to close in on second, he crossed the line third. Tappy finished just behind Sawa in fourth and, with Imperatori in eighth, it was a top 10 finish for all three Bentley Team Absolute cars as they celebrated winning the 2015 GT Asia Series Team Classification.