12-months ago Ferrari dominated the Sepang round of the GT Asia Series, with Thailand’s Pasin Lathouras winning the two one-hour races in comfortable fashion. This year Ferrari is on top again, with Italian ‘customer’ agency AF Corse assisting Rui Aguas (Spirit of Race) back to the top of the time sheets for the second consecutive day.

“We were just lucky,” Aguas quipped with a wry smile, clearly intent on saying little else.. Perhaps, but lucky over four sessions… that kind of luck equates to experience, the very experience that AF Corse provided Lathouras last season.

Second overall – and perhaps the pre-event favourites – were local heroes Clearwater Racing, with Japanese GT3 superstar Keita Sawa in the Ferrari 458 he shares with two-time champion Mok Weng Sun, getting to within two tenths of Aguas.

NB Team’s Max Wiser claimed third in the Aston Martin he shares with China’s Kane Jiang, he, like Craft-Bamboo Racing’s European star Stefan Mucke, admitting that he just couldn’t get the power down like the two Ferrari’s..

“The speed of the Ferraris is amazing out of the slower corners, which lead onto the long straights of Sepang giving them an overall outright speed advantage that we just can’t match,” the Italian shrugged with frustration.

“It has a lot to do with the dynamics of the car,” Mucke – an experienced veteran of GT3 competition explained. “The mid-mounted engine of the Ferrari provides a better weight distribution allowing it to get on the power quicker out of the slower corners, an advantage they have over our front-engined Aston Martin that we just can’t make up by the end of the straight.”

A close look at the speed trap at the end of the main straight added weight to Mucke’s argument, the ‘Spirit of Race’ Ferrari clocked at 272 kmh, versus the Craft-Bamboo Aston’s recorded best of 266.. Wiser fared marginally better with a best of 269..!

“Our rear wing is flat, we can’t adjust the front suspension any more than we have, and we just don’t have the speed of the lead Ferraris, so it could come down to a matter of tyre conservation,” Wiser added.

“Sepang is a real compromise between getting the car right for the slow speed hairpins, and the fast sweeping corners,” Mucke admitted. “We tried a lot of things today to make the car better, and focused particularly on the fast turn five sweeping left-hander – you can make up a lot of time there! Whether that’s enough, time will tell.”

Interestingly the two Ferraris failed to improve on their best times in P2 – which was held in the intense heat and humidity of the early afternoon – however the two Astons, the points leading McLaren of Rob Bell/Hiroshi Hamaguchi, and the Christopher Mies/Jeffrey Lee Audi R8 did manage to find some improvements to leap up the order.

Fuji winner Mies was next quickest behind the two Ferraris and the two Astons, in Jeffrey Lee’s Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra, the German star jumping in to improve the team’s time by a second and a half to be fifth, with New Zealander Craig Baird sixth in the second Clearwater Racing Ferrari he shares with Richard Wee.

South Korea winner Davide Rizzo was next in the second AF Corse prepared Ferrari he shares with Anthony Liu, whilst points leader Bell and Hamaguchi were next in the first of the turbo cars, which were clearly suffering in the humid conditions – testament to that was the Nissan GT-R which was classified just 13th, 2.3-seconds off the pace of the leading Ferrari.

Thailand’s Piti Bhirombhakdi and Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak were next up, the two AAS Singha Porsche drivers who starred early in race two at Fuji in the damp conditions the leading Porsche, whilst the second Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin of Australian’s Jonathan Venter and Daniel Bilski rounded out the top ten.

It was nice to see the locally supported ‘MIKE Racing’ Mercedes Benz SLS AMG GT3 of Michael and Joseph Chua featuring at the top of the timesheets throughout the day, with the team employing the services of Mercedes favourite and Japanese SuperGT race winner Bjorn Wirdheim. Wirdheim not only put the gorgeous orange and black SLS towards the front of the field, he also assisted Michael Chua to his best run of the season, whilst brother Joseph stepped into the team’s GTM Class Porsche Cup Car.

Twelfth overall for the day was local hero Alex Yoong, although like a number of drivers in the field, he was also contesting the Audi R8 LMS Cup, so committed much of his time to the one-make series, you could expect Malaysia’s former Formula One star to leap up the order in qualifying.

In GTM Class, the Korean round winning Lamborghini of former MotoGP star Takuma Aoki topped the second session, although without the talented former motorcycle rider behind the wheel.. Aoki was competing in an off-road rally in Cambodia and Thailand in an Isuzu, the clash of events keeping the Japanese star from an arrival until just prior to Saturday morning’s opening qualifier. Instead co-driver Ken Urata stepped in to set the fastest GTM time, although he was aided by the hectic schedule incurred by 2013 title rivals Wayne Shen and Francis Tjia who are doing ‘double-duty’ this weekend with Porsche Carrera Cup Asia.

In the end the GTM battle on the timesheets was waged between 2014 title contenders Jacky Yeung (Audi R8 LMS Cup) and Taiwan Top Speed Racing Team regulars George Chou and his team-mate for Sepang, points leader Thomas Fjordbach.

Yeung was ultimately classified second fastest overall, with Chou/Fjordbach third.

“We had a number of issues across the day that really impacted our pace,” Fjordbach explained. “If we get those sorted ahead of qualifying, there’s no reason why we can’t take the fight to the Lamborghini, the Audi and the Porsches.”

Saturday will see two 15-minute qualifying sessions begin at 9:30am to set the field for race one and two (rounds seven and eight of the Championship), with the opening 60-minute race scheduled for 1:55pm.

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Keep up to date with the Sepang round of the GT Asia Series via www.afos.com and through social media; www.facebook.com/GTAsiaSeries

Qualifying and both 1-Hour races from Sepang will be broadcast across the weekend, details will be released on the website, Facebook and Twitter on times once available.

GT Asia Series – unofficial practice (14 August, 2014)
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
Combined times (2x 60-minute sessions)
1. 38. Rui Aguas/Nasrat Muzayyin (Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 2:06.502 [P2]
2. 98. Alex Yoong/Phillip Ma (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3) – 2:07.267 [P2]
3. 37. Davide Rizzo/Anthony Liu (BBT Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 2:07.322 [P2]
4. 9. Max Wiser/Jiang Xin (NB Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3) – 2:07.372 [P2]
5. 7. Christopher Mies/Jeffrey Lee (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3) – 2:07.513 [P2]
6. 97. Stefan Mucke/Frank Yu (CRAFT Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage) – 2:07.543 [P2]
7. 3. Keita Sawa/Mok Weng Sun (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 2:07.559 [P2]
8. 96. Michael Chua/Bjorn Wirdheim (Mike Racing Mercedes SLS AMG GT3) – 2:07.977 [P2]
9. 32. Rob Bell/Hiroshi Hamaguchi (Clearwater Racing McLaren MP4-12C) – 2:08.358 [P2]
10. 99. Jonathan Venter/Daniel Bilski (CRAFT Racing Aston Martin) – 2:08.486 [P2]
11. 11. Piti Bhirombhakdi/Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (Singha Porsche GT3-R) – 2:08.587 [P2]
12. 12. Craig Baird/Richard Wee (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 2:09.018 [P1]
13. 13. Tetsuya Tanaka/Motoyoshi Yoshida (B-Max Racing Nissan GT-R GT3) – 2:10.602 [P2]
14. 34. Ken Urata (Dilango Racing Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3) – 2:12.207 [P2]*
15. 77. Jacky Yeung/Ashraff Dewal (Tiger Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 2:13.590 [P2]*
16. 88. George Chou/Thomas Fjordbach (Taiwan Top Speed 458 Challenge) – 2:14.115 [P2]*
17. 55. Yuk Lung Siu/Tit Lung Siu (LKM Racing Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3) – 2:14.202 [P2]*
18. 80. Anthony Chan/Dominic Ang (Team Lotus Evora GTC) – 2:15.470 [P2]*
19. 69. James Cai/Juin Cheng Lim (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:15:653 [P2]*
20. 16. Wayne Shen (ModenaMotorsports.com Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:15.935 [P1]*
21. 60. Marcel Tija (Open Road Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:19:187 [P1]*
22. 23. Sasha Chu (Taiwan Top Speed Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3) – 2:31.602 [P2]*
23. 21. Francis Tija (Open Road Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – NTR
23. 68. John Shen (ModenaMotorsports.com Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – NTR
23. 6. Joseph Chua/Rick Cheang (Mike Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – NTR
23. 56. Samson Chan/Naoki Yokomizo (Ford GT3) – NTR
23. 24. Dilantha Malagamuwa/Nathan Antunes (Dilango Gallardo FL2 GT3) – NTR
*GTM class

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GT Asia Series – Official practice (15 August, 2014)
Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
Combined times (2x 45-minute sessions)
1. 38. Rui Aguas/Nasrat Muzayyin (Spirit of Race Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 2:06.558 [P1]
2. 3. Keita Sawa/Mok Weng Sun (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 2:06.750 [P1]
3. 9. Max Wiser/Jiang Xin (NB Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3) – 2:07.282 [P2]
4. 97. Stefan Mucke/Frank Yu (CRAFT Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage) – 2:07.500 [P2]
5. 7. Christopher Mies/Jeffrey Lee (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3) – 2:07.600 [P2]
6. 12. Craig Baird/Richard Wee (Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 2:07.909 [P1]
7. 37. Davide Rizzo/Anthony Liu (BBT Ferrari 458 Italia GT3) – 2:08.102 [P1]
8. 32. Rob Bell/Hiroshi Hamaguchi (Clearwater Racing McLaren MP4-12C) – 2:08.258 [P2]
9. 11. Piti Bhirombhakdi/Vutthikorn Inthrapuvasak (Singha Porsche GT3-R) – 2:08.283 [P1]
10. 99. Jonathan Venter/Daniel Bilski (CRAFT Racing Aston Martin) – 2:08.387 [P2]
11. 96. Michael Chua/Bjorn Wirdheim (Mike Racing Mercedes SLS AMG GT3) – 2:08.471 [P2]
12. 98. Alex Yoong/Phillip Ma (Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3) – 2:08.836 [P1]
13. 13. Tetsuya Tanaka/Motoyoshi Yoshida (B-Max Racing Nissan GT-R GT3) – 2:10.244 [P1]
14. 24. Dilantha Malagamuwa/Nathan Antunes (Dilango Gallardo FL2 GT3) – 2:10.828 [P2]
15. 34. Ken Urata (Dilango Racing Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3) – 2:11.635 [P1]*
16. 55. Yuk Lung Siu/Tit Lung Siu (LKM Racing Lamborghini Gallardo FL2 GT3) – 2:12.143 [P1]*
17. 56. Samson Chan/Naoki Yokomizo (Ford GT3) – 2:12.752 [P1]
18. 77. Jacky Yeung/Ashraff Dewal (Tiger Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3) – 2:13.109 [P1]*
19. 88. George Chou/Thomas Fjordbach (Taiwan Top Speed 458 Challenge) – 2:14.261 [P2]*
20. 16. Wayne Shen (ModenaMotorsports.com Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:14.450 [P2]*
21. 21. Francis Tija (Open Road Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:14:480 [P2]*
22. 69. James Cai/Juin Cheng Lim (Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:15:188 [P2]*
23. 80. Anthony Chan/Dominic Ang (Team Lotus Evora GTC) – 2:18.005 [P1]*
24. 68. John Shen (ModenaMotorsports.com Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:18.444 [P2]*
25. 60. Marcel Tija (Open Road Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:20:590 [P1]*
26. 6. Joseph Chua/Rick Cheang (Mike Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup) – 2:23.060 [P2]*
27. 23. Sasha Chu (Taiwan Top Speed Audi R8 LMS ultra GT3) – 2:34.319 [P1]*
*GTM class