The GT Asia Series returns to the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia for the fifth event on the 2014 calendar and the scene of the most recent round. In between the two events the annual Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race (Sepang 12-Hour) was also contested, and in ominous news for his opponents – and his Clearwater Racing team-mates – it was title contender Mok Weng Sun who won his second consecutive 12-Hour event..
Mok claimed his second Sepang victory in as many weeks, defeating GT Asia Series team-mate Keita Sawa in the process, the duo though will once again share the #3 Clearwater Ferrari 458 this weekend as they work to close down the points gap to championship leaders Rob Bell and Hiroshi Hamaguchi in the Clearwater McLaren MP4-12C.
Just four weeks ago the series arrived at Sepang for rounds seven and eight in mixed conditions, with Mok/Sawa enjoying victory in race two, after long-time rivals Frank Yu and Stefan Mucke (Craft-Bamboo Racing Aston Martin) claimed victory in race one.
The high temperatures and high humidity played havoc with the turbo-powered McLaren and Skyline GT-R, with both teams struggling to match the pace of the normally aspirated V8 Ferrari and V12 Aston, and tragically for both those teams, similar conditions are expected this weekend with 32 degree days and rain forecast across the four days of the event.
Rain also played a big part in qualifying at the previous round with a torrential downpour coming just 15-minutes ahead of the two qualifying sessions, allowing the Audis of Christopher Mies (sharing with Jeffrey Lee) and Alex Yoong (sharing with Phillip Ma) to claim the front row of the grid for race one, and the Thai Porsche claim the pole for race two, but during the two dry races, the Absolute Racing Audi R8s and the Porsche fell away.
Should the weather be warm, humid and dry – expect to see the Ferraris of Clearwater Racing battling with the AF Corse prepared Ferraris of Rui Aguas/Nasrat Muzayyin and Davide Rizzo/Anthony Liu, but don’t discount the Aston Martins of Yu/Mucke and Max Wiser with new partner (for this weekend) Lucas Guerrero, both cars were on the podium last time out and both were quick.
Should the weather be wet, then anything goes and depending on the state of the circuit, the Audis will certainly come back into play, whilst for points leaders Bell/Hamaguchi in the McLaren, it might just be the tonic they need as they defend their slender 11-point lead over Mok/Sawa.
“It is what it is,” Bell lamented after claiming third and fourth last time out at Sepang. “We’re always going to be up against it with a turbo car in this heat, so we just have to make sure we minimise the damage and finish as high up the order as we can. Hiroshi [Hamaguchi] is one of the faster ‘amateur’ drivers, so that works well for us, but we can only drive as fast as the car is capable, so it’s just down to making sure we don’t have any issues and finish!”
GTM will again be strongly represented, but the Audis and the string of Taiwan Top Speed Racing Ferrari 458 Challenge drivers will have their work cut out for them against the mighty Lamborghini Gallardo LP520 of former MotoGP rider Takuma Aoki, the disabled Japanese driver was the star last time out with co-driver Ken Urata, the duo winning both races comfortably despite Aoki missing all practice sessions.
“I like Sepang, it is a very good circuit, and I was very happy to set pole position and win both races despite missing all the practice sessions due to my off-road racing commitments in Cambodia,” Aoki explained after his twin Sepang victories in August.
Aoki will be ‘going it alone’ this weekend, and with the long Sepang straights, could be expected to once more out-run the points leading Ferrari of George Chou and Thomas Fjordbach with the Dane hoping to retain his series points lead heading to China in October.
Fjorbach though will spend the bulk of his time focused on former champion Jacky Yeung who this time around has employed the services of Audi stalwart and former race winner Marchy Lee to join him. Yeung is tied on points with Fjordbach, and his consistency over recent rounds has seen him emerge as the man to beat with five races to go.
2014 GT Asia Series – Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia (11-14 September)
EVENT SCHEDULE;
Thursday, 11 September
11:00am – Unofficial Practice #1 (55-minutes)
4:00pm – Unofficial Practice #2 (55-minutes)
Friday, 12 August
12:15pm – Official Practice #1 (45-minutes)
4:30pm – Official Practice #2 (45-minutes)
Saturday, 13 August
10:20am – Qualifying #1 (15-minutes)
10:45am – Qualifying #2 (15-minutes)
3:45pm – Race #1 (60-minutes)
Sunday, 14 August
12:20pm – Race #2 (60-minutes)
Malaysian time; GMT +8 hours
WHO’S COMPETING AT SEPANG?
GT3 CLASS
3. Mok Weng Sun (SIN)/Keita Sawa (JPN) – Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
7. Jeffrey Lee (TPE)/Christopher Mies (GER) – Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra
9. Wiser Massimiliano (ITA)/Lucas Guerrero (ESP) – NB Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3
12. Richard Wee (SIN)/Alessandro Guidi (ITA) – Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
13. Motoyoshi Yoshida (JPN)/Tetsuya Tanaka (JPN) – B-MAX Racing Team Nissan GT-R GT3
15. Tit Lung Siu (HKG)/Earl Bamber (NZL) – LKM Racing Porsche 997 GT3-R
24. Dilantha Malagamuwa (SRI) – Dilango Racing Gallardo FL2 GT3
32. Hiroshi Hamaguchi (JPN)/Rob Bell (GBR) – Clearwater Racing McLaren MP4-12C
37. Anthony Liu (CHN)/Davide Rizzo (HKG) – BBT Team by AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia GT3
38. Nasrat Muzayyin (SIN)/Rui Aguas (POR) – Spirit of Race by AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3
55. Siu Yuk Lung (HKG) – LKM Racing Racing Gallardo LP560 GT3
56. Samson Chan (HKG)/Naoki Yokomizo (JPN) – Ford GT3
89. Michael Choi (HKG)/Mitchell Gilbert (AUS) – FUN88 Racing Gallardo FL2 GT3
96. Mike Chua (HKG)/Bjorn Wirdheim (SWE) – Mike Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
97. Frank Yu (HKG)/Stefan Mucke (GER) – Craft Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3
98. Alex Yoong (MAS)/Phillip Ma (HKG) – Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 ultra
99. Jonathon Venter (AUS)/Daniel Bilski (HKG) – Craft Bamboo Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3
GTM CLASS
16. Wayne Shen (HKG) – Porsche GT3 Cup Car
18. Craig Liu (TPE)/Shigekazu Wakisaka (JPN) – Taiwan Top Speed Ferrari 458 Challenge
22. K.S. Wang (TPE)/Hideaki Nakao (JPN) – Taiwan Top Speed Racing Team Audi R8 LMS Cup
25. Christian Chia (CAN) – IMS Audi R8 LMS Cup
34. Takuma Aoki (JPN) – Dilango Racing Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3
60. Marcel Tjia (HKG) – Porsche GT3 Cup Car
68. John Shen (HKG) – Porsche GT3 Cup Car
77. Jacky Yeung (HKG)/Marchy Lee (HKG) – Tiger Racing Team Audi R8 LMS Cup
80. Anthony Chan Kei Ming (HKG)/Dominic Ang Ding Xiong (MAS) – Team Lotus Evora GTC
88. George Chou (TPE)/Thomas Fjordbach (DEN) – Taiwan Top Speed Ferrari 458 Challenge
95. Sasha Chu (HKG)/Ryo Fukuda (TPE) – Taiwan Top Speed Racing Ferrari 458 Challenge