Weekend notebook: victories in the GT WC Asia

A good debut for the Ferraris in the GT World Challenge Asia in Sepang, with a third place overall and class victories. A less fortunate race for Racing Conquest, 12th in the IMSA in Long Beach, and for Kessel Racing, forced to retire in the 24H Series at Spa. Both teams were victims of unprovoked collisions.

GT WC Asia. The Ferrari 296 GT3s made a positive debut in the first round of the GT World Challenge Asia, which was contested in Sepang, Malaysia. A victory came in the very first race courtesy of David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo who took first place in the Am class with the Garage75 team’s number 75 Ferrari. There was another podium, with third place in the Silver class, for the LM Corsa team’s 296 GT3 with the Japanese pairing of Shigekazu Wakisaka and Ryo Ogawa. Harmony Racing’s number 77 secured fifth place in the same class with Luo Kailuo and Liang Jiatong. The fourth Ferrari lining up at the weekend in Malaysia, Absolute Corse’s number 296 with André Canard and Finn Gehrsitz, finished fifth in the Silver/Am class.

There was another victory in Race-2, but this time it was Luo Kailuo and Liang Jiatong celebrating on the top step of the podium in the Silver class, with the pairing also achieving third place overall. Fifth in class were Shigekazu Wakisaka and Ryo Ogawa. Fourth in the Silver/AM class were André Canard and Finn Gehrsitz. Meanwhile, there was another podium for the Ferrari 296 GT3 of David Tjiptobiantoro and Christian Colombo, who ended their weekend with a third place in the Am class.

The next round of the championship is scheduled to take place from 10 to 12 May at Thailand’s Chang International Circuit.

IMSA. Conquest Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 number 34 ended the Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third round of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the first round of the Sprint Cup of the American championship, with a 12th place in the GTD class.

After starting from third position on the grid and claiming second place in the first lap, Albert Costa and Manny Franco, both making their debuts on the historic street circuit which has hosted important competitions since 1975, were involved in an accident that saw them drop down to 15th place. An excellent final phase moved the Ferrari 296 GT3 up to 12th place, which meant that Conquest Racing rose to third position in the GTD standings.

The next leg of the IMSA Championship is the Course de Monterey, scheduled for Sunday 12 May at Laguna Seca, California.

24H Series. Kessel Racing’s Ferrari 296 GT3 number 5 had initially made a good start to the weekend in Belgium at the 12 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in the Am class. The Swiss team, with Fran Rueda, Andrew Gilbert, Fons Scheltema and Nicolò Rosi started from sixth place overall after a positive qualifying session. However, during the first part of the race, with Rosi at the steering wheel, the car was involved in an accident at the Eau Rouge that led to its retirement. The next leg of the 24H Series is the 24 Hours of Portimão, on the weekend of 10 to 12 May.