15 July 2016
Gotemba, 15 July 2016 - The GT Asia Series arrives at the iconic Fuji International Speedway this week to begin the second leg of the 2016 season, a season which has already proved to be the closest on record, with four different winners, in three different marques across the six rounds already completed. This will be the sixth season in succession the region’s leading GT category has hit Fuji, with every one of those six seasons conducted on the same weekend of the year, a time of year which can provide all manner of weather conditions, and usually does.
GT3. Leading the charge at the mid-point of the season is the very same team that was leading up to Fuji in 2015, the BBT Ferrari of Anthony Liu and David Rizzo (on the brand new 488 GTE): 12-months ago they were forced to miss the second Japanese event due to external commitments, effectively ending their championship challenge for the second season in a row and they’re looking to make amends and consolidate their championship position before heading to China. Historically, Ferrari has been the most successful marque at Fuji, with the Italian manufacturer claiming a victory in every one of the past five seasons, with four of those five wins going to three-time GT Asia Series champion Mok Weng Sun. He’ll be back this weekend with his illustrious side-kick “Rocket” Richie Wee on the Clearwater Racing 488 GT3, and whilst they will be quick, they’ll have their work cut out to battle amongst the points leaders. There’s another Ferrari on the grid: it’s the 458 Italia GT3 of Singha Motorsport Team driven as usual by Carlo Van Dam and Piti Bhirom Bhakdi.
GTC. Then there’s the GTC category, which sees two strong Japanese teams make their debut to put series points leaders Bhurit Bhirom Bhakdi and Kantasak Kusiri under pressure. Leading the charge will be Team Naoryu Age Age Racing’s Toshihito Funai and Masayuki Ueda, two experienced Ferrari campaigners at home in Japan, they will battle with Team Rosso Scuderia’s experienced veterans Akihiro Asai and Ken Seto, a key player in the Ferrari Challenge APAC series, in an identical Ferrari 458 Challenge EVO making it a three-way Ferrari battle for the top step of the podium.