Thai driver, Pasin Lathouras claimed the win in a last minute overtaking effort on the lead Aston Martin in an exciting GT Asia Series Round 7 at Sepang International Circuit yesterday. Lathouras who started the race in seventh, behind the lead Aston Martin, three Audi R8 LMS Ultras, a Ford GT3 and a Porsche 997 GT3R, managed to maintain his position at the start and began to pick up the pace midway through the first half of the race. Then eleventh placed starter, Hiroshi Hamaguchi in the McLaren 12C GT3, moved up the grid into position behind Lathouras and claimed sixth by lap 5.
As the pit-stop window opened, Lathouras followed the Porsche driven by Li Zhi Cong to pit in and thereafter proceeded to battle one another for a few laps before Lathouras found a way past the Chinese driver at turn 4 of lap 13. The McLaren had a great start, moving up the grid from eleventh to fourth by the end of the first half, Hamaguchi then passed the car to teammate, Mok Weng Sun at the pit-stop. Mok then dropped down the order back to eleventh and worked his way back up to finish the race in fourth.
The pairing of Earl Bamber and Samson Chan had a fantastic race battling at the start with the Audi of Alex Yoong and Francis Hideki Onda, the Craft Racing AMR drivers finished the race in fifth ahead of a trio of Audi led by Marchy Lee/Jeffrey Lee, Cheng Cong Fu/Philip Ma and Yoong/Onda. Team Clearwater Racing’s Lamborghini LP560 GT3 driven by the pairing of Ro Charlz and Tunku Hammam finished the race in ninth after Hammam dropped down the order toward the end of the race after an incident that caused him to spin on turn 2.
Malaysian driver, Rizal Ramli and his Dilango Racing teammate, Dilantha Malagamuwa was given a drive through penalty for a pit-stop infringement, causing them to finish the race in tenth, ahead of Siu Yuk Lung in LKM Racing’s Porsche 997 GT3R.
Wayne Shen was the GTM Class winner after maintaining a steady pace throughout the race, in second for the most part. Luck was on his side as the pairing of Carlo Van Dam and Jacky Yeung in the Audi R8 LMS Cup was given a drive through penalty for a pit-stop infringement, propelling him to first for GTM. Van Dam/Yeung finished second ahead of John Shen in third. Newcomers Craig Liu and Benjamin Lee driving for JFly Absolute Racing in the Audi R8 LMS Cup was the last of the finishers while Asai Akihiro and Billy Fung was unable to finish the race.
The GT Asia Series continues today with Round 8 scheduled on Sunday, 15th September at 1.50pm.
The GT Asia Series Rounds 5 – 10, held at Fuji, Sepang and Zhuhai will mark the start of the AAMC Macau GT Cup, where drivers will also collect points for the Macau GT Championship. The 2013 GT Asia Series is supported by Yokohama ADVAN, Graham Timekeepers, KW Automotive, AutoArt, Tunewear and RaceRoom. The GT Asia Series is jointly organised by Motorsport Asia and Supercar Club Hong Kong.
