Absolute Racing has taken a double-podium at round nine of Blancpain GT Series Asia. Alessio Picariello marked his return to the team by crossing the line second, following a storming run from himself and teammate Anthony Liu at the Shanghai International Circuit. Completing the podium in the sister Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS were Adderly Fong and Andrew Kim. The finishing positions earned the Absolute Racing squads a one-two finish in the Pro/Am class.
Martin Rump and Cheng Congfu had started the race as the highest placed of the six Audi R8 LMS entries in second, and had moved into first heading into the first corner. But the Absolute Racing pair’s lead was in tatters almost as soon as it had been claimed following a hit from the pole-sitting competitor they had passed moments earlier. They eventually crossed the line 16th, out of the points.
Rump and Cheng now sit fifth in the overall championship on 74 points. In the Pro/Am class, Liu’s category win has put him right back in the mix to be fourth in class on 116 points just 15 off the top spot with three races to go.
The runaway leaders of the Am Cup classification, KCMG’s Takuya Shirasaka and Naoto Takeda, have one hand on the class title after their eighth win of the season. The Japanese pair now sit on 180.5 category points, and will claim the title if they finish Sunday’s round 10 without incident.
“Today the Audi customer teams and drivers showed what they are capable of with overall podiums and class victories, mixing it with this talented multi-marque field. It was far from easy. Absolute Racing regrouped strongly to claim their podiums,” said Martin Kuehl, Director of Audi Sport customer racing Asia. “It’s now extremely important that tomorrow is another strong day in order for the Audi teams to stay in the hunt for the series championships.”
In Japan, meanwhile, at the Super Taikyu Series, Phoenix Racing Asia have qualified second and fifth for Sunday’s five hour endurance race at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. The J-Fly Racing by Phoenix Racing Asia Audi R8 LMS of Jeffrey Lee, André Couto and Shintaro Kawabata will start from the first row, with Phoenix Racing Asia’s Lim Keong Wee, Melvin Moh and Mathias Beche on row three.
