Origine Motorsport sealed its second win of the Mandalika weekend by beating Phantom Global Racing to victory in Race 2.
Lu Wei, who shared the #4 Porsche with Alessio Picariello, crossed the line 0.6s ahead of his compatriot Anthony Liu (partnered by Dorian Boccolacci) after both passed Team 5ZIGEN’s Motoki at the final Safety Car restart.
Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMG featuring Danial Frost and Liang Jiatong completed the overall podium and claimed Silver class victory following a frantic last few corners where the Nissan was spun around, while Ruan Cun Fan and Maxime Oosten continued their remarkable start to the campaign by scoring a fourth consecutive Silver-Am win for Team KRC.
Further back, EBM rebounded from its early Race 1 retirement to claim Am class victory. Setiawan Santoso – who won on home soil – and Andrew Bentley become the fourth different winners in as many races.
PORSCHES POUNCE
On another day this race would have been won by either Craft-Bamboo or Team 5ZIGEN, both of whom led before top spot definitively changed hands at the start of the penultimate lap.
Pole man Jayden Ojeda initially fended off the fast starting Yu Kanamaru while Lorenzo Patrese, who shared the front row, dropped back behind Boccolacci, Thierry Vermuelen and Picariello before hitting the latter’s Porsche entering Turn 1 for the first time. That contact was sufficient to break the Winhere Harmony Ferrari’s bonnet and bumper, and compromise Origine’s 911 for the rest of the race.
Much heavier contact between Markus Winkelhock and Anders Fjordbach at the final corner on lap one then triggered the first of two Safety Car periods. When racing resumed Ojeda edged clear of Kanamaru’s Nissan, which spent the rest of the opening stint battling Boccolacci and Picariello who passed Vermuelen with a daring lunge into Turn 1 after 18 minutes.
Four seconds separated Ojeda from Kanamaru when the front runners stopped within a lap of each other towards the end of the pit window. The Mercedes-AMG’s advantage had grown to seven seconds when it resumed, now with Cao Qi onboard, and steadily grew to 10 as Motoki focused on Lu behind.
But what should have been a regulation run to the chequered flag was upended by a one-second stop-go penalty for Craft-Bamboo. Suddenly 5ZIGEN’s GT-R was in the box seat, albeit with two Porsches for company. The second of them had dropped back to seventh during the pit sequence thanks to its five-second success penalty, but Liu’s pace helped him recoup the lost places and make it a three-way lead battle.
Nissan straight line speed versus Porsche agility meant the order remained close but unchanged as the race ticked into its final 10 minutes. Lu and Liu both realistically required a Safety Car to help their cause, and that’s exactly what they got when Am leader Alex Liu beached his Elegant Mercedes-AMG.
Two laps remained when the race resumed. Lu immediately attacked Motoki, first getting a perfect run on to the start/finish straight before lunging down the inside into Turn 1. His momentum also forced Motoki just wide enough for Liu to squeeze into second, after which the 911s scampered clear.
The Nissan remained on course for Silver-Am victory and third overall until it was nudged around by Harmony’s #96 Ferrari at the penultimate corner of the final lap.
Craft-Bamboo’s Mercedes-AMG was the prime beneficiary. The car shared by Frost and Jiatong started 19th, was running 11th at the final restart, and picked its way through the Ams and late chaos to win Silver and take third overall. It was a sweet end to the weekend for a car that also started Race 1 on the front row.
Behind, KRC’s BMW did what KRC’s BMW does best: win Silver-Am. Oosten completed the opening stint in eighth before Ruan moved forward at the start of his. P4 overall and a fourth class win in as many starts helps them occupy third in the overall standings behind yesterday’s winners Bob Yuan and Leo Ye Hongli, and Liu and Boccolacci.
Harmony’s post-race penalty in lieu of a drive-through for the late contact with 5ZIGEN’s Nissan promoted Absolute Corse’s Andrea Anatra and Edoardo Mortara to fifth, while Yuan and Ye – who completed a particularly impressive pass on Andy Deng before setting fastest lap – consolidated their championship lead with sixth.
LM Corsa’s Ferrari shared by Shigekazu Wakisaka and Giancarlo Fisichella plus the first of JMR’s Corvettes completed the top eight.
Cars and equipment now travel to Thailand and specifically Chang International Circuit for the third and final event of the championship’s southeast Asia leg on May 30 – 1 June.