T8 podiums, Aussies take Am class as Craft-Bamboo win Suzuka

Dani Juncadella and Anthony Liu have won their second race of the season with victory in Race 2 of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia, leading home Triple Eight JMR’s Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim and Luca Stoltz.

Australians (William) Ben Porter and Andrew MacPherson took the Am class victory despite a penalty for their involvement in a collision early in the race.

“‘It’s great, especially after Fuji where I feel we deserved to win as well, but unfortunately we got taken out,” said Juncadella. “Great day also yesterday with qualifying – Anthony’s a great Bronze driver and the team gave us a really good car, so that’s the result’

Liu also sung Juncadella’s praises: “The car was mega, my team-mate was super. I just need to drive like a free practice – so thanks to him and thanks to the team.”

Juncadella started from pole in the #37 Craft-Bamboo Racing entry alongside Luca Stoltz in the #88 Triple Eight to make it an all Mercedes AMG-GT front row, with Broc Feeney starting from seventh in car #888.

The #16 ABBSA Motorsport McLaren 720S – which started from pole position in yesterdays’ race after the #29 Phantom Pro Audi that had set the fastest time had its lap deleted for breaching track limits – was absent following engine issues ahead of the green flag.

The #88 poked its nose ahead as Stoltz went side-by-side with the #37, but Juncadella held as the lead as they rounded the first turn in the 34-degree heat. The race start was under investigation with several cars out of position, with Feeney losing out to sit eighth, while yesterday’s winner Bachler had fallen from eight to 12th on the opening lap.

At the end of Lap 1 it was Juncadella leading Stoltz and Goetz for a Mercedes one-two-three ahead of Pilet’s Porsche, Lind, Parente, Cheng then Feeney, Mac and Liberati in tenth – Liberati under investigation for being out of position at the start – with Frankie Cheng in the #13 Audi issued a drive-through penalty for the same offence.

The GT4 leader Sakaguchi visited pit lane with an issue for the GR Supra, as the #7 Ferrari spun but recovered, as #29 Audi with Cao at the wheel was in the lane with an issue, but was quickly back out, having fallen to 33rd.

Race Control then confirmed it was investigating cars 7, 29 and the all-Australian #51 Porsche being driven by Will Porter, which was in P24 and leading the Am category.

Feeney inherited seventh after Cheng’s penalty, with Stoltz 1.7 behind leader Juncadella after 10 minutes of racing, and gradually increasing it.

At the 47-minute mark, it was 1.9s a full-course yellow flag period was issued to remove artificial grass that had littered the track, neutralising the race momentarily.

At 43:48 remaining it was back to green, with Feeney all over Parente’s Porsche, while Bachler was mounting significant pressure on Fujii in the #47 Aston.

A drive-through was issued for Porter in car #51 for ‘Causing a collision’ after the incident with the #7 Ferrari and #29 Audi.

Stoltz wasn’t letting Juncadella get away as quickly, the gap 1.000 as the race entered Lap 9, and 1.229 at the beginning of the tenth.

Feeney’s pressure on Parente had reduced, the Portuguese driver 1.157s ahead of the Gold Coaster in the #888. Bachler, too, despite a significant attack, remained behind Fujii’s tenth-placed Aston Martin.

Juncadella then pushed with a fastest final sector to make the gap back to Stoltz 1.832s as the pit lane was due to open with 35-minutes remaining.

Pilet in fourth had driven the purple Porsche right up to back of third placed Goetz, 0.355s off the back of the #85 Mercedes

At 34 minutes, traffic saw Bachler take to the outside of Fujii at Spoon Curve, but the Aston held on to keep yesterday’s race winner arrears. The argument continues, with the Austrian looking inside and outside the Japanese driver’s lines but could not pull off a pass.

Kang Ling was the first to pit for a driver change in the #29 Audi, as Juncadella stretched the lead to 2.731s from Stoltz, with 1.528s back to Goetz who still had Pilet all over the rear of his Mercedes-AMG.

The beginning of the pit stop cycle mixed up on track position, adding to the traffic issues that Bachler was looking to take advantage of in his ongoing battle with Fujii’s Aston.

At the halfway mark, the top seven positions remained as per the starting grid, with Juncadella from Stoltz, Goetz, Pilet, Lind, Parente, Feeney with Mac in eighth after starting in 11th, Liberati 9th where he started and Fujii tenth from 13th place still holding off Bachler.

Juncadella, having completed 15 laps, dived into the pits as the clock hit 27 minutes remaining, as did the entire top 12.

The #37 had a slow release as an incident in the pits between the #360 Nissan was driven into by the #XX Porsche.

As the stops shook out, Liu was leading in the #37 Mercedes by 4.080s from Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim, who’d taken over from Stoltz, and Lee in the #85 Mercedes before he was passed by Lu in the #4 Porsche. Zhou was fifth, Chen sixth and Prince Jefri Ibrahim in the #888 seventh.

The #47 was still ahead of the #911 Porsche, but now had the Honda NSX between them.

The #333 Audi came around the outside then switched to the inside as the #888 fell to the Audi, with his transponder failing despite him being eighth and under pressure from Yaun out of Degna 2, but the Tripel Eight entry stayed ahead – the #87 Porsche looking down the inside nut still unable to get by the following lap.

A queue of three cars was forming behind the #888 Mercedes, but Abu Ibrahim was holding on stoically.

Closer to the front, Lu had been passed by both Zhou and Lee, who went side by side through Degna and then made it stick to take third as a full course yellow came out with 15 mins left on the clock.

Liu led the #88 of Abu Ibrahim by 2.465s – the gap slightly reduced – in the #37 Mercedes with Zhou back in third in ahead of Lu with Lee in a hot battle for fifth.

The #88 was 27.8s ahead of Zhou and was eroding Liu’s lead in the #37 ahead of him.

The fight for fifth was immense, with the #85 of Lee under siege from four cars, led by the #333 Audi, then the #87 Porsche of Yaun, the #992 Porsche of Bao, then the #47 Aston of Hoshino ahead of tenth-placed Ibrahim.

The #85 Mercedes of Lee was the cork in the bottle, cars swarming all over the back of the silver Mercedes.

Zhou, in third, was under attack from Lu’s Porsche – as the #333 in sixth was given a drive through for causing a collision at the chicane.

Lee, now tenth, was under pressure until he went off the road at Degna 2 and was followed by Yamaguchi’s BMW, as the #500 Hirobon GT-R went off at under the bridge to suffer significant damage.

It was then the #888’s turn to spin with less than five minutes left, the Mercedes with its rears in the gravel; but Prince Jefri recovering to carry on, now 18th.

With three minutes left, the battle for third still rages, with Lu less than a car length off the back of Zhou in the #2 Mercedes.

Contact between the #60 Ferrari and the #3 Mercedes saw the Ferrari facing the wrong way to prompt local yellow flags at the chicane as Liu began the final lap, nearly ten seconds ahead.

The #37 won by 9.279s from the Triple Eight #88 entry, with Lu stealing third in the #4 Porsche to prevent a Mercedes-AMG one-two-three, with Zhou fourth.

The #911 Porsche that took victory yesterday came home ninth, while the second Triple Eight Mercedes of Feeney and Prince Jefri Ibrahim was 18th.

Despite the penalty for contact early in the race, the all-Australian #51 Porsche of Porter/MacPherson entry was first in the Am Cup and 23rd overall.