The six-car team of Absolute Racing showcased exceptional performance in a tightly contested second round of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia by AWS at the 4.55km Chang International Circuit in Thailand. Pro-Am pair Markus Winkelhock and Huang Ruohan secured an overall win, while James Yu Kuai and Akash Nandy, as well as Eshan Pieris and Tanart Sathienthirakul, claimed Silver Cup class victories. All of the team’s crews stepped onto the podium at the Buriram circuit.
On an Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute “1-2” opening race on Saturday, Markus Winkelhock and Huang Ruohan took a superb win. The Chinese driver, who was doing his only third race in the championship, showed a strong pace on his stint, keeping up with the frontrunners. German GT ace Markus Winkelhock executed the team strategy perfectly, and managed not only grab the Pro-Am class win but also the first Absolute Racing overall victory of the 2024 season. The harnessing the power of the Auspicious Cloud-liveried Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II was again pretty strong in race two, crossing the finish line in third of the Pro-Am class.
On the other side of the garage, James Yu secured pole position for race one and led the opening stint. Akash Nandy completed the Fortune Wind-liveried Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II mission by securing its first win of the season in the Silver Cup. The Audi Sport Asia duo finished third in the second encounter, positioning them to contend for the Silver Cup title in second place of the class standings with the same number of points as the class leaders.
Silver Cup was an Absolute Racing feud this weekend in Buriram. Sri Lanka’s Eshan Pieris and home hero Tanart Sathienthirakul bounced back from a tough season opener in Malaysia with a third-place finish in the Silver Cup and an impressive class win. Competing on a track familiar to both drivers, the No.911 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (Type-992) proved to be a top-six force throughout the weekend. These results once again position them as contenders for the Silver Cup crown.
Title contenders Anthony Liu and Alessio Picariello didn't celebrate a victory over the weekend, but they did take home a handful of points, an overall podium and two podiums in the highly.competitive Pro-Am class. The No.1 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (Type-992) was always one of the fastest cars on the track and with these results the Pro-Am pair climbed to fourth place overall and second in their class. However, both drivers believe that there is still more potential to be realised from the Porsche and that a first win should be coming soon.
After a season-opening weekend plagued by misfortune in Sepang, André Canard and series newcomer Finn Gehrsitz were eager to showcase their true potential on the Thai track in the newly-launched Silver/Am Cup this weekend. On Saturday, the Filipino-German duo came close to securing a podium position, a feat they successfully achieved in the second race on Sunday. Their flawless and consistent performance earned Absolute Corse's spectacular Ferrari 296 GT3 its first podium of the season.
Guest entry B-Quik Absolute Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 evo II conquered a third place finish in the GT3 Am class on Sunday. Am pair Henk Kiks and Rodney Jane showed a pace to reach the podium in their class in the first race, but due to a spin they were unable to achieve their goal at the start. On Sunday, however, the experienced Dutchman and the Australian series rookie didn't let a deserved podium place slip away.
Team Principal Ingo Matter was delighted about the team’s performance. "It was a highly successful weekend for our teams, with all our crews departing Buriram with silverware in hand. I'd like to emphasize Markus and Ron's overall victory in the first race, a testament to the team's strategic and drivers' consistent performance, as well as the Silver Cup wins achieved by our two duos. As we now turn our sights to Japan, we do so with confidence and motivation, eager to keep the momentum.”
Thailand’s Fanatec GT Asia round showed Absolute Racing drivers' resilience and the team’s unwavering spirit, setting the stage for an exciting season ahead. Absolute Racing will continue their campaign in the series at the Fuji International Speedway on June 21/23.
