The 2026 GTWC Asia powered by AWS reaches the halfway stage of its 2026 season at Okayama on 29–30 August, with just eight points covering the leading three championship contenders.
Absolute Racing’s Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti remain at the top after setting the early pace from their Sepang victory. However, a quieter Fuji weekend allowed Origine Motorsport’s Lu Wei and Phantom Global Racing’s Anthony Liu to close significantly, leaving the title fight finely balanced before the series heads to China for its final two events.
Okayama could prove particularly decisive. The former Pacific Grand Prix venue has produced unpredictable GTWC Asia racing since joining the calendar in 2022, while several leading crews arrive needing a strong result to prevent the championship developing into a three-way Porsche contest.
Huang and Ghiretti defend narrow championship lead
Huang and Ghiretti have led the championship since winning the opening race of the season at Sepang, but their advantage narrowed considerably at Fuji. The Absolute Racing pairing scored only 10 points across the Japanese weekend, allowing their nearest challengers to make substantial gains.
Lu now sits just four points behind the leaders after scoring 40 from a possible 50 at Fuji. His results also made him the first multiple winner of the 2026 season and strengthened Origine Motorsport’s championship challenge heading into Okayama.
The No. 11 Porsche should remain a threat despite carrying the maximum success penalty into Race 1. Factory driver Laurin Heinrich will again join Lu for the weekend, continuing the combination that competed together at Fuji.
Liu sits another four points behind Lu, leaving only eight between the championship’s leading three crews.
Güven joins Liu for Okayama
Phantom Global Racing will make a major change to its line-up for Okayama, with reigning DTM champion Ayhancan Güven joining Liu.
Dorian Boccolacci cannot compete because of clashing GTWC Europe commitments, opening the door for Güven to make his GTWC Asia debut. The Turkish driver adds another factory-level Porsche competitor to a field that already includes Heinrich and Ghiretti.
The combination creates one of the most intriguing battles of the weekend. With Liu firmly involved in the championship fight, Güven will immediately take on an important role in Phantom Global Racing’s title ambitions despite having no previous race experience in the series.
Chasing manufacturers need strong Okayama results
The strength of the three leading Porsche entries places increasing pressure on the championship’s chasing Audi, BMW, Lamborghini and Ferrari crews.
Yu Kuai and Cheng Congfu remain best of the rest for Audi Sport Asia Team Phantom but sit 26 points behind Huang and Ghiretti. Yu already knows how to win at Okayama after taking victory there two years ago, while the crew’s Silver status could provide an additional opportunity through the Race 1 Qualifying format.
Ruan Cun Fan follows another 11 points behind with Team KRC. BMW factory driver Neil Verhagen again joins him as the team continues pursuing BMW’s first GTWC Asia victory. With the championship beginning to take shape, a breakthrough at Okayama could prove essential to keeping Ruan in the overall fight.
Lamborghini and Ferrari crews target recovery
Andres Pato and Jaxon Evans head to Okayama looking to rebound after failing to score at Fuji. Their difficult weekend dropped them into a tie for eighth with Akash Nandy, who continues to lead the Silver class.
Nandy has driven Absolute Racing’s Lamborghini alone across the opening three events but will share the car at Okayama with Sandy Stuvik. The Thai driver returns to GTWC Asia for the first time since Suzuka in 2022.
Harmony Racing’s Liu Kaishun also enters the weekend with momentum after taking his first victory of the season at Fuji alongside David Chen. Liu sits one point behind Nandy and the Pato-Evans pairing in the overall standings, while remaining 13 points from the Silver lead and 15 behind China Cup leaders Yu and Cheng.
The Ferrari should again pose a major threat in Race 1. Liu and Chen claimed pole at Fuji, while Harmony Racing and the Ferrari 296 GT3 won at Okayama last season.
Silver-Am battle remains wide open
The Silver-Am championship remains even tighter than the overall contest, with only seven points separating the leading three crews.
Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Liang Jiatong heads the classification from Porsche Center Okazaki pairing Kiyoshi Uchiyama and Tsubasa Kondo. Team KRC’s Brian Lee and Maxime Oosten sit close behind after scoring maximum class points at Fuji.
The BMW pairing’s strong previous round transformed the championship picture and leaves all three combinations with a realistic opportunity to leave Okayama at the top.
Meanwhile, the Am class appears increasingly likely to become a fight between Origine Motorsport’s Liu Hangcheng and Wang Zhongwei and the Climax Racing Mercedes-AMG shared by Setiawan Santoso and Zhou Bihuang. Thirteen points separate the two crews heading into the weekend.
Garage 75 will also introduce a new combination, with Japanese drivers Cold Max and Yamatatsu sharing its Ferrari.
Bachler and Trulli add depth to Porsche line-up
Absolute Racing’s No. 918 Porsche returns after missing the Fuji event, with Kazuki Ota and Klaus Bachler taking over driving duties.
EBM will also return to GTWC Asia with another Porsche 911 GT3 R. Adrian D’Silva will share the car with Enzo Trulli, son of Formula 1 race winner Jarno Trulli.
The younger Trulli enters the event as Porsche Motorsport Asia Pacific’s 2026 Selected Driver. The programme has previously supported drivers including Boccolacci, Alessio Picariello and Ye Yifei, giving the Italian another opportunity to demonstrate his progress in Porsche machinery.
GT Academy contest remains tightly packed
SRO’s GT Academy competition also reaches an important stage at Okayama, with a fully funded seat at the 2027 24 Hours of Spa available to the eventual regional winner.
5ZIGEN’s Atsushi Miyake currently leads the Asian contest, although only 12 points cover the first five drivers. Yu sits second, while Elias Seppänen moved into third after top-scoring at Fuji.
Oosten and Liu Kaishun also remain firmly involved, ensuring the young-driver contest mirrors the wider championship in remaining finely balanced at the halfway point.
Okayama could reshape championship fight
Okayama’s record suggests no team can assume control. Six manufacturers have shared the eight GTWC Asia victories held at the circuit since 2022, with four different marques winning across the previous two seasons alone.
That unpredictability arrives at a particularly important point in the championship. Huang and Ghiretti still hold the advantage, but Lu’s Fuji surge and Liu’s continued consistency have brought the leading three crews within eight points.
Behind them, several challengers need to respond quickly if they want to prevent Porsche from taking control of the title race before the final two events in China.
Track action begins with testing on Thursday before practice and Pre-Qualifying on Friday. Both Qualifying sessions and Race 1 follow on Saturday, with the second hour-long race completing the weekend on Sunday.
