Ferrari on the podium again in Race-2 at Sepang

After HubAuto Corsa's podium finish in the GT3S class in Race-1, the Taiwanese team finished third in the GT3Am class in Race-2, thanks to a good performance by Morris Chen and Andrew Haryanto. Unlike Saturday, it was a beautiful sunny day, with very high temperatures, both the air (30°C to 34°C) and the asphalt (43°C to 56°C) that ended up affecting the performance of the cars and the tyres.

Smooth race. Starting from the centre of the grid, the three Ferraris again avoided any contacts that could have severely compromised the race. David Russell, starting from 13th place, and Rio Haryanto from 15th, held onto their positions while Andrew Haryanto, who started in 21st, moved up one. The rather smooth progress of the Ferraris in the first half of the race continued despite the entry of the Safety Car 44 minutes before the chequered flag. Seven minutes later the race resumed normally ahead of the mandatory pit stops, during which David Russell's Ferrari 488 GT3 suffered a five-second success penalty as a consequence of yesterday's podium. Yuya Sakamoto took over from the Australian and began a brilliant comeback taking HubAuto Corsa's car up to sixth place in the GT3S class. Former Formula 1 driver Rio Haryanto completed the first stint in the Ferrari no. 75 of T2 Motorsports, with David Tjiptobiantoro slipping into the cockpit for the second half of the race. After a few great duels, the 488 GT3 crossed the line in 11th in its class and 18th overall.

Podium in GT3Am. The second of HubAuto’s cars, the no. 28, closed the race in third place in the GT3Am, thanks to a careful performance that rewarded the persistence of the two drivers. After taking over the car on lap 13 from Andrew Haryanto who, with the help of some pit stops, had climbed up to 17th, Morris Chen controlled the pace and closed the race on the lowest step of the podium and 21st in the overall standings.

Rankings. After the first two races at Sepang, the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia rankings are taking shape. In the GT3S standings, David Russell and Yuya Sakamoto are in third place with 28 points, while in the GT3ProAm David Tjiptobiantoro and Rio Haryanto are ninth. In the GT3Am class, Morris Chen and Andrew Haryanto lie in third less than nine lengths behind the leaders. In the team standings, HubAuto is fourth with 23 points.