Consistent Points Haul for Absolute Racing Porsche Crews in Malaysia

Porsche Asia-Pacific Motorsport customer team Absolute Racing kicked off their 2025 GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS campaign with a strong showing at Sepang International Circuit, securing points finishes with both cars in the highly competitive season opener.

For the 2025 season, the Absolute Racing Porsche squad has unveiled a fresh driver line-up for their two Porsche 911 GT3 R (Type 992) entries. The #321 car will be driven by series newcomer Li Xuanyu alongside Daniel Lu Wenlong in the Silver-Am class. The two Chinese drivers have been diligently preparing throughout the winter break, building strong teamwork and setting their sights firmly on securing a podium finish in their category.

In the other Pro-Am line-up, Chinese driver Wang Zhongwei will join forces with the highly experienced Porsche driver Patrick Pilet. A proven contender in world-class endurance races, the Frenchman’s expertise will be invaluable in supporting the team’s pursuit of category honours.

Sepang International Circuit welcomed the GT World Challenge Asia grid with typical high temperatures, putting both drivers' physical endurance and the cars' mechanics to the test. In the morning's first qualifying session, Am drivers Li Xuanyu and Wang Zhongwei took to the asphalt. Series newcomer Li Xuanyu showed a promising learning curve in his GT World Challenge Asia debut, qualifying sixth in Silver-Am. Meanwhile, Wang Zhongwei - in his first outing behind the wheel of a Porsche - made steady progress throughout the weekend and eventually qualified 12th in the Pro-Am class, despite being affected by challenging track limits.

In the second qualifying session, it was the professional drivers' turn. Daniel Lu qualified seventh in the Silver-Am class, while Porsche driver Patrick Pilet took 12th in the Pro-Am category.

On Saturday afternoon, both Porsches mounted recovery drives in the 26-lap opening round of the season, with the Am drivers laying the foundation and the professional drivers demonstrating their full potential on track.

The #321 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R entry of Li Xuanyu and Daniel Lu was particularly impressive. Li held fourth in class during the early stages before handing over to Lu, who made the most of an early pit strategy and consistent pace to break into the top three, securing a well-deserved third place in class.

The #911 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, shared by Wang and Pilet, also produced a strong comeback performance. Wang steadily made his way up the order during his stint, before handing over to Pilet, who, with a combination of pace and precise team strategy, brought the car home in 15th overall and fifth in the Pro-Am class.

Sunday morning’s second race of the weekend proved a challenging outing for the #321 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, which started from the midfield. Lu delivered a composed first stint, keeping the car out of trouble, before handing over to Li, who continued the charge. Gaining ground in the second half, Li brought the car home in 15th overall and fifth in the Silver-Am Cup - a result that keeps the Chinese crew third in the class championship standings.

Despite the best efforts of both drivers, who started 23rd on the grid, the #911 Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R had its charge hindered by a drive-through penalty for allegedly exceeding track limits while running 12th overall - a setback that came after a superb recovery drive by Wang and Pilet. The Chinese-French pairing ultimately crossed the line in 18th overall and eighth in the ultra-competitive Pro-Am class.

It was a hard working weekend, but we’ve managed to get a Silver Am Cup podium finish and score in both races with both cars. Li Xuanyu had a good adaptation to the car as Daniel Lu was back to the high competitive rhythm of the GT World Challenge Asia. Wang Zhongwei was also learning the ropes of the car, and improved all weekend long. Patrick brings a wealth of experience and will be instrumental in helping the team make further progress in the upcoming races. We are looking forward to the next race at Mandalika.

I’ve learned a lot from this weekend, I had some great battles on track and enjoyed the challenge. Now we have to prepare to be all set for the next event at Mandalika!

I really enjoyed the opening weekend of the 2025 GT World Challenge Asia campaign. We were still finding pace in the car throughout practice and performed strongly to take a class podium on Saturday. Today we had a few incidents but overall it was a positive season opener.

It was my first time driving the Porsche 911 GT3 R, so it was difficult for me to extract the maximum, although I improved as the weekend went on. I had a great reference and support from Patrick and was able to close the gap. Hopefully we can build on this and deliver a stronger performance next time out.

This weekend was a tough one with the car, the team worked really hard to find the balance and make it easier to drive. We improved throughout the weekend and Wang drove strongly, so we need to keep the positives and look forward to the next races.