2026 GT World Challenge Asia: Shanghai Championship Decider
The 2026 GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS reaches a critical juncture with its championship finale set at the Shanghai International Circuit on October 31 and November 1. For the first time since 2024, the season will conclude with two pivotal races, featuring 19 entrants.
Following the recent Beijing Street Race, where Harmony Racing and Absolute Racing each secured overall victories, attention turns to the drivers’ standings. Despite a crash in Race 1 at Beijing, Origine Motorsport’s Lu Wei retains the lead in the Drivers’ Championship, bolstered by a commendable second-place finish in Race 2. Lu will partner with Porsche works driver Laurin Heinrich in the #11 Porsche 911 GT3 R as they aim for a third consecutive title.
Absolute Racing duo Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti sit just five points behind in their #911 Porsche, while several teams vie for crucial points to avoid elimination in Race 1. The Silver class is led by FAW Audi Sport Asia’s Franky Cheng Congfu and James Yu Kuai in the #16 Audi R8, closely followed by Anthony Liu Xu (-28) and Liu Kaishun (-29) in their respective teams.
Notably, Liu Xu, winner of the last Shanghai race in 2026, will reunite with 2025 Porsche Cup champion Loek Hartog in the #37 Phantom Global Porsche. In contrast, Liu Kaishun will team up again with Chen Weian in the #96 Harmony Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
In the Silver-Am Cup, GTO with KRC leads by 10 points over Craft-Bamboo Racing, with notable participation from Malaysian driver Melvin Moh, returning since 2019. Meanwhile, Maxime Oosten of GTO trails Yu Kuai by 14 points in the race for the SRO GT Academy trophy, which offers a fully-funded spot at next year’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.
In the Am Cup, only 12 points separate the #8 Climax Racing Mercedes-AMG and the #22 Origine Porsche.
This event will also showcase new talent, including 21-year-old Tim Tramnitz making his series debut in the #89 Team KRC BMW and Kevin Tse teaming with Porsche factory driver Alessio Picariello in the #918 Absolute Racing Porsche.
Both races and qualifying will be broadcast live on the SRO GT World YouTube channel.
