Despite a dramatic opening lap and conditions that were constantly changing, Fuji International Speedway provided yet another outstanding round of the GT Asia Series, and with it, the fifth different race winning combination of the year, although the round was undeniably the domain of Ferrari, with the Italian marque claiming a podium lockout.

Ultimately it was the two teams that had dominated since Thursday’s opening practice that featured at the top of the podium – the #1 Clearwater Racing Ferrari of Mok Weng Sun and Ferrari WEC factory star Toni Vilander, and GT Asia rookies TP12 Racing, with Carlo Van Dam and Piti Bhirom Bhakdi that kept the big local crowd entertained, the two teams battling from lap one, to the conclusion of the 60-minute opening race.

The start of race 1 was typically manic with the long run down arguably the world’s longest straight to a hard braking 60-kph right-hander where two of the Bentleys and the much fancied Craft-Bamboo Aston Martin of Richard Lyons were all but eliminated from contention, whilst two corners later, Max Wiser was forced into retirement after heavy contact from Keita Sawa’s Bentley. That left the two pace-setting Ferraris clear at the front of the field, the duo running relatively untroubled in the changeable conditions to take a comfortable 1-2, with the second Clearwater car of Matt Griffin and Richie Wee recovering from their pit-lane start to make it a Ferrari trifecta.

In the battle for GTM class honours, former Honda F1 test-driver Ryo Fukuda led to the pit-stops, where the team suffered a delay changing to wet weather tyres, handing former 500cc motorcycle star Takuma Aoki and co-driver Ken Urata an incredible victory from rear-of-field.

After a dramatic opening round at Fuji International Speedway in challenging conditions, the leading points contenders were looking for a return to form and some dry conditions for the second 60-minute race at the popular Japanese circuit, which had attracted an impressive two-day crowd of over 31,000 fans.

Opening race winners Carlo Van Dam and Piti Bhirom Bhakdi were expected to be back in the thick of the action, however with an additional 12-second success parity penalty to carry during the pit stops, they were always likely to have their work cut out for them, but in the end, they were eliminated in a three car collision on lap two, that also claimed round three winners Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Tonio Liuzzi.

With reigning champion Mok Weng Sun also caught up in the incident, that allowed new Spirit of Race recruit Jiang Xin into contention, the Chinese driver handing team-mate Max Wiser third place, a position the Italian held to the chequered flag, although he was unable to do anything about the battle for the lead.

Somewhat predictably, the battle for victory came down to two of the most consistent driver pairings – round two winners Jonathon Venter and Darryl O’Young in the VLT/Craft Bamboo Racing Aston Martin, and round four winners Adderly Fong and Keita Sawa in the Absolute Racing Bentley Continental. Venter led early, with Fong taking the advantage into the compulsory pit stop, and whilst O’Young led the closing stanza of the race early, Sawa ultimately worked his way through for Bentley’s second win of the year.The battle for GTM class honours in the end didn’t see quite as much action as the outright class, with former Japanese F1 test driver Ryo Fukuda taking a popular victory in the Taiwan Top Speed Racing Ferrari alongside Taiwan’s Craig Liu.