326 Racing Team finished third in the GT3 race

On March 15, the 2025 Sepang 12 Hours Endurance Race officially came to an end at the Sepang International Race in Malaysia. 326 Racing Team performed steadily in the first GT3 endurance race since the team was founded. The No. 11 car composed of four powerful drivers, Wu Yifan, Lai Jingwen, Liu Zichen and Xu Zheyu, won the seventh place in the whole field and the third place in the GT3 Am category with excellent performance, and stepped onto the group podium!

The qualifying stage officially started at 15:00 on Friday afternoon. The qualifying will be divided into five sections. The final starting order will be determined by the fastest lap time of the car group in three of the qualifying sections. According to the weather forecast, the qualifying session on Friday will be affected by rain, so the team decided to send drivers to participate in the first four qualifying sessions.

Liu Zichen took the lead in driving the No. 11 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II car to sprint in the first qualifying session. The main driver of the 326 Racing Team showed an extremely amazing single lap speed, and even surpassed a group of drivers with GT3 driving experience, ranking second in the whole field with a lap time of 2:08.518.

Soon after the first qualifying session, the rain came as expected, and the team members responded quickly and replaced the rain tires for the No. 11 car. Drivers Lai Jingwen and Xu Zheyu drove steadily on the slippery track and both ran the fourth fastest lap of the whole race.

In the fourth qualifying session, the rain gradually subsided, and Wu Yifan seized the opportunity to set a personal best of 2:11.205, occupying the third place. With excellent driving by four drivers, the No. 11 car of 326 Racing Team won the fourth place in the whole field and the third place in the GT3 Am category with a total score of 6:34.267.

At 10:15 am on Saturday, the race started under the bright sunshine. Affected by the tropical rainforest climate of Malaysia, the air temperature on Saturday was close to 35 degrees Celsius. There is no doubt that the drivers' tire management and physical energy distribution will face severe tests in this race.

After leading all the cars to complete the formation lap, the safety car returned to the maintenance area, the race committee showed the green flag, and the race officially began! As the starting driver, Lai Jingwen maintained an outstanding driving state after completing the start. With excellent long-distance speed, he remained in the top three of the group. At the same time, he carefully managed tire wear. After the first stage, the No. 11 car group still ranked third in the group at a stable speed.

Wu Yifan took over the No. 11 car from Lai Jingwen in the first pit stop and started the journey of this competition. This powerful driver fully utilized the endurance racing experience accumulated in the CEC China Automobile Endurance Championship and the Shanghai 8-Hour Endurance Race in two consecutive stages, and refreshed the fastest lap time of the car group with a score of 2:10.680, and at the same time once raised the car group's ranking to second place in the group.

The race was approaching the 3-hour mark. Xu Zheyu, who was in charge of the third stage, encountered a brake failure. In the case of a brake problem, Xu Zheyu tried his best to stabilize the car and insisted on returning to the maintenance area. The team technicians quickly completed the repair of the brake system of the No. 11 car with efficient teamwork. Xu Zheyu continued to drive the car and steadily improved the lap time, achieving a reverse lap of the leading car and main competitors in the same group on the field. An hour later, Liu Zichen took over and drove the car back to the track, continuing to compete with his competitors in endurance.

At the halfway point of the race, 326 Racing Team co-founder Wu Yifan took to the field again, going all out to catch up, narrowing the gap with the car in front and regaining lost ground for the No. 11 team. Xu Zheyu took the stage in the seventh hour and continued to keep moving forward, helping the team return to the top three in the GT3 Am category.

At dusk, the No. 11 car went one step further under the control of Liu Zichen and Wu Yifan. The two drivers continued to maintain a steady long-distance rhythm, successfully completed multiple stages of driving, consolidated the team's position on the field, and successfully narrowed the gap with the driver in front.

The countdown to the last hour of the race pointed to the opponent's car behind him. The speed gradually increased. The team sent Xu Zheyu again for the final sprint defense. As the sky gradually darkened, the temperature of the track surface slowly dropped. In addition, the tire rubber left on the road by the car further improved the track grip, which will help the car to perform at its best. Xu Zheyu effectively used the track conditions to refresh his personal fastest lap in the race to 2:08.719, preventing the cars behind him from catching up, and further expanding his advantage, even leading the professional drivers behind him, helping the team stabilize the leading situation.

With the waving of the checkered flag, the No. 11 Audi car of the 326 Racing Team, with the tacit cooperation of Liu Zichen, Lai Jingwen, Wu Yifan and Xu Zheyu, successfully crossed the finish line in seventh place and third place in the GT3 Am category!

326 Racing Team showed great potential in its debut in the GT3 event. All members of the team stepped up despite the failure of the car and the setbacks during the race. Adhering to the spirit of never giving up in endurance racing, they finally won the seventh place in the Sepang 12 Hours Endurance Race and the third place in the GT3 Am category! We would like to express our sincerest thanks to every member who contributed to the team and the fans who supported the team!