2025 China GT Shanghai Opening Race Lin Yu/Erik Johansson Breakthrough Wins the Championship

News & Announcements China Shanghai International Circuit April 27

Lin Yu/Erik Johansson team stood out and won the season's first victory
Moritz Berrenberg/Finn Zulauf defended the championship in the GTS category
Bian Ye's single-handed victory in the GTC category

Shanghai, China (April 26, 2025) - The China GT China Supercar Championship entered a new journey at the Shanghai International Circuit. All participating drivers kicked off the 2025 season with a wonderful battle. In the first round of the final, FIST Team AAI Lin Yu/Erik Johansson team had both offensive and defensive capabilities, maintained a strong momentum throughout the race, and finally stood out from the fierce battle and won the championship. Xie Xinzhe/Lv Wei of Origine Motorsport team continued to advance and broke through, completing consecutive overtaking at the end of the race and ranking second. Yu Kuai/Liao Qishun of 610Racing team also attacked swiftly and finished third.

Moritz Berrenberg/Finn Zulauf of the Maxmore W&S Motorsport team continued their excellent performance this week and achieved "pole position victory" in the GTS category. Bian Ye of the 610Racing team fought alone and completed the final kill to win the GTC category championship.

In terms of group results, Wang Yibo/Pan Junlin of UNO Racing Team won the championship in the GT3 AM category, while Min Heng/Gu Meng of Origine Motorsport and Li Hanyu/Ou Ziyang of Team Dixcel by Harmony Racing won the second and third place in the category respectively. Shen Jian/Cao Qikuan of Youpeng Racing and Xing Yanbin/Wu Ruihua of Incipient Racing won the first and second place in the GT3 MASTERS category respectively. Chen Sitong/Yu Tong of Incipient Racing, Wang Yongjie/Wu Shiyao of Gaha Harmony Racing and Tian Weiyuan/Han Liqun of RSR GT Racing won the top three in the GTS AM category.

Qualifying

Elias Seppanen and Liao Qishun won the pole position

The qualifying session of this race started in the morning. In the first qualifying session of the GT3 category, many professional players took the lead and the pole position was born in a flash. Elias Seppanen of the Climax Racing team locked the first place with a benchmark score of 1:59.827, while 610Racing driver Cui Yue updated his personal best at the last minute, but failed to rewrite the fastest on the field. There was only a slight gap of 0.044 seconds between him and Elias Seppanen. Winhere Harmony Racing driver Chen Wei'an defeated FIST Team AAI driver Erik Johansson by 0.029 seconds to take third place. This means that the GT3 cars from four manufacturers, Ferrari, Porsche, Audi and BMW, shared the first two rows of the first round.

In the second qualifying session, Origine Motorsport driver Lv Wei topped the results list for most of the time, but 610 Racing team Liao Qishun completed the "kill" at the end of the race and grabbed the pole position. Liao Qishun ran the fastest lap of 2:00.255 in this session, and Lv Wei ranked second with 0.217 seconds. Youpeng Racing team Cao Qikuan also exerted himself in the latter part of the race, and improved his position after updating his personal fastest performance, finishing this session in third place.

In the first qualifying session of the GTC/GTS category, Maxmore W&S Motorsport, led by PRO driver Finn Zulauf, successfully won the pole position in the GTS category. Yu Tong of Incipient Racing, Tian Weiyuan of RSR GT Racing, Wu Shiyao of Gaha Harmony Racing, and Xiao Min of Incipient Racing took the second to fifth place in the category. Yinqiao ACM by Blackjack driver Zhang Hongyu won the pole position in the GTC category in his first GT race, and Bian Ye and Bao Tian of 610Racing took the second and third place in the category.

Coming to the second qualifying session of the GTC/GTS group, in the GTS group, Maxmore W&S Motorsport's other driver Moritz Berrenberg beat Incipient Racing's Chen Sitong and Wu Zhenlong by 0.464 seconds to win the pole, Gaha Harmony Racing's Wang Yongjie won the fourth place in the group, and RSR GT Racing's Han Liqun ranked fifth in the group. Li Sicheng won another pole for the Yinqiao ACM by Blackjack team in the GTC group, and Bian Ye and Bao Tian once again won the second and third place in the group for 610Racing.

First round finals

Lin Yu/Erik Johansson wins after fierce battle

The first round finals started on time after a formation circle. The five professional drivers in the front, Elias Seppanen of Climax Racing, Cui Yue of 610Racing, Chen Wei'an of Winhere Harmony Racing, Erik Johansson of FIST Team AAI, and Yu Kuai of 610Racing, gave a fierce competition as soon as they started. Elias Seppanen successfully defended his position in the first lap, while Cui Yue, Chen Wei'an, and Erik Johansson temporarily ranked second to fourth. Yu Kuai was challenged by Ugo De Wilde. The FIST Team AAI driver was promoted to several positions after the start, and successfully broke through Yu Kuai's defense line in the second lap and rose to fifth.

Elias Seppanen took advantage of the fierce battle behind to open up a lead of more than 1.5 seconds. Chen Wei'an ran a little too far at the last turn of the second lap and lost his rhythm. Erik Johansson seized the opportunity to rise to third. At this time, accidents occurred frequently on the track, and some vehicles were stuck in the gravel area, and the safety car was dispatched immediately.

After the cleanup, the race resumed. Elias Seppanen and Cui Yue were successfully led out, while Chen Wei'an was sandwiched by two BMW cars. He was fighting with Erik Johansson in front and Ugo De Wilde behind. However, another car in the rear lost control and hit the guardrail. After escaping the danger zone, the car stopped at the exit of the maintenance area. The safety car took over the race for the second time. In order to remove the accident vehicle, the opening time of the forced pit window was delayed.

On the 12th lap, the green flag was waved again, and the mandatory pit stop window was opened at the same time. Different strategic choices appeared on the field. The leading group of drivers chose to stay on the track, and a large number of cars also entered the maintenance channel to complete the pit stop operation. The five cars in the vanguard were almost connected end to end and started a high-speed chase. Erik Johansson made a surprise attack at T11 and surpassed Cui Yue to second. Cui Yue chose to stop immediately at this time. Ugo De Wilde and Chen Wei'an fought fiercely for the third place. In the fight, RIO of UNO Racing Team had quietly approached the two drivers.

As all the cars on the field completed their stops, the situation on the field became more complicated under the influence of different stop strategies. After entering the cockpit of the car, Chen Fangping, Lin Yu and Liu Hangcheng still maintained their top three rankings. Ou Ziyang of Team Dixcel by Harmony Racing took over from Li Hanyu, and Chen Yechong of UNO Racing Team took over from RIO. The two cars jumped to the fourth and fifth places on the field. Cui Yue and Ugo De Wilde, who were originally in the leading group, handed over the car to Xu Zefeng and Chen Yinyu respectively. After leaving the pit, the two drivers were caught in a fight in the middle group.

Wang Yibo, a racer sponsored exclusively by the trendy clothing brand EVISU, who visited the Shanghai F1 circuit for the first time, drove steadily in the first half of the race and handed the car to his teammate Pan Junlin. After Pan Junlin, the GTSSC champion, got on the car, he quickly caught up with the front car and started a confrontation with Gu Meng, who took over from Min Heng of the Origine Motorsport team, for the group leader. The two were also competing with Chen Yinyu for the seventh place in the whole field. Origine Motorsport driver Lv Wei, who took over from Xie Xinzhe, and Liao Qishun, who took over from Yu Kuai, also kept speeding up and joined the battle.

Pan Junlin's collision with Chen Yinyu in the process of trying to overtake caused a thrilling moment. Many cars completed thrilling evasion. After that, another car stopped in the buffer zone and the safety car was deployed again. The race became a full-speed sprint of less than 5 minutes in the end. Chen Fangping quickly opened up the gap with the help of a slow car, Lin Yu held the second position, and Lv Wei exerted a strong pursuit. In the second to last lap, he successfully overtook Liu Hangcheng before the back straight and rose to third. Liu Hangcheng tried to counterattack but failed, and was overtaken by Liao Qishun and fell to fifth. The top five situation was locked, Chen Fangping crossed the finish line first, followed by Lin Yu, Lv Wei, Liao Qishun, Liu Hangcheng, Xu Zefeng, Pan Junlin, Gu Meng, Cao Qikuan, and Ou Ziyang.

Due to the post-race penalties for many teams, the final rankings changed. Chen Fangping/Elias Seppanen, who crossed the finish line first, missed the championship trophy due to a time penalty for violations. Lin Yu/Erik Johansson became the overall champion of this round, and Lv Wei/Xie Xinzhe and Yu Kuai/Liao Qishun were promoted to the second and third place positions. Chen Weian/Liu Hangcheng, Cui Yue/Xu Zefeng, Wang Yibo/Pan Junlin, Min Heng/Gu Meng, Shen Jian/Cao Qikuan, Li Hanyu/Ou Ziyang, and Bian Ye ranked fourth to tenth in the whole competition.

In the GTS category, Moritz Berrenberg/Finn of Maxmore W&S Motorsport Zulauf has been leading the way and won the group championship with absolute dominance. Chen Sitong/Yu Tong of Incipient Racing Team and Wang Yongjie/Wu Shiyao of Gaha Harmony Racing Team won the second and third place in the group respectively. Tian Weiyuan/Han Liqun of RSR GT Racing Team, who suffered a collision accident in the early stage of the race, insisted on finishing the race and ranked fourth in the group.

In the GTC category, Zhang Hongyu/Li Sicheng of Yinqiao ACM by Blackjack and 610Racing driver Bian Ye had a fierce competition throughout the whole race. Zhang Hongyu, who started from the first position in the group, drove into the maintenance area to check the car before the start, and Bian Ye directly rose to the first place. However, the arrival of the safety car helped Zhang Hongyu quickly narrow the gap and overtake Bian Ye. In the second half of the race, Li Sicheng took over from Zhang Hongyu. Taking advantage of the attack and defense of Li Sicheng and the high-level car, the more experienced Bian Ye launched a surprise attack in the last lap to complete the final kill and win the group victory.