Origine Motorsport has two cars on stage at the 2025 China GT Shanghai Opening

On April 26, the first round of the China GT China Supercar Championship was held at the Shanghai International Circuit. In the first round of the race on Saturday, Origine Motorsport's original force car stood out in the fierce competition on the field. The No. 55 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo car was in the front camp in the final sprint stage. Lv Wei and Xie Xinzhe successfully won the runner-up!

The No. 77 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II driven by Gu Meng and Min Heng showed tenacious fighting spirit in the close combat with competitors, and won the runner-up in the GT3 Am category, bringing back the fruitful results of two podiums for the team.

The qualifying session officially started at 11 am on Saturday. According to the official competition rules, all teams will have two 15-minute qualifying sessions. The results of the two qualifying sessions will determine the starting order of the first and second rounds of the race respectively. Since there will be a total of 18 GT3 cars participating in the qualifying session, how the drivers accurately handle traffic conditions and find critical moments to perform flying laps will be an important factor in whether they can run a competitive single lap time.

In the Q1 stage, Xie Xinzhe drove the No. 55 car. Facing the complex traffic conditions on the track, this touring car champion fully utilized the experience accumulated from previous competitions. After running a single lap of 2:02.003 in the first flying lap, he continued to push forward with all his strength and achieved improved results. He ranked eighth in the field with 2:00.890 and fifth in the GT3 Pro-Am category. For the No. 77 car group, experienced gentleman driver Min Heng performed steadily in the 15-minute qualifying session. He achieved a speed comparable to that of professional drivers in two consecutive single laps. In the end, Min Heng won the ninth place in the field and the third place in the GT3 Am category with a personal best of 2:01.038.

Entering Q2, Lv Wei took over the No. 55 car and started the first qualifying journey of this season. In the limited track time, Lv Wei went all out and made extremely strong single-lap results in consecutive laps, once occupying the first place in the field. At the last moment of qualifying, Lv Wei won the second place in the field with a personal fastest lap time of 2:00.472, and also took the pole position in the GT3 Pro-Am category. Gu Meng also performed well in Q2, steadily improving the single-lap speed, refreshing his personal best single lap to 2:01.279, and the No. 77 car won the fifth place in the field and the second place in the GT3 Am category.

After a break in the afternoon, the first round of the race officially started on Saturday afternoon. Xie Xinzhe, the starting driver of the No. 55 car, successfully completed the start and stabilized his position in the chaotic car group. After completing the first lap of the race, he continued to maintain the eighth place in the whole field. Min Heng was affected by the push of the car in front at the start and lost his position, but Min Heng quickly adjusted his state and followed the car in front.

Later, due to a track accident, the safety car was deployed briefly, which allowed Xie Xinzhe and Min Heng to narrow the gap with the car in front. After the race resumed, Xie Xinzhe quickly improved his pace and launched an attack on the front position. On the fifth lap of the race, a car in front of him skidded at the exit of Turn 16. Xie Xinzhe avoided the out-of-control car in front with amazing reaction, avoiding a collision accident and moving up to seventh place. Min Heng also returned to the top ten of the field with excellent long-distance speed, driving the No. 77 car.

The accident on the track caused the race to deploy the safety car again. This time the safety car lasted until the halfway point of the race. After the pit stop window opened, the team responded quickly and took the lead in recalling Xie Xinzhe for a pit stop and replacement. Lv Wei took over the No. 55 car and started the sprint in the second half. For the No. 77 car group, the team chose to extend Min Heng's race section and completed the pit stop before the pit stop window closed. Gu Meng took over.

The No. 55 car participating in the GT3 Pro-Am category needs to accept the shortest pit stop time of 93 seconds. Lv Wei's ranking dropped briefly after leaving the pit, but Lv Wei quickly recovered the lost ground with a strong speed and rose to seventh in the late stage of the race. Gu Meng was trapped in the car after leaving the pit, but Gu Meng maintained a stable mentality, calmly dealt with the fight with his opponent, and steadily stayed in third place in the GT3 Am category.

A safety car in the late stage turned the race into a short-distance sprint race. Lv Wei had a fierce competition with many cars. This powerful gentleman driver fought his way out of the tight car formation. The No. 55 car also refreshed the fastest lap in the GT3 Pro-Am group race and crossed the finish line in third place. Since the car ahead had to accept a post-race penalty for violation, the final ranking of the No. 55 car was promoted to the second place in the whole field. Lv Wei and Xie Xinzhe won the runner-up and the GT3 Pro-Am category for the team!

Gu Meng also had a fierce battle with his opponent at the end of the race. Although he was involved in a collision accident, Gu Meng tried his best to stabilize the car and greeted the waving of the checkered flag with the tenth place in the whole field. Gu Meng and Min Heng finally won the runner-up in the GT3 Am category, representing the team to achieve the achievement of two cars on the podium.

Origine Motorsport's double-car lineup successfully completed the first round of the China GT Shanghai Station. Lv Wei, Xie Xinzhe, Min Heng and Gu Meng jointly helped the team get a good start to the season. The team will quickly invest in the preparation stage for the second round of the race and make full preparations for the race on Sunday. Please wait and see the outstanding performance of the four Force warriors tomorrow!

China GT China Supercar Championship
Schedule of Shanghai Station (First Round)

**April 27 (Sunday)

10:40-11:40 Second round of the race (55 minutes + 1 lap)