Climax Racing made a strong start to the 2026 GT World Challenge Asia weekend at Sepang International Circuit, topping both Official Practice and the Bronze Test on Friday morning.
The pairing of Li Lichao and Elias Seppänen set the benchmark in their Mercedes-AMG, finishing comfortably clear of the field in the opening session before continuing that form in the Bronze Test.
Seppänen delivered the standout lap in Official Practice with a 2:04.144, set early in the session as track conditions were at their most favourable. The time remained unbeaten, with most teams focusing on build-up runs after Thursday’s pre-event testing rather than outright performance.
Bastian Buus was among the few to push for representative lap times, placing Absolute Racing’s Porsche near the front, while Akash Nandy led Lamborghini’s charge with a competitive effort on home soil.
A tightly packed top five saw Neil Verhagen and Jaxon Evans complete the leading group, with less than a second covering the front-runners across multiple manufacturers including Lamborghini, BMW and Audi.
In the Bronze Test, Li edged out Anthony Liu by a narrow margin, underlining Climax Racing’s early advantage across both sessions.
The team also led the Am category with its second Mercedes-AMG entry, driven by Setiawan Santoso and Mike Zhou, whose best lap placed them ahead of the rest of the class.
While outright pace was shown by a handful of entries, the majority of the field remained focused on baseline setup work and tyre understanding following the winter break, suggesting further performance to come as the weekend progresses.
Track action continues later today with Pre-Qualifying, where teams are expected to move closer to qualifying simulations and reveal a clearer competitive picture.
