Azlan stamps authority as Zhuhai test closes ahead of Chinese GP

The final chequered flag of the 2026 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia official test fell at Zhuhai on Sunday afternoon, bringing two intensive days of running with the new 992.2 generation Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to a close. The next time the field assembles, it will be on the support bill of the Chinese Grand Prix in two weeks’ time and several storylines have already begun to form.

Sunday’s dry conditions transformed the picture after Saturday’s wet, bedding in focused programme. With brake systems now conditioned, gearboxes cycled through full load runs and engine maps refined, the leading contenders were finally able to extract representative pace.

Naquib Azlan left little doubt about his intent. The Malaysian driver topped both Sunday sessions, posting a 1:35.517 in the morning before improving to a 1:35.391 in the afternoon. Having already led a wet session on Saturday, Azlan has effectively been at the front in every scenario encountered across the weekend. That combination of adaptability and outright speed marks him as one of the early headline names heading into round one.

Behind him, the margins were tight. Marcus Amand and Rodrigo Dias Almeida repeatedly traded positions within tenths of a second, while Marvin Klein and Marco Giltrap remained firmly in the mix. Across the two Sunday sessions, the top five were consistently covered by less than half a second, an early indication that qualifying at Shanghai could prove decisive.

Liu Ruiqi quietly reinforced his status as a consistent top six runner, while Joshua Berry delivered one of the more notable performances of the weekend. The EBM driver, a Southeast Asian F4 graduate who finished 11th in that championship, ran solidly inside the top ten and capped the test with seventh in the final session. His progression across the four sessions suggests a driver and team quickly finding comfort with the new car.

The Pro Am battle also showed encouraging depth. Lu Wei and Bao Jinlong both ran competitive laps on Sunday, while Wang Zhongwei and Francis Tjia demonstrated steady improvement. In the Am ranks, Tien Foo Roy Tang topped the class in the final session, with Cao Qikuan and Henry Kwong close behind. Adrian D Silva once again led the Masters category.

Alex Sawer and Seth Gilmore, who finished first and second respectively in Southeast Asian F4, showed incremental gains as the weekend progressed but did not feature among the top five. With new machinery, evolving data sets and structured test plans still being completed, their ultimate pace is likely to become clearer once teams switch fully into performance mode preparation.

What is already evident is that the front of the PRO field is tightly compressed and that Azlan has established early momentum. Whether that carries into Shanghai remains to be seen, but Zhuhai has offered a clear signal that the 2026 season may begin with a reshaped competitive dynamic.

Session 3 Sunday Morning

1. Naquib Azlan 1:35.517 PRO
2. Marco Giltrap 1:36.001 PRO
3. Rodrigo Dias Almeida 1:36.165 PRO
4. Marcus Amand 1:36.203 PRO
5. Marvin Klein 1:36.337 PRO
6. Liu Ruiqi 1:36.442 PRO
7. Alex Sawer 1:36.922 PRO
8. Lu Wei 1:36.974 PRO AM
9. Bao Jinlong 1:36.990 PRO AM
10. Cao Qikuan 1:37.073 AM
11. Joshua Berry 1:37.274 PRO
12. Tien Foo Roy Tang 1:37.306 AM
13. Amna Al Qubaisi 1:37.338 PRO
14. Wang Zhongwei 1:37.603 PRO AM
15. Francis Tjia 1:37.925 PRO AM
16. Seth Gilmore 1:37.974 PRO
17. Eric Kwong 1:38.030 AM
18. Dylan Estre 1:38.115 PRO
19. Henry Kwong 1:38.186 AM
20. Wu Jiaxin 1:38.389 AM
21. Li Ning 1:38.400 AM
22. Yan Chuang 1:38.438 AM
23. Adrian D Silva 1:38.718 MASTERS
24. Chan Sze Wai 1:39.802 AM
25. Jacky Wu Han Songting 1:42.106 MASTERS AM
26. Douglas Khoo 1:43.072 MASTERS

Session 4 Sunday Afternoon

1. Naquib Azlan 1:35.391 PRO
2. Marcus Amand 1:35.537 PRO
3. Rodrigo Dias Almeida 1:35.563 PRO
4. Marvin Klein 1:35.730 PRO
5. Marco Giltrap 1:35.742 PRO
6. Liu Ruiqi 1:35.887 PRO
7. Joshua Berry 1:36.220 PRO
8. Tien Foo Roy Tang 1:36.411 AM
9. Lu Wei 1:36.523 PRO AM
10. Dylan Estre 1:36.552 PRO
11. Alex Sawer 1:36.656 PRO
12. Wang Zhongwei 1:36.674 PRO AM
13. Bao Jinlong 1:36.693 PRO AM
14. Cao Qikuan 1:36.922 AM
15. Francis Tjia 1:36.931 PRO AM
16. Amna Al Qubaisi 1:36.960 PRO
17. Henry Kwong 1:37.110 AM
18. Eric Kwong 1:37.116 AM
19. Yan Chuang 1:37.356 AM
20. Chan Sze Wai 1:37.475 AM
21. Wu Jiaxin 1:37.670 AM
22. Seth Gilmore 1:37.868 PRO
23. Li Ning 1:38.089 AM
24. Adrian D Silva 1:38.191 MASTERS
25. Jacky Wu Han Songting 1:38.399 MASTERS AM
26. John Shen 1:39.549 MASTERS
27. Douglas Khoo 1:39.853 MASTERS