FFF Racing by ACM left Fuji Speedway Sunday evening a little disappointed not to have secured more points after a particularly dominant streak in the Blancpain GT Series Asia came to an end. However, a further podium for Hiroshi Hamaguchi proved to be a welcome highlight from rounds seven and eight of the championship.
The first race saw Denis Lind and Martin Kodric finish fifth in the #19 Lamborghini Huracan while teammates Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Marco Mapelli were forced to retire the #63 with just lap minutes remaining.
Lind made a good start to run second, shadowing Edoardo Liberati for the race lead, before moving to the head of the field after 20 minutes. The Dane pitted at the half-way mark for teammate Kodric and after taking the 15-second success penalty carried over from the last round, emerged in fourth position.
Hamaguchi meanwhile had worked his way though the field from 24th to 14th before handing over to Marco Mapelli, who continued to work his way up the order until a left rear puncture forced him to retire.
The second race saw Hamaguchi start from third in the #63 Pro-Am car, moving to the head of the field before suffering a quick spin that dropped him back to third. The race progressed with Hamaguchi showing impressive pace to run at the front of the field before he handed over to Mapelli. The final result was close, with just 0.010 between second and third.
The championship leading #19 had a tougher second race, starting back in ninth before losing positions at the start before finishing 19th.
“Overall, the weekend was disappointing in terms of results, but in terms of pace and working together as a team, it was very good,” said team owner Sean Fu Songyang. “Hiroshi was especially impressive this weekend, so we’re satisfied. His pace proved we’ll bring even better results going forward and we’ll keep fighting for the championship.
“For the #19 car, we need a bit of a mental reset ahead of Shanghai where we’ll be typing to take first position in the championship again.”