RSR Intelligence · Issue 022
Porsche seals the Asian title, BMW inherits victory at Mugello, and Manthey faces a narrow path to the WEC title at Monza.
Issue 022 · 3 November 2026
Origine Porsche converts Shanghai lead into title
Lu Wei won the 2026 GT World Challenge Asia overall drivers’ title by winning the Shanghai finale in Origine Motorsport’s #11 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which he shared with Laurin Heinrich.
Lu arrived five points clear of Huang Ruohan and Alessandro Ghiretti in Absolute Racing’s #911 Porsche. He finished third on Saturday while the #911 finished seventh, which stretched his lead to 14 points.
Heinrich put the #11 on pole for Sunday’s race, and the car went on to win. Huang and Ghiretti finished second.
Both crews at the top of the drivers’ standings ran the 911 GT3 R, and the two Porsche customer teams split the major titles. Origine took the drivers’ crown. Absolute Racing took the teams’ championship.
That makes Shanghai evidence of Porsche’s customer depth in GT World Challenge Asia. It does not establish which Porsche operation is stronger.
The drivers’ title is Lu’s. Heinrich contested six races of the campaign alongside him, including the Shanghai finale.
In Silver-Am, Brian Lee and Maxime Oosten took the title in GTO with KRC’s BMW M4 GT3 EVO. The championship’s Shanghai race report records the title outcomes.
BMW wins Mugello after Ferrari penalty
The Italian GT Endurance finale produced a different winner after the chequered flag.
Alessandro Balzan and Dylan Medler crossed the line first in Rinaldi Racing’s #45 Ferrari 296 GT3. Stewards imposed a five-second penalty under decision 18, and the official timing now lists the #45 third.
William Alatalo, Alfred Nilsson and Filip Ugran inherited the win in the #7 BMW Italia Ceccato Racing M4 GT3 EVO, 0.334 seconds ahead of the #71 DL Racing Lamborghini.
The Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI) Sport race report says the penalty followed a protest by Vincenzo Sospiri Racing (VSR) over the restart procedure after the final safety car.
The penalty did not move the title. Balzan and Medler finished level on 58 points with the #66 VSR Lamborghini crew of Edoardo Liberati, Mattia Michelotto and Ignazio Zanon. Each crew had one win and no second places, so the Ferrari pair took the championship on their extra third place, the one they kept at Mugello.
For Mercedes-AMG, the weekend went the other way. Guy Albag and Lorenzo Ferrari arrived in AKM Motorsport’s #64 Mercedes-AMG GT3 with a 13-point lead over the #66 crew, and 20 points clear of Balzan and Medler. At the 100-minute scoring point, they were 38th and a lap down, while the #45 Ferrari ran second and the #66 Lamborghini third. The Mercedes was classified 43rd, 19 laps behind the winner, and Albag and Ferrari finished the season two points short on 56.
GT REPORT says Lorenzo Ferrari made contact with the #36 Oregon Team Lamborghini and that the Mercedes later retired with damage. Race control recorded an investigation involving both cars at Turn 12 and summoned AKM’s team manager. The published notes do not state a finding or assign responsibility.
AKM lost a championship lead in stages. The advantage was under pressure by the intermediate scoring point, when the Mercedes was a lap down, and both principal rivals were in the top three. The post-race penalty then changed the race winner but not the destination of the title.
None of this is, on its own, evidence of a weakness in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 or in AKM’s operation. A wet race, an incident and a penalty each shaped the result, and each needs to be understood on its own terms before anyone draws a wider conclusion.
Manthey Porsche takes 18-point deficit to Monza
The FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) season for its LMGT3 category ends at the 6 Hours of Monza on Sunday 8 November. The championship’s entry-list preview names four crews from Corvette, Porsche and BMW still in contention.
In the LMGT3 teams’ standings, the #33 TF Sport Corvette leads on 92 points. The #92 The Bend Manthey Porsche is second on 74, ahead of the #34 Racing Team Turkey by TF Corvette on 70 and the #69 Team WRT BMW on 66.
Manthey has won every LMGT3 team title since the class arrived in 2024. Its Barcelona victory kept that run alive, but the arithmetic now sits mostly with the Corvette.
A six-hour race pays 25 points for the win and one point for LMGT3 pole, so 26 is the most any car can add at Monza.
Under the Sporting Regulations, a tie goes first to the car with more class wins. Each of the four contenders has won once this season, so a contender that wins at Monza would beat any rival it ties with.
For Manthey, the ceiling is 100, and only a win from pole gets the #92 there. The #33 cannot then take pole, so its total depends on finishing position alone. Sixth place would bring it level on 100, and Manthey would take the title on class wins. A win without pole leaves the #92 on 99, and the #33 would then need to finish seventh or lower.
For the #34 Corvette, the ceiling is 96, again only from pole and victory. The #33 would need to finish eighth or lower.
For BMW, the ceiling is 92, which also needs pole and victory. That only draws level with the #33 if the leading Corvette scores nothing. In that case, BMW would take the title on class wins, and no other contender could finish above 92.
The pole point is decided in LMGT3 Hyperpole on Saturday 7 November, and the #34 and BMW both need it. For Manthey, pole widens the route, because a win from pole beats the #33 in sixth. On Sunday, judge Manthey on two things: its own execution and where the #33 finishes. A perfect Porsche race does not guarantee the title.
Read the drivers’ and teams’ standings separately. Ben Keating missed Imola and Spa-Francorchamps, and Nicky Catsburg missed São Paulo, so the three #33 drivers do not share a points total. Jonny Edgar’s 92 matches the car’s. Catsburg is on 88, and Keating on 70, so a team title for the #33 would not make all three drivers champions.
Elsewhere: Antonelli’s first F1 title
Kimi Antonelli became Formula 1’s youngest world champion by finishing third for Mercedes in the Mexico City Grand Prix, breaking the record Sebastian Vettel set in 2010.
On the same day, AKM Motorsport, owned by his father Marco Antonelli, saw its Mercedes-AMG GT3 title challenge come apart at Mugello. Different championships, same family, same Sunday.
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