Challenging GTWC Asia Debut for Bastian Buus

Despite showing clear potential, Danish Porsche factory driver Bastian Buus was unable to secure top results in the opening round of the GT World Challenge Asia at Malaysia’s Sepang Circuit.

It turned out to be a weekend to forget for Bastian Buus and Chinese teammate Lu Wei, who took on the first round of the GT World Challenge Asia at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The Porsche duo from Origine Motorsport struggled to find pace in the fiercely competitive GT3 field, and just as things began to improve, a certain podium finish slipped away.

– It was a tough season opener for us. We had major issues finding the right balance in our Porsche, so we weren’t quite as sharp as we’d hoped going into the first race. Unfortunately, Lu (Wei, ed.) made contact with another car on the opening lap, resulting in a puncture. That forced us to retire the car due to damage, explains Bastian Buus.

The second race of the weekend went significantly better for the Porsche duo – but only until the final lap. Bastian started from sixth on the grid and handed the car over to his teammate in fifth. Since the three fastest cars from the first race had to serve a success penalty and spent extra seconds in the pits, Lu Wei rejoined the race in third place.

– This time we had better pace. Lu drove us up to what looked like a certain second place towards the end of the race, but then pushed a competitor off track in an attempt to overtake for the lead. That incident earned us a drive-through penalty, and instead of a podium, we finished the weekend in 10th place, Buus explains.

– It’s incredibly frustrating, but the penalty was fair, and we just have to accept it and move on. Despite our setbacks, I think we showed promising potential this weekend. Huge thanks to the entire team for their efforts. I’m confident we’ll learn from this and come back stronger.

Bastian Buus’ next challenge will be the second round of the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie, the German endurance racing championship, which takes place on April 26 and serves as preparation for this summer’s 24-hour race at the legendary German circuit.