Ethan Brown and Jacob Riegel impress on racing debut together
Sant’Agata Bolognese/Shanghai, 18 May 2025 – Leipert Motorsport’s young PRO entry of Ethan Brown and Jacob Riegel took an emphatic victory on their racing debut together, winning Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia race one with a margin of more than 3.9 seconds at the 5.451 km Shanghai International Circuit. Second over the line in race one of round two was SJM Theodore Racing’s Charles Leong and Alex Denning after an epic fightback by the former following an opening lap incident. The pair went on to take overall victory in race two in their DW Evans GT-run Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2, strengthening their bid for the 2025 PRO championship title.
Third behind Leong and Denning in race one were Lamborghini Bundang by Racegraph’s Peter Li Zhicong and Lee Jungwoo who completed the PRO podium. A sensational opening race for Climax Racing’s Huang Kuisheng and Han Huilin saw the AM pair take the class victory, while just missing out on an overall podium in fourth overall. Winners of the PRO-AM class in race one were LK Motorsport by Climax Racing’s Liu Kai Shun and Cao Qikuan, with Siamgas Corse’s Supachai Weeraborwornpong taking his third consecutive Lamborghini Cup victory.
Li and Lee went one better in race two, finishing second behind Leong and Denning, and ahead of BC Racing’s Gavin Huang and Jonathan Cecotto. Race two PRO-AM victors were the eye-catching duo of Lee Changwoo and Liang Jiatong at SQDA-GRIT Motorsport, ahead of class rivals Liu and Cao and LK Motorsport by Climax Racing team mates Lu Zhiwei and Ling Kang.
True Vision Motorsport Thailand’s Suttiluck Buncharoen took a sensational AM victory in race two, with a top seven overall finish after a superb run. Climax Racing’s Huang Kuisheng and Han Huilin were second in class ahead of Indonesian duo Umar Abdullah and Dypo Fitramadhan at Delta Garage Racing Team by Absolute Racing.
As always, the Lamborghini Cup class was a hard-fought affair. Supachai Weeraborwornpong took the race one honours for Siamgas Corse from Batmobile Racing’s Kumar Prabakaran and Lamborghini Bundang by Racegraph’s Gerald Goh and Samson Chan. In race two, Goh snatched the class win from Weeraborwornpong after Prabakaran had led from pole right up to the closing minutes.
After two of six rounds, the race is well and truly on for the 2025 titles. Three wins for Leong and Denning give them a 15-point advantage over Leipert Motorsport’s Brown on the PRO leaderboard, with BC Racing’s Huang and Cecotto in third. Liu and Cao top the PRO-AM standings for LK Motorsport by Climax Racing from Lee and Liang at SQDA-GRIT Motorsport, and Lu and Kang third. Buncharoen has a 16-point lead the AM class from HZO Fortis Racing Team by Absolute Racing’s Haziq and Hairie Oh, with Climax Racing’s Huang Kuisheng and Han Huilin lying third. The Lamborghini Cup standings show Siamgas Corse’s Weeraborwornpong leading the way but title rival Prabakaran lies just nine points behind ahead of Goh and Chan.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia continues next month when the series races in the foothills of Japan’s mighty Mount Fuji in round three from June 27-29.
Race one
Leipert Motorsport’s Ethan Brown of Singapore took pole position for race one from Charles Leong in the SJM Theodore Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2. Series debutant Adderly Fong was the fastest in PRO-AM, qualifying the Madness Racing car fourth overall, while the AM class pole-sitter was Climax Racing’s Han Huilin. In the Lamborghini Cup, Batmobile Racing’s Kumar Prabakaran outclassed his rivals in the opening qualifying run of the weekend.
Brown made a strong start as the cars thundered away on the sweeping Shanghai track, but further back a rapid getaway by Fong followed by a bold move around the outside saw him gain two places to second. Brown held firm from the hard-charging Fong but, seconds later, a series of multi-car incidents brought out the safety car and caused the early retirement of a number of cars. Leong was the leading car involved in the incident, clipped from behind into a spin, but he managed to rejoin the race, albeit at the back of the pack.
At the race suspension, Brown held the lead from Fong, the leading PRO-AM contender, with BC Racing’s Gavin Huang third ahead of DW Evans GT’s Emilien Carde and Peter Li Zhicong of Lamborghini Bundang by Racegraph. Sixth overall and leading the AM class was Climax Racing’s Han Huilin, while a lightning start by Lamborghini Cup driver Supachai Weerabornwornpong put the Siamgas Corse driver in the class lead and eleventh overall.
At the restart, and with 36 minutes remaining on the clock, Brown once again made a clean getaway while Li got by Carde to snatch fourth behind Huang. The Frenchman then fell into the clutches of Han, who also dived past and up to fifth. As Brown continued to build a margin out front, Huang passed Fong who then came under fire from Li, while Carde fought back to pass Han and reclaim fifth.
By the time the pit window opened, Leong had staged an eye-catching comeback and was up to sixth behind Carde, continuing his charge to climb to third before handing over to team mate Alex Denning.
It was Huang’s BC Racing team mate Jonathan Cecotto who stormed to the front of the pack as the second stint got underway, but diaster struck when the team was handed an 10-second penalty for being out of position off the rolling start, plus a drive through for causing one of the earlier collisions. When Cecotto headed into the pits to take the drive through penalty, Brown’s team mate and series newcomer Jacob Riegel resumed the lead for Leipert Motorsport from Denning and Li’s Korean team mate Lee Jungwoo. Behind DW Evans GT’s Nazim Azman, who had taken the wheel from Carde, sat leading AM driver Huang Kuisheng, extending the strong opening stint by his Climax Racing team mate Han.
With ten minutes remaining, Madness Racing’s Hong Shijie was leading the PRO-AM class in seventh overall. However, LK Motorsport by Climax Racing’s Liu Kai Shun loomed large in his mirrors before getting past and snatching the class lead as the minutes ticked down. Next to challenge Hong was Arrows Racing’s Weiron Tan, a beautifully-executed move seeing him grab second in PRO-AM.
In the Lamborghini Cup, Lamborghini Bundang by Racegraph’s Gerald Goh had taken the class lead from Supachai before the Thai driver snatched back the position. Goh’s team was then handed a 36 second penalty for a pit stop infringement, which put pay to any further hopes of victory despite a thrilling race to the finish line with Supachai.
At the flag and after 22 laps, a triumphant Brown and Riegel took their first victory together for Leipert Motorsport with a healthy margin of 3.902 seconds from Leong and Denning, completing their epic fight back with a second place overall finish. Third over the line and third PRO finishers were Lamborghini Bundang by Racegraph’s Li and Lee, while a superb fourth overall and AM winners were Climax Racing’s Huang Kuisheng and Han. PRO-AM victors were LK Motorsport by Climax Racing’s Liu Kai Shun and Cao Qikuan, ahead of the Arrows duo of Dr. Ma and Tan, and Madness Racing Team’s Hong and Fong.
Supachai took his third consecutive Lamborghini Cup win ahead of Batmobile Racing’s Kumar Prabakaran, with Goh and team mate Samson Chan third.
Race two
A masterful qualifying run by BC Racing’s Jonathan Cecotto and a scorching lap of 2:03.278 secured him pole position for race two ahead of PRO-AM driver Hong Shijie, who took the second class pole of the weekend after team mate Adderly Fong’s opening qualifying success. Likewise, Climax Racing’s Huang Kuisheng matched team mate Han Hulin’s AM pole, while Kumar Prabakaran locked in his second Lamborghini Cup pole of the weekend for Batmobile Racing.
Disappointingly, the cars of neither Z.Speed’s Chen Chun Hua and Ho-pin Tung, nor Climax Racing’s Li Dongshen and Li Donghui - AM points-leaders heading into Shanghai - were able to take the start after damage sustained during race one incidents.
Cecotto thundered into turn one unchallenged as the final encounter of the weekend got underway, while behind him a blistering start by Arrows Racing’s Weiron Tan from the fourth row saw him battling with SJM Theodore Racing’s Alex Denning for second, the Malaysian diving past and setting off after Cecotto. Another driver to get a lightning start was True Vision Motorsport Thailand’s Suttiluck Buncharoen, who rocketed up the order and into the AM lead.
There was early disappointment for BC Racing when Johnson Huang came to a halt in the gravel with a delaminated right rear tyre following an earlier incident. That brought out the safety car after ten minutes of racing, at which point Cecotto held the race lead from Tan, Denning, Lamborghini Bundang by Racegraph’s Lee Jungwoo, and LK Motorsport by Climax Racing’s Lu Zhiwei, leader of the PRO-AMs.
At the restart, with 33 minutes remaining, Cecotto once again made a strong getaway, but behind him drama struck when Tan’s car suddenly slowed before pulling off and into retirement. That triggered a Full Course Yellow, suspending further action as the pit window opened.
Lu’s team mate Ling Kang emerged into the second stint as race leader, with Charles Leong having taken over from Denning in second ahead of Cecotto’s team mate Gavin Huang.
The Full Course Yellow was converted into a safety car period before field was released with 11 minutes on the clock. Leong wasted no time in challenging Ling for the lead, powering past on the inside. Ling then ran wide, and Huang, Lamborghini Bundang by Racegraph’s Peter Li Zhicong and DW Evans GT’s Emilien Carde all capitalized to progress up the order. Despite dropping to fifth, Ling retained the PRO-AM lead from LK Motorsport by Climax Racing’s Cao Qikuan.
Having climbed to third, Li was on a mission, passing Huang and heading off to reel in Leong. Simultaneously, SJM Theodore Racing was handed a 0.3 second penalty for a short pit stop, adding to the pressure on Leong and further spurring Li on in his quest for victory.
Ethan Brown was also on the move after an earlier incident for Leipert Motorsport team mate Jacob Riegel had lost them ground. Brown got by SQDA-GRIT Motorsport’s Liang Jiatong to take sixth, passing Ling moments later to go one better.
With five minutes remaining, Leong had a half second advantage out front but Li continued to press the Macau driver, who fought hard to build a sufficient gap to mitigate the penalty. Li came within 0.276 of a second, but as the pair hurtled into the final lap, Leong had already pulled away to sit 0.742 of a second clear.
Leong took the chequered flag with a final margin of 0.441 of a second, taking the win from Li on the road and by the clock, as Huang followed them over the line completing the top three overall and PRO finishers. Behind them in sixth, Liang and team mate Brian Lee took PRO-AM honours from Liu Kai Shun and Cao Qikuan at LK Motorsport by Climax Racing and their team mates Lu Zhiwei and Ling Kang.
A well-deserved AM victory went to True Vision Motorsports Thailand’s Suttiluck Buncharoen after a standout drive to finish ahead of class rivals Huang Kuisheng and Han Huilin, with Umar Abdullah and Dypo Fitramadhan third. Gerald Goh and Samson Chan took the Lamborghini Cup win from Supachai Weeraborwornpong in second, and class pole-sitter Kumar Prabakaran of Batmobile Racing third.
