Craft-Bamboo Racing scores dominant double victory in Mandalika to take Silver-Am championship lead

Jiatong ‘Alex’ Liang and Dean Chen deliver back-to-back Silver-Am wins for the #77 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in round three and four of the 2026 GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS championship
P5 and P6 overall finishes further underlined the team’s front-running pace at the Mandalika International Circuit and saw the team scoop the China Cup in the process
These results propel Craft-Bamboo Racing to the top of the Silver-Am standings ahead of rounds five and six of the championship, to be held in Shanghai on June 4-6

Craft-Bamboo Racing has celebrated a very successful weekend at the Mandalika International Circuit, with Jiatong “Alex” Liang and Dean Chen powering the #77 ROWE and Axon-backed Mercedes-AMG GT3 to a pair of Silver-Am class victories in rounds three and four of the 2026 GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS championship.

Following strong form at the Sepang season-opener which saw them stand on the class podium, Liang and Chen headed to Mandalika – a track which historically has been a strong venue for the Craft-Bamboo Racing team – targeting more podium celebrations.

Following intense pre-event preparation combined with careful refinement of the setup to best adapt to the Lombok heat, the #77 showed strong pace straight away in practice before landing the Silver-Am pole for race one, from where Chen took the start.

A faultless opening stint defined by strong pace and refined race craft, testament to the intense work Chen has put in since the season-opener at Sepang, saw him control the class lead before handing over to Liang at the half-distance.

A perfectly executed pitstop kept the #77 out front in class as Liang then fought his way forward, expertly fending off advances from the chasing Silver-Am #25 Porsche and #27 Mercedes-AMG while climbing through the overall order from P10 to be P5 at the chequered flag – securing the team’s first win of the weekend and a return to the top step at Mandalika.

Sunday’s Race 2 brought an equally successful performance where, with clean execution from pit wall to pitlane, Liang and Chen clinched another Silver-Am victory and P6 overall.

Liang launched from P14 on the grid outright, carving through the field with consistency and composure. A challenging pro-class phase of the race only sharpened their resolve, with Chen taking over P3 in class before driving a clean and mistake-free stint with quick lap times to overtake the two class leaders on the #77’s way to the checkered flag and its second class win of the weekend.

As well as vaulting the #77 into the Silver-Am championship lead, the strong results also delivered top honours in the China Cup classification.

The 2026 GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS championship will now continue to the Shanghai International Circuit in China for rounds five and six, to be held across June 4-6. For event information, visit www.gt-world-challenge-asia.com. To learn more about Craft-Bamboo Racing, please visit www.craftbamboo.com

Darryl O’Young

Team Principal I Craft-Bamboo Racing

“It was a very strong weekend in Mandalika. We put a lot of preparation into this event, from setup work to pit stop and driver-change practice, and it paid off with two perfect races. The pace was there from practice, so we knew that if we qualified cleanly and executed in the races, the results would come. I am extremely proud of the whole team: both drivers performed brilliantly, took their opportunities, and showed real discipline under pressure, and the pit stops were flawless. These results, exactly what we targeted, are a great reward for everyone involved.”

Jiatong ‘Alex’ Liang

Driver #77 Mercedes-AMG GT3

“It has definitely been a great weekend for our #77 ROWE machine, seeing us take double victories and the championship lead after the Mandalika round. Thank you to Craft-Bamboo Racing for the great team effort, and it was a great drive from my team mate Dean. Hopefully we can keep the momentum throughout the season. Now we will concentrate on the Shanghai round, coming up in one month’s time.”

Dean Chen

Driver #77 Mercedes-AMG GT3

“It was a perfectly executed weekend for the entire team. The boys have been flawless and maximised what we had in the package, and I could not have asked for more. After the last race weekend, I found I was a bit too confident and underestimated how hard the challenge was going to be; Sepang humbled me well. After Sepang, I have done even more training both on exercise and sim. I planned a bit more carefully on my sim training, putting down almost 1,200km and covering many possible scenarios during the two week break and I think it helped tremendously.”

2026 GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS Championship calendar:

4-5 April	Rounds 1 and 2	Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia
2-3 May	Rounds 3 and 4	Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit, Indonesia
5-6 June	Rounds 5 and 6	Shanghai International Circuit, China
11-12 July	Rounds 7 and 8	Fuji International Speedway, Japan
29-30 August	Rounds 9 and 10	Okayama International Circuit, Japan
2-4 October	Rounds 11 and 12	Beijing Street Circuit, China