Craft-Bamboo Racing takes GTWCA Silver-Am title fight to the final lap in Shanghai
Craft-Bamboo Racing has finished second in the 2026 GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS Silver-Am championship by a margin of just three points.
The team opened the weekend with a perfect Saturday race, taking the Silver-Am win and P5 overall.
In Sunday’s race two, Liang and Moh took the title fight right to the finish line, closing a 12-second gap to their rivals to just 1.7 seconds over the final 20 minutes.
Across the 12-race 2026 GTWCA season, the team stood on the podium 11 times and celebrated four race wins with their #77 Rowe-backed Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Craft-Bamboo Racing ended its 2026 GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS Silver-Am championship campaign as the runners-up at Shanghai at the weekend, missing the title by just three points after coming within 1.7 seconds of the race win that would have seen them secure it. The agonisingly close margin concludes a highly successful 12-race season, which saw them climb the podium 11 times and take four race wins.
The Hong Kong-based outfit arrived in Shanghai with the #77 Rowe-backed Mercedes-AMG GT3 just 10 points behind the then Silver-Am leaders, Brian Lee and Maxime Oosten, having closed the gap with a win and a podium at the penultimate round in Beijing.
Jiatong 'Alex' Liang, the team's driver across all 12 races, was joined for the finale by Melvin Moh in the #77 which has benefited all-season long from the power and agility provided by the products of leading lubricant specialist, Rowe.
The weekend could hardly have started better. The #77 - which was also carrying anime character Yani Neko on the bonnet in Shanghai - qualified quickest in class and third overall for race one, and although a carried-over three-place grid penalty meant Moh took the start from P6, the Malaysian made short work of the first stint, moving the #77 back into the class lead before handing over to Liang, who brought the car home with strong pace to take a critical Silver-Am race win. That result sent the team into Sunday tied for the championship lead, setting up a winner takes all battle with Lee and Oosten.
In the decider, Liang took the start from third in class and 13th on the overall grid and immediately set about chasing down Oosten, handing over to Moh after a solid opening half. Moh then went to work punching out a run of quick laps which hauled a 12-second gap to Lee back to just 1.7 seconds at the line – a painfully close margin which decided not only the race result but the title as well, leaving Craft-Bamboo Racing as the Silver-Am championship runners-up by just three points.
The 2026 title fight had begun at the Sepang International Circuit (3-5 April) with P3 in class in race one and P4 in race two for Liang and Dean Chen, before a pair of Silver-Am victories at the Mandalika International Circuit (1-3 May) moved the pair into the championship lead and also saw them take out the China Cup.
Liang was joined by Japan's Daisuke Yamawaki for rounds five through eight, taking P3 in class in both races at Fuji International Speedway (9-12 July) and P2 and P3 at Okayama (27-30 August).
For the penultimate round on the streets of Beijing (2-4 October), Liang once again partnered with Chen for what was a rollercoaster weekend: a Silver-Am victory in race one was followed by a race two in which two separate hits forced the #77 to the pits, with the team holding on for P3 to keep the title fight alive heading into the Shanghai decider.
The 2026 runner-up result follows Craft-Bamboo Racing's 2023 overall GTWCA drivers' championship win and its second place in the Silver standings in 2025. The team’s plans for 2027 will be announced in due course.
For GT World Challenge Asia 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, Craft-Bamboo Racing
"To be 1.7 seconds and just three points away from a championship after 12 rounds is a tough one to take. Alex and Melvin both drove superbly, the car was quick, and the crew executed a clean weekend – we simply ran out of laps.
“When the frustration settles, what will stay with me is the strength and character of our team. We were in the fight from the first round at Sepang to the last lap at Shanghai, we won races, we stood on the podium for all but one of the 12 races, we won the China Cup, and we showed time and time again how we rise from adversity.
“I am proud of Alex and Melvin, as well as Dean and Daisuke who both played very important parts in our season, and of everyone in the garage, because a challenge like this is not built in one weekend. I want to also acknowledge our sponsors for their continued support of us as we chased this title. We will be back, and we will be fighting for the title again."
Jiatong 'Alex' Liang - Driver, #77 Mercedes-AMG GT3
"Thank you to the whole Craft-Bamboo Racing team for all of their efforts throughout the season and to all the sponsors and team-mates who have been involved in this season and supported us in this amazing, incredible journey.
"This weekend in Shanghai, we did everything we could to get the title, but unfortunately ended with it only 1.7 seconds away from us. But we have nothing to regret – we pushed to the last moment, and we did everything we could, and we will come back stronger in 2027."
Melvin Moh - Driver, #77 Mercedes-AMG GT3
“Firstly, it was great to be back with the team after 7 years, thanks to Alex and Darryl for making this happen. I knew the objective coming into the weekend, and my goal was to help Alex and the team to fight for the championship.
“Everything went well from practice to qualifying and race one, where both Alex and I did what we needed to do and we achieved the race win. Unfortunately, we fell short in race two by 1.7 seconds to overtake the BMW, and Alex lost the championship. Of course, everyone including myself is disappointed, but I guess that’s racing.
“Overall, the team and car performed well this weekend, and it was great to be back in this team. I hope to be back soon again.”
