It is championship day in Abu Dhabi for the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series. We are getting ready to go. In qualifying, HRT and Arjun Maini along with Aston Martin and Jonny Adam at TF Sport, and Klaus Bachler, battled for pole. Bachler was the man to put Porsche on top. Xavier Lloveras was quick in LMP3. Nielsen Racing were second while Paul di Resta scored his second pole in two races. Graff and G-Drive thankfully fixed their fire damaged car from yesterday's race. The car was second quickest in LMP3 in the 15-minute warmup this morning. It is going to be hot. Josh Pierson, wow. He put in the iron man race yesterday.
After this race, Pierson will head to Sebring, Florida, and race in the opening 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship race. Herberth Porsche and TF Sport Aston Martin are at the top of the shop in GT. We are going to see drama today. They are packed up behind the safety car right by the W Hotel. The field forms up, two by two. It is time for championship day in Abu Dhabi! Watch the off camber final turn. Red lights out, and away we go! Taking the lead it is United Autosports. Lockup for the #44 ARC Bratislava car. The GT cars are spreading out and passing immediately. D'station, Oman Racing. No real issues it seems althoug there is a puff of smoke. Damage to one of the Herberth Motorsports Porsche's.
Into turn nine they go, the newly configured corner here at Abu Dhabi. Trouble too for the #13 entry, stopped dead stick. There was tire rub on the #91 Herberth Motorsports Porsche and we saw James Dayson in trouble briefly there. Josh Pierson leads Rodrigo Sales, Eric Trouillet, and the rest. CD Sport, the #27 LMP3 championship contender is falling behind. Hubert Haupt is pressing hard already in the #6 HRT Mercedes AMG GT3. The Garage 59 McLaren's are scrapping for position already and we see the TF Sport Aston Martin pressing the Mercedes already.
Wow. The GT battle is hot and the Aston Martin takes the GT lead while the #55 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 of Rino Mastronardi is third. Mastronardi will become a Silver rated driver as soon as this race ends. Everyone's pencils are sharpened now. Meantime, Josh Pierson leads this motor race to the tune of five seconds. The #2 DKR Engineering car leads LMP3 while second is G-Drive with Fabrice Rossello driving. Nielsen Racing under pressure from Koiranen Kempi and Konrad Motorsport. Henrique Chaves in GT, he is scampering away. We have at least four GT cars going for it.
Jurgen Haring, the second Herberth Porsche #99, he has dropped down the order. Spin there for the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari that won the GT Am class yesterday in race one of the weekend. Roman Ziemian at the controls. Drive through penalty for the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes in GT. In LMP3, the Duqueine has the speed over the Ligier and the Ginetta. We are seeing the fact that one of these chassis' is the fastest compared to the others. We see pit stops for the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari and the #59 Garage 59 McLaren. SPS take their penalty and get back in the fight.
The #59 McLaren has just had woes all weekend with penalties and a coming together in Free Practice as well as during the race yesterday. Josh Pierson is dominating, cutting a 1:43.498. Rodrigo Sales is his nearest rival. Pierson is a Silver while Sales is a Bronze driver. DKR Engineering are pulling away in LMP3 as Fabrice Roussello is under pressure from Torsten Kratz and Christophe Cresp. Seven brands of cars in GT and so many mechanical combinations. Josh Pierson still pulling away. In GT, Walkenhorst Motorsports are working their way through dealing with the new BMW M4 GT3. They are continuing to get the bugs worked out.
Pierson continues to uncork purple sector times, scything his way through the GT's. His next target is the #88 Garage 59 McLaren of Alexander West, and then Victor Gomez in the #51 AF Corse Ferrari. Nick Moss, too, aboard the #42 Optimum Motorsports McLaren. All the drivers in that car have performed very well over this abbreviated season. It was a neat and tidy start to this motor race. That was good to see. Miro Konopka did lock the brakes on the #44 ARC Bratislava Ligier in LMP2. We are settling down, 15 minutes already on the board.
CD Sport are glued together in LMP3. They wait to see where everyone else is and then come to the fore. Tony Wells has lost a spot or two. He has Sean Thong in the Ginetta behind. That is the Konrad Motorsports entry. The AMG Mercedes is far stronger here in Abu Dhabi than it was in Dubai. With their faster drivers, the McLaren's will undoubtedly come into the picture. The Aston Martin's lost performance during yesterday's race. Poor Jonny Adam had a cracked catalytic converter and allowed fumes in the car, making Jonny woozy. Terrible. That is not what you want. Meantime, the #59 McLaren that was to be driven by Manuel Maldonado has not left pit lane.
It could be game over for that team. Oh wow. Running wide, the #77 D'station Asto Martin, followed by Herberth Motorsports in the #91. The red flag was their saving grace and that is how they won yesterday's motor race, so Ralf Bohn completed his drive time and was able to parlay that miscue into a win after a great last pit stop. Chandler Hull aboard the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 is closing up on Bohn, in the Porsche. The Mercedes is running extremely well in the GT class lead. Hubert Haupt is the first GT driver not to whinge about Balance of Performance in a while. Track limits, are another matter, though.
Someone has smoke billowing from their car heading into the lane. No dramas for now. The LMP3 battle is on between Tony Wells and Nick Adcock. These two are both Bronze ranked drivers. CD Sport vs. Nielsen Racing. The #49 High Class Racing LMP2 Oreca of Kevin Weeda is in pit lane already. They had a damaged floor in yesterday's race after Dennis Andersen made contact with a GT car. Victor Gomez meanwhile is chasing down Jurgen Haring in GT. High Class Racing back on track. They were only in the pit lane 55 seconds.
Jorg Breuer, Jurgen Haring, and Victor Gomez, these three cars are all scrapping. Porsche, BMW, Ferrari. Watch track limits. Alexander West in the #88 McLaren for Garage 59 is one driver with a reminder. Garage 59 will have a McLaren racing at the Nurburgring during that season in NLS. Henrique Chaves might be having an issue. I think. There was a mistake there, hitting the speed limiter button or something. I take it back. Maybe that was the Mercedes that slowed up, as Rino Mastronardi has made the pass. Brendon Iribe in the #7 McLaren is having a good run as Sam De Haan is chasing. Conrad Grunewald in one of the Ferrari's is being warned about track limits.
Brendon Iribe is going to be given a target lap time that he will want to run to insofar as pace. Now, we see a scrap between Fabrice Rossello and Sean Thong in LMP3. Franz Konrad and Audi legend Ralf Juettner are running this LMP3 team. A couple of legends there. So, Sean Thong passes for fourth place chasing down the Koiranen Kempi entry. Rodrigo Sales locks up chasing after Kevin Weeda. Already half an hour gone. Henrique Chaves pinged for abusing track limits. It also looks like the #95 Aston Martin might have a penalty just as the #59 McLaren does. Manuel Maldonado is having a fraught race.
In the meantime, Conrad Grunewald is being chased by one of the Porsche's probably. Grunewald passes Brendon Iribe who gets crossed up and has to back off just a shade. Grunewald is really showing his capabilities. We will see him in Pro-Am racing in Europe and maybe more in the United States as well. Brendon Iribe starts the McLaren for Optimum Motorsports and Ollie Milroy will be in for the middle stint and finishing out the race will be Ben Barnicoat. Car #12 reported for track limits, the Dinamic Motorsports Porsche with Giorgio Roda at the wheel of it. Nielsen Racing team manager to Race Control. Oh boy. What could that be about? Tony Wells will have clear track and less trouble as there is a flatspot and a vibration for the #3 CD Sport entry.
Manuel Maldonado is back in the race after a ten-and-a-half-minute spell on pit road. He is four laps down. Not a good day for the #59 McLaren which has also had a broken shock. Peter Kox has a penalty, but they have unlocked speed in the #48 Porsche for S Aalocin by Kox Racing. Peter Kox, Stephane Kox, and Nico Pronk. Josh Pierson is on his merry way in the lead, 53 seconds up the road from Rodrigo Sales and Nielsen Racing. Rino Mastronardi is not making inroads, although Tomonobu Fujii is pressing hard. Improper track reentry for the #4 and they will have a penalty in their future.
Fujii is showing his nose to Hubert Haupt. Fujii san has a tow and he is going side by side with the Benz and makes a textbook pass. Bronze rated Satoshi Hoshino will be into the Aston Martin later in the game. Haupt races all over the world, born out of the old Black Falcon GT3 team. The Mercedes is a very usable car for gentleman drivers. Meantime, Josh Pierson is really opening it up and he is managing a lead in this motor race, learning how to make that work. One of the LMP3 cars runs wide, the G-Drive Racing entry #26. Nick Adcock passes by Tony Wells, but Wells won't take kindly to having the door slammed in his face. But that move by Wells was not on either.
Fuel and no tires for Josh Pierson as he makes a pit stop. Pierson is gaining experience for his debut in FIA WEC later in the year, something we will be watching very keenly when Sebring rolls around in less than a month. Henrique Chaves and Aston Martin, top of the shop in GT as Rino Mastronardi is losing time to Senor Chaves who is caught in traffic. The Aston Martin brings more power than does the Ferrari. As the saying goes, you need to bring some more power. More woe for the #96 Attempto Motorsports Audi. They are reported to the stewards for track limits. All of the LMP2 cars have visited the pit lane.
Sam De Haan has now been passed by Conrad Grunewald. De Haan will keep fighting. He can't quite make the pass and might have to give it up. It is easy for a driver to charge into the turn a V it off. Other drivers can cut tighter lines though, which is quicker. Attempto Racing have taken their penalty as Nico Pronk has taken over the #48 Porsche and a drive through penalty for the #12 Dinamic Motorsports Porsche as well. Ben Barker, Giorgio Roda, and Phillip Saiger are the three drivers. Nick Moss in the Optimum Motorsports #42 McLaren also being warned by track limits. Battle for second in LMP3 as Torsten Kratz is being harried by Jesse Salmenautio. New teams, new drivers, new cars. They are all here in ALMS.
ARC Bratislava have pitted and are catching up in LMP3. Pierson and Sales, the top two. 15 seconds behind Sales in #4, is Mr. Pierson himself. The Am entries have longer pit stops so that the fueling, the tires, and the driver changes do not put pressure on the drivers and the team. Safety is paramount. The Asian Le Mans Series is a new market for teams and drivers who have come out of it and into GT and prototype racing and the leader in LMP3 has a cut tire! Or, is it a mechanical issue? Slow down. This is Matthieu de Barbuat, who is a championship contender. Trouble for this car. It was hit from behind and the legality panel is gone, the cheese wedge, the fender.
Game over for #2 and DKR Engineering! We have Full Course Yellow now on the speedway. At leas they make it back to the lane for service. Full Course Yellow, now. Pit stops coming and fast. To the garage for the #2. We have seen wholesale pit stops in all classes, and driver changes. Louis Prette into the #17 Ferrari and into the #6 Mercedes, we have Rory Penttinen, the Finn, now at the wheel of it. Garage 59 are in and so are Oman Racing and the second Herberth Motorsports entry, excuse me, third, the #33. We already have one hour on the board in the race.
Garage 59 have pitted the McLaren. So, a new lead in LMP3. BMW M4 GT3 #35 has now pitted as well almost knocking the lollipop out of the car controller's hands. DKR have made a driver change as Sebastian Alvarez takes over from Matthieu de Barbuat. Oh dear. Green flag, and the Rinaldi Racing car is slow! It has not gotten up to speed as Josh Pierson motors on in the lead opening the second hour. Another iron man stint for Pierson. The Rinaldi entry is now back up to speed. Matt Bell is now second. He was the driver to get into the car. Miro Konopka third, but Konopka is out of sequence in LMP2 Pro-Am. Once again, it is hot here in Abu Dhabi. 30 degrees Celsius. 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
Team manager for #6 to Race Control immediately. That is for an unsafe pit release at Haupt Racing Team. Josh Pierson still leads as in GT, John Hartshorne is leading in the Aston Martin and David Perel, the South African, now at the controls of the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari #55. The battle will be on between Rory Penttinen, Alfred Renauer, Jon Miller, and Louis Prette. John Hartshorne is now being monstered by David Perel. The Briton vs. the South African. Hartshorne runs wide and David Perel dives inside and passes on corner exit.
Rinaldi Racing has to win and hope the #7 McLaren has trouble. Ollie Milroy is in the car for Inception Racing. We have now been racing for an hour and ten minutes. If Rinaldi wins this race, Inception must finish third. Brendon Iribe is done with his stint. Ollie Milroy in the car now, and Ben Barnicoat will finish. David Perel and Davide Rigon are the closers at Rinaldi Racing. Perel has really improved as a driver and has done incredibly well. Perel is a Silver rated driver, but he has driven for several Ferrari GT teams. He has run for Kessel Racing, AF Corse/Spirit of Race, and Rinaldi. The only team he has not raced for is Iron Lynx.
Inception Racing must pour on the steam if they want to keep up. Andrew Watson, meanwhile, in the #42 Optimum Motorsports McLaren, he too, is flying right now, chasing down Ollie Milroy, and we have a spin frm the Konrad Motorsports Ginetta! Yikes! Gabriele Rindone at the controls, the Luxembourg driver, who needs to get the car into reverse. CD Sport has also spun! Deary me! It is the #27 entry! That would be Antoine Doquin I believe. We are going to see a Full Course Yellow, maybe. Drivers will be being told there is a stuck car at turn five. Marshals cannot go onto the track under green flag conditions. There's just no way. Local double yellow right now.
Full Course Yellow is coming. Ooh. A touch, and a big one between the #49 High Class Racing LMP2 and a GT car. Matt Bell has to give a position back. The heat soak for the LMP3 cars makes it so the starters don't operate and the engine won't start. It is a standard starter on these cars. The car has to be stalled. Back to green now and we have the battle at the front between Pierson and Bell into turn six. Here comes Bell. The GT Porsche is ahead. Cannot tell which one. Brake lockup for Pierson and Bell is pushing hard. This is so the #4 car get back on the lead lap with two and a half hours to go. Through the Parabolica they go and into the hotel turn.
Matt Bell is going to try the undercut on the outside. No dice. Jeepers creepers! This is awesome racing! The United car has the speed and the traction off the corner. Traffic still ahead. Matty Bell is monstering Josh Pierson, trying to get inside the head of the youngster. To the otuside of the BMW M4 GT3 and back to the Parabolica. Louis Prette gets split by the leaders! That was unreal! Again, fantastic racing! Josh Pierson is really giving it everything he has, the young American hot shoe. The #39 Graff Racing LMP2 car is third and now a couple laps down.
Drive through penalty for the #95 Aston Martin which was incurred by Henrique Chaves. So, John Hartshorne will take it. Sebastien Page screams past Matt Bell! Wow! Through lapped traffic. No. That's Josh Pierson again. This is amazing. Risky but impressive for Pierson. Send it! Well, he sent it, and he delivered! Game over for Ginetta and Konrad Motorsports. Terminal mechanical woes. New driver aboard the #72 LMP3 entry. It is now Russia's Nikita Alexandrov. Pierson now has to pass the YC Panda Audi which has been a mobile chicane so far. Great battle between Torsten Kratz, the German, and Xavier Lloveras, the Spaniard.
Torsten Kratz wants it, but Xavier Lloveras is now the LMP3 leader after it's massive accident yesterday. Unsafe release penalty for the #33 Herberth Motorsports Porsche. Check that. It is for the #6 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes. Not a good thing for them. Another track limits penalty for Manuel Maldonado. We still have this great battle simmering on between Pierson and Bell. Traffic ahead once again, look. They clear the Attempto Racing Audi. They have also passed the #20 SPS Mercedes and the #3 CD Sport LMP3. Bell loses time to Pierson. Pierson still has lapped traffic ahead.
Graff Racing and High Class in LMP2 Pro-Am are scrapping too. John Corbett and Dennis Andersen. Inception Racing can still secure the championship and a Le Mans entry. Yours truly stepped away to grab a glug of coffee, and a spot of breakfast, and has been watching this great battle for the lead and in LMP2 between Pierson and Bell. Matt is keeping Josh honest, that's for dead sure. What a great race we are seeing. Pierson is being tested and he will be well aware of what he must do to become an even more effective racing driver. Your concentration is on overload and you are beginning to get physically sapped. Plus, you might be thirsty if your drinks bottle is on the fritz. But Mr. Pierson is really showing that he can do this, that he can drive a competitive race car at the top of the tree in a high level sports car championship.
Kessel, Oman Racing, and Optimum battle. David Fumanelli, Ahmad Al Harthy, and Andrew Watson. Davide Rigon and Ben Barnicoat are the gun drivers for Rinaldi and Inception Racing with Optimum Motorsports. The traffic is unpleasant, but it makes for great racing. Ah. We have a double yellow at turn six. What is that about? We'll see. Ah. No harm, no foul. Car #13 spun and continued. That is the Intereuropol Competition LMP3 entry. It is getting dark and quickly, now, here at Yas Marina. Sebastien Page has Dennis Andersen all over him like a cheap suit for the lead in LMP2 Am. Sebastien Page is the cork in the bottle in traffic.
Oh dear! Spin for the #2 DKR Engineering car and he has no rear wing. Full Course Yellow immediately. Wowzers. Poor DKR Engineering! They have had a dreadful weekend. Dennis Andersen clobbered the #2 and we are under Full Course Yellow. Battle for P2 Am cars and the $2 is racing through to turn five. He is to driver's right into the turn, spins out, and maybe the #49 made contact someplace, ripping the rear wing, the rear decklid, and the opposite side cheese wedge off of it. The rear taillights are gone. So DKR Engineering will be hanging their heads. They can still race but they've lost the championship.
Lorents Horr must have his head in his hands, crushed. We might have two championships in the bag already. Good gravy! In less than ten minutes, chaps, this motor race will be half over. It is true, that the #49 entry may have run into the back of the #2. It is hard to tell though when Andersen gets away. Pit stop time at United Autosports. Sebastian Alvarez was the driver at the controls of the #2 car, the Spaniard. Paul di Resta will be into the #22 entry for the middle hour and a half stint before Josh Pierson finishes the race. LMP2 Am, the #39 entry might just be in the pound seats for a title for Graff. Trouble again for the #49. That car has damage all over it, or does it? They have changed the rear tail on that car as well as the nose.
No. They taped it up on the front and they've very likely changed the tail, the rear wing as well. Dennis Andersen and Anders Fjordbach had major trouble yesterday as well. We are closing in on halfway as the #20 GT Am championship leading Mercedes pits for service. John Loggie, Mikael Grenier, and Valentin Pierburg. Eric Trouillet now leads LMP2 Am which he has for a while, ahead of Dennis Andersen and John Corbett. New LMP3 leader as well as Koiranen Kemppi are in front, but they owe us a pit stop. The #26 G-Drive Ligier has Vyaceslav Gutak now at the wheel, the driver from Russia.
We are back to gren flag racing. Paul di Resta is now chasing Matty Bell. It is the other way 'round though. Di Resta leads but he locks up lunging to the inside of a car as he wants to move by Matty Bell. Battle for position in GT. Frank Bird now at the controls of the #88 McLaren for Garage 59 chasing the Inception entry of Ollie Milroy. Herberth Motorsports and Porsche are your GT leaders. Frank Bird is applying the blowtorch to Ollie Milroy. Meantime, Paul di Resta is now back in the lead ahead of Matt Bell. We are right at the halfway mark in the race now. Fastest lap of the motor race for Paul di Resta at 1:42.556. Vyachslav Gutak is being harried by Hendrik Still for LMP3 and Still makes the move for the class lead.
Colin Noble needs to book it as he has uncorked his personal fastest lap but needs to move ahead of Rinaldi Racing if he wants the championship. The #8 Nielsen Racing LMP3 car has not been on the button throughout the series or during this weekend as Dennis Andersen pits again and so, their title battle is now over. The opportunity is fading away for High Class. John Corbett is monstering Eric Trouillet is as well. So that is ARC Bratislava chasing Graff. Corbett taking tenths per lap out of the Graff machine. So, we are into the hours of darkness at a point where yesterday's race ended. The darkness always brings mystery in endurance racing.
Frank Bird has swept past Ollie Milroy in GT. One McLaren past another. Herberth Potsche still leads GT and there was a massive wiggle for #26! They are battling the CD Sport entry for tenth overall as the #35 Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3 hits the pit lane. Jonny Adam should be at the controls of the #95 TF Sport Aston Martin. Axcil Jeffries now at the controls of the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari I believe, in GT Am. John Hartshorne has put in his time and now, Jonny Adam will take Aston Martin #95 to the end. Track limits warning for both Jon Miller in the #34 Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3 and for the #17 APM Monaco Ferrari 488 GT3, Louis Prette at the wheel of it. Alfred Renauer leads GT ahead of Frank Bird and Ollie Milroy. So, we have a Porsche leading a McLaren.
Davide Rigon is now at the controls for the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari and Rinaldi must win and be ahead of Inception Racing to take the championship. Bird, Milroy, Rigon. Good to see Davide Rigon back in the races after he had a massive accident at the 24 Hours of Spa last year which put him on the sidelines for a good chunk of the 2021 campaign. Marco Seefried in the sister #99 Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R is next in the queue. Alessandro Pier Guidi is next up behind Seefried. The Ferrari pilot has had a track limits abuse warning. Ollie Milroy is really going for it but then again, so is Frank Bird. Mikael Grenier is also turning it on in the Mercedes. He is a lap down and wants it back.
Grenier is at the controls of the #20 Mercedes AMG GT3 for SPS Automotive Performance. Bird, Milroy, Rigon, Grenier. These four cars are scrapping for position, and a drive through penalty for the #17 AF Corse Ferrari. They have sunk like a stone. Rinaldi Racing have turned all of their headlights on and so, Ollie Milroy will be hugely distracted by the high beams. Ollie Milroy's son Milo is cheering his dad on. Oh dear. Trouble for the #72 Koiranen Kemppi LMP3 car. Clode shave here between the Mercedes and the Ferrari. Davide igon is being monstered by the Mercedes. Paul di Resta will be taking no prisoners in the lapped traffic as Ollie Milroy closes back up on the decklid of the Mercedes.
Davide Rigon will be fuming behind his helmet after getting held up. Matt Bell is passing the GT cars aboard the #4 Nielsen Racing Oreca LMP2. Grenier catching Milroy. John Corbett is chasing down Eric Trouiller in LMP2 Am. Frankie Bird given the black and white flag for abusing track limits. Marco Seefried and Alessandro Pier Guidi are behind Rigon. Seefried is going to pushing Rigon for everything he has because he just wants to be the race winner in GT. That is for dead sure. Kevin Weeda is now at the wheel of the #49 High Class LMP2 car. ARC Bratislava needs the High Class and Graff cars to fall by the wayside to be in contention. We could have a Ligier coming into racing sports cars later in the season in Europe. We will find out.
Herberth Porsche #99 hits the pit lane, and we have a local yellow flag for a possible spin. Ollie Milroy still being monstered by Davide Rigon. Tom Gamble and D'station Racing have stopped under the gantry on the front straight. He has lost electrical power. Full Course Yellow, now. Full Course Yellow, now. Game over for the #77 D'station Racing Aston Martin and the trio of Tom Gamble, Tomonobu Fujii, and Satoshi Hoshino. The #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes is in the lane for fuel. We can see the #88 Garage 59 McLaren in as well and the #7 Inception Racing McLaren as Davide Rigon is now ahead. Ben Barnicoat has taken over the Inception McLaren. Watch out for driver time. This race is four hours plus one lap.
Valentin Pierburg, the German, is at the wheel of the SPS Mercedes. Game over for Konrad Motorsports and for D'station Racing. We have about an hour and a half of the race and the season left. Kessel Racing is in the lane. United Autosport is invisible for points. They will not be able to be eligible in this race, for points and they tested here but truly could not do it. Mikkel Jensen pits the #74 Ferrari for Kessel Racing. Jensen is racing along with Paul di Resta for Peugeot and their Hypercar effort. Peugeot will be releasing the 9X8 soon and we wonder when it will debut. No rear wing on that race car. Car #17, the AF Corse Ferrari left the pit lane sans it's headlamps being turned on. Lorents Horr has the #2 DKR Engineering car back on track but they are laps and laps behind.
Green flag. Mega slide on cold tires for someone. An hour and a half to go. The race is on for LMP2 Am. ARC Bratislava want a victory. John Corbett vs. Eric Trouiller in the #39 Graff entry. Poor old Lorents Horr is not up to racing speed in the #2 DKR Engineering Duqueine LMP3. That car still has mechanical problems. Davide Rigon, too, is dropping down the order for some reason. We don't know, because he had a flawless pit stop. Robert Renauer now driving the #91 Herberth Motorsports Porsche ahead of Alessandro Pier Guidi who has been dinged with a penalty for track limits. Marvin Kirchofer now at the wheel of the #88 Garage 59 McLaren. Every leading team now is on a different pit strategy. Good grief.
Championship permutations see United Autosport a lap up on the overall champions at Nielsen Racing two laps ahead of LMP2 Am winner #39 at Graff. They do not have eligibility for an automatic invite to Le Mans, but they could be chosen. The #44 ARC Bratislava car is next. In LMP3, CD Sport will be champions. In GT, Herberth Motorsports are ahead of AF Corse. Alessandro Pier Guidi has ceded the lead and Andrew Watson is closing in on the Ferrari. We have McLaren's next up and Inception Racing could very well win GT as well. GT Am, Herberth Motorsports lead the championship ahead of Mikael Grenier. We have seen a driver change in #99 from Marco Seefried over to Finn Gehrsitz.
Andrew Watson, Nick Moss, and Joe Osborne have driven very well in Asian Le Mans Series 2022. They have been off the podium, just barely, and they want a podium in this finale. They really do. Ben Barnicoat is catching Marvin Kirchofer. Ben Barker is next up having a track limits awarning over his head as Kevin Weeda spins the #49 High Class LMP2, again. Goodness. If those boys did not have bad luck, they'd have none. Trouiller and Corbett are in a battle in LMP2 as well. Battles all over the shop here in Abu Dhabi, look. #49 was reported to be stopped at turn nine. That is incorrect. They are stopped at turn 13. Axcil Jeffries gets a track limits warning at turn three and turn five down to turn six.
#49 is back in the lane. Ah. Good battle here as John Corbett, the Australian, is catching Frenchman Eric Trouillet. Corbett has the better exit and gets his nose chopped off by Stefanie Kox in the #48 Porsche. Eric Trouillet is not a happy bunny aboard the #39. The car just does not look too comfortable. Corbett lights up the rear tires and gets sideways! Eek! He has to stay cool and stay in a rhythm. Just keep chipping away. Don't bin it at the last moment. Half the teams here have senior team management who are female. Again, that opportunity for ladies is very prevalent in motorsports and that's wonderful. Oh no! #17 has spun off the road! That was a lunge, and it has spun out I believe. Corbett actually spun the #17 and there was a smokescreen. Vincent Abril, spun out, and so, their championship hopes are up in smoke. Poof! Goodnight.
Picking the bones out of this, as we go to safety car, the Graff car makes the move cleanly in turn one, John Corbett goes inside, not enough room and Vincent is already in the turn, contact, on the whirligig for Abril, and... zonk, right into the barriers. Safety car scramble. Safety car scramble. This is not the same as Full Course Yellow, and the field will be packed together. Rotten luck for the boys at team 17. #39 hit the pit lane before the safety car and so they could very well be in the clear. We hear from Tom Gamble, retired with the car having expired from the motor race. Gamble says they had a strong race until a drive through penalty for track limits. They knew a good result was on the cards. Suddenly, the driveshaft packed up.
Vincent Abril, a tad winded, gets out of the #17 Ferrari under his own steam. So, that's three retirements from the motor race with just over an hour remaining. If the medical light comes on inside the car after the G meter records, the driver has to be checked by the doctors at the medical center, whether he is OK or needs an examination at the hospital. The flatbed and the marshals recovering the car, checking the barriers, the SAFER barriers. We have an hour and ten minutes left in the race and the season. #44 is in the lane, but the pit lane is closed. They will trundle through and have to come back around. There may have been a miscommunication somewhere, or they have a punctured tire. That is a brief stop for emergency service to replace a single tire.
Current cars that are a lap or more down are being waved by to get a lap back. In NASCAR, this is known as the "lucky dog". So, the "lucky dog" is now being applied. Don't ask questions of your pit crew so there is confusion. Just patiently wait for the crew chief or team manager to tell you what lap you are on. Simmer down. Don't worry. Herberth Motorsports now leads GT. They are mathematically in for the title, but they need Inception and Rinaldi to be DNF's. GT and LMP3 cars will be good to get to the end of the race on fuel after a final stop. The safety car is keeping to driver's left through turns five and six, likely for the wave by.
Paul di Resta and Matt Bell run liner stern. Pit stop time now. The entrance to the lane is open. All GT cars will come in and LMP3's if they need to. Final pit stop for the #23 United Autosport car. They were bottled up I think behind the #2 DKR Enginerring LMP2 car. GT cars also in the lane. Most everybody is in the lane while Nielsen Racing take track position and are now back on the lead lap. Davide Rigon at Rinaldi Racing have not pitted nor have the #7 Inception Racing McLaren. Dinamic Motorsports leads in the #12 Porsche 911 GT3R, Ben Barker at the controls. Everybody in ten places from fourth to 14th won't need to pit again. Green flag.
Matt Bell leads as we are into the final hour of the event. Less than an hour left. #4 stayed on track. Josh Pierson is back in the #23 car. Both leaders will need a splash and a dash. Check that. Matty Bell needs a splash and a dash, but United Autosport will be good to go on fuel to the end. David Droux now in the #39 and Neale Muston will take the #44 car to the flag. Joe Osborne will take the #42 Optimum Motorsports McLaren to the checkers. They are tenth. Inception run seventh. Ferrari #55 and Porsche #91 are 1-2. Inception can still take the title if the race ended now. But Rinaldi have rolled the dice and they want another Full Course Yellow. It's a long shot for them. John Corbett and Vincent Abril's fracas is being investigated by the stewards.
Nielsen Racing have taken the lead by dint of their pit stops in LMP3. Colin Noble is now leading Leonard Weiss. These spots in LMP3 really matter. Did Colin Noble pit? Yes. He has eaten 40 seconds away from the rest of the field. Nielsen Racing could very well win two Le Mans entries if they keep it together. Ben Barker leads GT right now in the Porsche at Dinamic Motorsports. They are being followed by the #69 Oman Racing Aston Martin and third is the #55 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari in contention for the title. Nicky Catsburg is out of the top ten in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3.
A move by Josh Pierson as Matt Bell uncorks the fastest lap time for the #4 Nielsen Racing entry at 1:42.4. David Droux does likewise for the Graff entry. The battle is hot and heavy for GT Am. Mikael Grenier vs. Finn Gehrsitz. Axcil Jeffries is a ways back. These last 50 minutes are going to get spicy. Matt Bell laps at 1:42.2. He will likely need another stop. Team manager of Optimum Motorsports McLaren #42 to the race steward's office immediately. Ah. We watch the battle in GT here between Ben Barker and Finn Gehrsitz. Ben Barker, Robert Renauer, Klaus Bachler, Ben Barnicoat, Arjun Maini, Davide Rigon, and more. The GT drivers are very good, currently. These blokes are wheelmen.
Mikkel Jensen, Nicky Catsburg, Jonny Adam, all of these blokes are factory drivers. Ben Barker though, he is moving past Finn Gehrsitz. Charlie Eastwood, too, wants by. Finn Gehrsitz is being told, "move over, mate. This is not your fight." The Intereuropol LMP3 car and Nicky Catsburg in the #34 Walkenhorst BMW are being told they will be penalized. Marvin Kirchofer is a McLaren factory driver as well. Well, well. Factory drivers' top trumps here at the moment. Wow. Ben Barker runs wide and deep into turn six. But he gathers it up. Ben Barker happens to be a mega bingo fan. Nicky Catsburg is a lap up on the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes.
Not sure who is driving #20. It could be Valentin Pierburg. Paul di Resta says driving is tricky with the Full Course Yellow's and the safety car interventions. They have been a tad out of sync on pit stops. It is Josh Pierson's race right now. The team is getting ready for Sebring for the opener for the FIA World Endurance Championship as well. Happy 16th Birthday, Josh Pierson. Trouble for Optimum Motorsports as we said earlier. Drive through penalty for passing the red light at pit exit. Ben Barker, bottled up behing Mikael Grenier. That is Grenier, not Valentin Pierburg. Nick Catsburg is ahead of both of them or so it seems.
Trouble as a Porsche has spun. Was that #91 or #99? It looks like it was #91 that spun off. It was Robert Renauer! Dear me! #88, the McLaren lunges inside and spins Renauer off the road. Renauer was an innocent bystander and Marvin Kirchofer has spun. Charlie Eastwood now leads GT. Pit stop time for Ben Barker. Ben Barnicoat leads the points right now and he is behind the sister Herberth Porsche #33 of Klaus Bachler. Colin Noble leads Leonard Weiss in LMP3 by 13 seconds as Sebastian Alvarez has now taken over the #2 DKR Engineering entry replacing Lorents Horr for the end of the race. Charlie Eastwood leads GT but will need a pit stop before the end. The gap is a minute and seven seconds between #23 and #4.
Pierson leads. Bell second. Matt Bell is behind by a minute and seven seconds. Ben Hanley will take over #4 which takes their pit stop now with 38 minutes left. Charlie Eastwood will be looking to pass Francesco Piovanetti. Three wide! Egad! Davide Rigon is pushing, and he too has to deal with the traffic, and both have to stop. Eastwood slithers past the SPS Mercedes. Ben Hanley is now in #4. Josh Pierson does need to stop again. #7, the Inception Racing McLaren leads GT points by 13 markers. Nielsen Racing #8 has pitted in LMP3. None of the other LMP3 cars needs to pit. Colin Noble will cede the lead to do so.
This will be a squeaker in LMP3 on fuel. 35 minutes to go. Team manager #44 report to the stewards. An inevitable penalty for the boys at ARC Bratislava, sadly. David Droux uncorks a 1:41 in the #39 Graff Oreca. The track and ambient temps are cooling allowing the engines to breathe easier. #8 still in the lane. Walkenhorst BMW #34 in the lane. Trouble it appears for the #8 Nielsen Racing entry. #8 in trouble. Game over for the title. They are dropping down the order like the proverbial stone. Rinaldi and G-Drive are now slugging it out in LMP3. Leonard Weiss vs. Xavier Lloveras, a car that was on fire in yesterday's contest.
This will be the comeback story. The #8 Nielsen entry, their title hopes are dashed. #69 the Oman Racing Aston pits from the lead and the #55 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari is slithering around on it's knackered tires, so they must pit. Overheating for the #8 due to pit lane contact. That is cruel! Xavier Lloveras goes around the Rinaldi Ferrari. Walkenhorst and YC Panda team managers summoned to the stewards' office. YC Panda have had a rotten time in ALMS in 2022. They will be back. Half an hour to go. SPS Performance hit the lane. The Mercedes is out of sequence and the #99 Herberth Porsche stops as well.
Lloveras is chomping at the bit to pass Leonard Weiss and has done so. Will Weiss get him back? No. Lloveras takes it. From ball of flame to Hall of Fame for the #26 boys! OK. That was good. Thanks, Graham Goodwin! High Class Racing with continuous issues as Anders Fjordbach will finish the race. Full service pit stop. That car is tattered by still running. #55 in the lane now, with Davide Rigon. They did roll the dice. They will lose the lead in two classes, will Rinaldi Racing, who relinquishes the lead to the Herberth Porsche #91. Fuel only. No tires. Those tires will be ratty. Drive through penalty for the #42 McLaren for exiting the lane with the red light on. I was right. Inception Racing retake the championship lead as they run.
25 minutes to go now in the season. Robert Renauer leads GT. Marvin Kirchofer is second in the #88 McLaren. That car may have issues insofar as Race Control. Klaus Bachler is next up in the #33 Herberth Porsche and then comes the Inception McLaren as Graff will win LMP2 Am and an overall podium will be earned. Bachler on Kirchofer. The battle of the German's. Who will win this one? Kirchofer has to fight. He blocks the Porsche. Bachler pushes Kirchofer in turn seven and Kirchofer gets away. Anders Fjordbach sets fastest time for the #49 car but that is a beleaguered, secondhand motorcar at this moment.
Not another penalty for the #96 Attempto Audi. But there will be one I suppose. Ugh. Kirchofer has a clean run through the corner and Bachler is still skittering around. They are catching the sister Garage 59 McLaren #59 with Nicolai Kjaergaard at the wheel of it. 15 hours and 40 minutes of the season now done. We have 20 minutes to go as Bachler is right on Krichofer's six! Yikes! Bachler will have the move as Kirchofer is stymied by the Ferrari and he's got it. Piovanetti ahead in the red car. Herberth Motorsport now run 1-2. Holy mackerel. The GT race is at full bonkers right now! Weiss is being harried by Steve Palette for CD Sport.
CD Sport still have two bullets in the gun. Who has to pit with 18 minutes left on the board? Jonny Adam is locking in on Francesco Piovanetti who is the next car on his shopping list. Josh Pierson is in cruise mode. A rookie is really making hay while the sun shines here. OK. Well, it's dark, but you get my point. Pierson is having a similar meteoric rise as we saw last year at G-Drive with Franco Colapinto, the Argentinian driver. Pit stop time for Pierson. Four-minute stop and hold penalties for passing around under yellow for Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW #35 and one of the other cars. Read the rulebook. That's what you must do.
Ben Hanley now gets himself back on the lead lap. David Droux solidly in third spot. Black and white flag for track limits for Nicky Catsburg in the #34 Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3. Ben Hanley is probably not goingot be able to catch Josh Pierson. Nielsen Racing are becoming a massive force in LMP2. Edouard Cauhaupe is catching Steve Palette and Leonard Weiss in LMP3! Dear me! Arjun Maini has passed Ben Barnicoat. Steve Palette, Leonard Weiss, and Edouard Cauhaupe are all scrapping for position here in LMP3 with 12 minutes to go. Weiss is not driving to his full potential, so Cauhaupe has him worried.
They are a point apart. #3 has to finish ahead of #27 to win the championship. Weiss' tires are knackered. They are dirty, with clag all over them. Davide Rigon took fuel only and Ben Barnicoat is holding station. #91 leads the race, fourth in points. Back to LMP3, a lunge for Cauhaupe on Weiss. A pass 'round the outside in turn nine might work. Steve Palette is three seconds up. Oh! He can't quite make it, as Klaus Bachler gets a final warning on track limits. Better luck for the sister Herberth Porsche entry. Josh Pierson is 90 seconds ahead of Ben Hanley. Going for position, a great move by Palette on Weiss! Wow! Palette ahead of Cauhaupe. Colin Noble's chances are gone. What a shame. He could have been at Le Mans in a second LMP2 entry for Nielsen Racing.
Robert Renauer leads Klaus Bachler and Marvin Kirchofer in GT. We have seen no report on the Kirchofer McLaren. Will there be a late penalty? Or is it just rubbing is racing? Drive through penalty for abusing track limits for the #96 Attempto Racing Audi. Remember that we have an additional lap to race once the clock goes to zero. Lorents Horr is now at the wheel of the #2 LMP3 car for DKR Engineering. Under five minutes to go. Robert Renauer is looking to win, but the #33 Herberth Porsche, the sister car, is now 1.6 seconds behind. Charlie Eastwood is racing with Arjun Maini. Marvin Kirchofer might just complete the podium in GT.
Axcil Jeffries and Mikael Grenier are lapping in formation for the most part. This lap, plus one more, for Josh Pierson to take back-to-back wins here in Abu Dhabi, a minute and a half clear of the Nielsen car. David Droux passes as Edouard Cauhaupe will have to settle for second behind Steve Palette. Palette is catching LMP3 race leader Xavier Lloveras. Leonard Weiss is still in the fight too. CD Sport have done so well, from nowhere. Unbelievable. They do not have a deal in Europe for the season, but they will go to Le Mans. One lap to go. Robert Renauer though is feeling the heat from Klaus Bachler. Final lap. Josh Pierson and Paul di Resta are on their way to victory, again.
A second consecutive win for the #23 United Autosport LMP2 Oreca! Pierson and di Resta bring home the bacon! Josh Pierson gets his full license this week. Alfred and Robert Renauer along with Ralf Bohn win GT and Herberth Motorsports bosses the top two steps of the GT podium as Marvin Kirchofer and McLaren at Garage 59 complete the podium. G-Drive Racing win LMP3! This is their first LMP3 win. He is going slowly but will still make it. He could be struggling but will still win! Yikes!
Cars are running low on gas. Wow! #27 wins the LMP3 title! Herberth Motorsports go 1-2 in GT. Inception Racing seal the title for McLaren in GT. Ollie Milroy, Brendon Iribe, and Ben Barnicoat. The race winning LMP3 G-Drive car did run out of gas on the last lap, coughing and sputtering to the bitter end. He is being flat towed back to parc ferme. Rodrigo Sales, Matt Bell, and Ben Hanley are LMP2 champs. Christophe Cresp, Antoine Doquin, and Steve Palette are LMP3 winners. In LMP2 Am, Graff Racing win the title with David Droux, Sebastien Page, and Eric Trouillet.
LMP3 honors go to G-Drive and the #26 Ligier Nissaan for Xavier Lloveras, Vyaceslav Gutak, and Fabrice Rossello. GT classes are won by Alfred Renauer, Robert Renauer, and Ralf Bohn, followed by the sister car of Klaus Bachler, Yifei Ye, and Antares Au. GT Am honors once again go to Kessel Racing and the #57 Ferrari for the Swiss team. Axcil Jeffries, Roman Ziemian, and Francesco Zollo. SPS and Kessel are on equal points and SPS will take the title by dint of their Dubai victories.
Overall/LMP2: #23 Pierson/di Resta United Autosports Oreca 07
LMP2 Am: #39 Trouillet/Droux/Page Graff Oreca 07
LMP3: #26 Rossello/Lloveras/Gutak G-Drive Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT: #91 Renauer/Renauer/Bohn Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R
GT Am: #57 Jeffries/Ziemian/Zollo Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3
There will be a party in Abu Dhabi tonight! What an enjoyable motor race this was today. So, the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series is in the history books. We have enjoyed bringing the races to you over these past two weekends and will be back in 2023 for more Asian Le Mans Series action, as we also have to look forward to the European Le Mans Series and before that starts, it will be the beginning of the FIA World Endurance Championship. So, we'll see you then for much more sports car racing action. So long, everybody, from the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. Take care.
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