It is deja vu all over again, as the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series retains the exact same schedule to what it had in the 2021 championship. Two races per weekend, for two straight weekends, in Bahrain and Abu Dhabi. We begin, with today's opening four-hour motor race at the Dubai Autodrome, for which, Nielsen Racing in the top class of LMP2 has pole position. A field of 36 cars is represented for these ALMS events. The GT division is by far the most heavily subscribed category along with the LMP2 and LMP3 prototype classes. Our overall and LMP2 polesitter is the #4 Nielsen Racing Oreca Gibson to be shared by Ben Hanley who put the car on pole, alongside Rodrigo Sales and Ben Barnicoat. Spectators are back, to watch the races this year. Everyone is watching either live, or from home.
The Asian Le Mans Series is growing by leaps and bounds and we have a full field. Teams who win these races, will be eligible to compete at the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans later this summer. We join our commentators Graham Goodwin and Oliver Gavin, once again this year. LMP2, LMP3, and a massive contingent of GT3 cars are entered. Rodrigo Sales and Nielsen Racing, again, are on pole. Down into turn one, we sweep through some fast corners through the first six or so corners. Turn seven, the lowest point, through a couple hairpins onto the backstretch. Watch the bumps and the dust. Ten and eleven as well as twelve and thirteen and fourteen, low traction. Banking through 14. To turn 16, sweep through and complete the lap.
This is a technical, tight circuit. It is going to be greasy and sandy out here in the desert. The track temperature is dropping and the shadows are growing long before we go into a few hours of darkness. It gets very dark here for the next four and a half hours on this 5,39 kilometer circuit. This is the first time we are seeing the new BMW M4 GT3 in ACO rules racing. We have seen it in Creventic and IMSA competition already this year. We have fans in the grandstands which is a fabulous sight and we have Bibendum, the Michelin Man here, too. People are down on the grid. We are taking steps towards normality in motorsports. 23 GT cars entered. We have 22 GT cars and have lost the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari. More on that in a wee while.
In GT3 qualifying, the #17 APM Monaco AF Corse Ferrari was at the top before the McLaren of Ben Barnicoat went to the top. In LMP3, no Nielsen Racing. G-Drive makes their debut in LMP3. Lorents Hoerr, though, for DKR Engineering is on pole. In LMP2, High Class Racing went out first. It was the #4 Nielsen Racing entry with Ben Hanley is on pole for this first race of the weekend. It was a wicked qualifying session as you've read. Matching times for pole, it does not happen often. The GT class has seven different brands. Two Audi's, two Mercede's, three Aston's, two more McLaren's, four Porsche's, and five Audi's.
Alessandro Pier Guidi, a World Champion, is here, and we have factory drivers galore. It's going to be massive. Don't touch that dial. You will want to stay with us for the next four hours. Grab a muffin and a cup of coffee, and join us for this one. Trust me. Ben Hanley, a race winner in LMP2 and someone who has also driven the old LMP1 cars. Ben Hanley is a top driver in the world of sports car racing. Everyone will be aiming at Nielsen Racing. Rodrigo Sales will start the motor race. Matt Bell is the third driver in that automobile. The GT3 cars, we will see how they do and how the prototype drivers are going to handle the traffic.
Rely on the headlights when it gets dark. Car #99 for Herberth Motorsports is going to start from pit lane with no troubles. DKR Engineering bish bash boshed it in LMP3 qualifying. They are on the pole. Frenchman Matthieu De Barbuat is starting the race. Lorents Horr of Germany and Mexico's Sebastian Alvarez share the car. One car we will not see today or tomorrow is the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3. Mikkel Jensen, Michael Broniszewski, and David Fumanelli were supposed to drive. The weather, the track conditions, the massive grid. Opportunities for drivers to get their seasons started on a high note.
Under ten minutes before we get going. Ollie Milroy for Inception Racing has GT pole. This is the #7 Inception Racing McLaren with Brendon Iribe and Ben Barnicoat. 23 GT cars in this race. The easiest place to be is at the front, obviously. When it gets dark here in Dubai, it gets really dark. Send it. Go for it. That is what these drivers are going to do. Ollie Milroy and company led in GT Daytona, the IMSA equivalent of GT3, at the Rolex 24 a couple weeks ago. Garage 59 are here too, back with McLaren. They ran Aston Martin's but are back now with McLaren.
Korainen Kemppi Motorsport from Finland will be a team to watch in LMP3. Car #72 with a Duqueine has Tomi Veijalanen, Jesse Salmenautio, and Russia's Nikita Aleksandrov. The #26 G-Drive entry will be run by Graff Racing. They will have a car run by Eurointernational in European Le Mans Series later this spring. The engines have cranked up. We are ready to start. Tomorrow's race will start an hour later than today. We're about to roll of on the formation lap. Let's get ready to race. Car #22, the Rinaldi Racing Duqueine LMP3 has stalled on the grid. Oh dear.
Race Director Edoardo Freitas will have told the drivers to bunch up and get set. Prepare yourself for the green. There will be a split between the prototypes and GT's. Safety car to the pit lane. Green flag, and away we go! No grid split. Rodrigo Sales leads to turn one and hopefully we see everyone get through clean. Graff, High Class and so forth. Everyone is giving each other plenaty of space. Don't do anything silly. Whoops! One of the BMW's has already gone wide. That's Jon Miller in one of te two Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4's.
Some argy bargy between the CD Sport and the Rinaldi Racing entry. Trying to see where the cars in the midfield are. Some drivers are under pressure having started their first endurance races of their careers. CD Sport #27 spun out and the #99 Herberth entry has not started but #22 is in the race by now. Jurgen Haring, Tim Muller, and Marco Seefried were the three drivers on the list for #99. They enter the backstretch for the first time. Traffic beginning to be evident as the leading GT car is the #17 AF Corse entry. Now, #99 is in the race. So, I take back what I said.
Rodrigo Sales is holding off Eric Trouillet of France who is the first driver in the #39 Graff Racing Oreca that the Frenchman shares with Swiss drivers David Droux and Sebastien Page. Rodrigo Sales has spun! He set purple sectors in sectors one and two and hit the brakes hard on cold tires doing 3/4 of a spin! Yikes! There's debris on the road already. So, Eric Trouillet leads Dennis Andersen by 3.3 seconds. Andersen, the Dane, in the #20 Oreca for High Class Racing, a team we saw at the Rolex 24 two weeks ago. Rodrigo Sales locked up the rear tires and thankfully is back underway.
In GT, the #17 AF Corse Ferrari has Conrad Grunewald, the American, at the controls. Brendon Iribe has his hands full with Frank Bird at the moment. Torsten Kratz has the wheel of the #22 Rinaldi LMP3 car. He is going to be monstered by the GT3 boys and we have a Mercedes vs. Aston Martin scrap in the GT class at this time. Trying to see who is where. HRT vs. SPS Automotive Performance vs. McLaren. The McLaren's are skittish under braking compared to some of the other GT3 entries. Nick Moss aboard the
#59 is flying already as well. Hard to get the names of the drivers mentioned because of this tight action in GT. #22 in violation of leaving a closed pit lane exit. Eric Trouillet leads by five seconds, but Rodrigo Sales is coming, and fast. John Loggie in the Mercedes, something might not quite be working with the tires. Saalocin by Kox Racing, the #48 entry has Peter Kox and his daughter Stephane, along with Nico Pronk. Walkenhorst has two BMW M4's in the field as we look at the #35 car. This is Henry Walkenhorst in the car, the team owner, sharing with Jorg Breuer and Mario van Bolen. We have penalties announced from the stewards for the APM Monaco AF Corse Ferrari, the #42 Optimum Motorsports entry, and one other car, for misalignment on the grid.
#42 is Nick Moss. He shares that McLaren 720S GT3 with Joe Osborne and Andrew Watson. Sales is continuing to drive with confidence running fourth. Eric Trouillet leads the motor race. We have seen D'station Racing and the car of Satoshi Hoshino back on track. Not a good racing for Saalocin by Kox Racing. The #48 entry is in the garage and they must have a problem because nobody is frantically working on the car. It could be game over. Mathieu De Barbuat is leading the LMP3 class in the DKR Engineering Duqueine.
#4, #17, #22, and #42 are all under investigation including Rodrigo Sales in the #4. GT leader Conrad Grunewald leads the class but has the marshals investigating him, the stewards. 20 minutes on the board. Conrad Grunewald leads Rino Mastronardi in GT. Grunewald will share this car with Frenchmen Louis Prette and Vincent Abril. Rino Mastronardi is pressing Conrad Grunewald. It sounds like someone has spun someplace. Hard to tell who. I heard squealing tires. Herberth Motorsports are moving up. But Jon Miller is putting energy into his rear tires and he is sliding around aboard that BM2 M4 GT3. Miller sharing with Chandler Hull and Nicky Catsburg.
Kox Racing team manager must report to the stewards. The track here at Dubai is already getting greasy. Only six non-Bronze rated drivers have started this race. Thankfully the newer drivers are keeping thing clean. In the darkness, we will see the professional drivers. Out on track later in the race tonight, it is going to be very dark. Rodrigo Sales, meanwhile, has gone off and back on, and has lost some time. The car is peaky at this point. Stay in a rhythm. Don't overdrive the car. Eric Trouillet still leads over Rodrigo Sales who is now back to second after his spin. Dennis Andersen is catching up followed by Dennis Andersen and Miro Konopka. LMP3 has four cars in the top ten. Matthieu de Barbuat, leads. We will have to double check the order later on.
De Barbuat being followed by Colin Nole, and the #13 entry for Intereuropol Competition. Francesco Pivoanetti and Victor Gomez, two Puerto Rican drivers share with Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #51 Ferrari in GT for AF Corse. Half an hour into the race and the traffic is heavy. We have two of the DKR cars in LMP3 but the second team, the Finnish team, is being lapped just inside a half hour into this motor race. Mathieu De Barbuat continues to lead LMP3. Next up, the #27 CD Sport entry. That is an all-French team for Steven Palette, Christophe Cresp (at the wheel now), and Antoine Doquin.
Ah. It is indeed game over for Stephane Kox, Peter Kox, and Nico Pronk. One of the Porsche's, maybe the Herberth entry, has eaten a styrofoam block. Crispy, but flavorless. Eric Trouillet is being monstered by Rodrigo Sales. Sales is pressing but knows discretion is the better part of valor. Frank Bird is a wee bit behind as Trouillet locks the brakes up. Trouillet takes the line but does not want to do anything silly. Cars #17, #42, and #49, will have ten second pit stop additional time penalties for not being properly aligned on the starting grid. #22 will also be penalized for not waiting for the pit lane to open and coming into a closed pit lane.
Colin Noble for Nielsen Racing in LMP3 car #8 is down the order. Noble sharing with Tony Wells. A two-driver team for them. We will see LMP2 cars pitting soon. CarGuy Racing, the #57 Ferrari 488 GT3 is back in ALMS this year. New drivers in that car. We will talk about that later. Ian Loggie leads the Am section of GT3 in the SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes. The #57 Ferrari has Axcil Jeffries, the Zimbabwean driver, sharing with Francesco Zollo of Italy and Roman Ziemian of Poland. Eric Trouillet remains in the lead but was stymied by an LMP3 car.
Trouillet has Sales glued to his gearbox right now. Miro Konopka has dropped like a stone. He is still dropping like a stone, and he is slowing down. #44 is in a spot of bother. We could have a Full Course Yellow with a stopped car on the road. OK. The #44 has rejoined the race. No yellow. ARC Bratislava to the pit lane as we see in GT, the battle between Conrad Grunewald, Rino Mastronardi, and Frank Bird, too. Ooh. The Oman Racing Aston Martin wants by Brendon Iribe. So does Hubert Haupt in one of the Mercedes AMG GT3's. Trying to tell who is in each of these cars. Ahmad al Harthy is scrapping with Iribe and here comes Hubert Haupt who also wants a bite of the cherry.
Pit stop time, look, for LMP2. Rodrigo Sales has finished his stint and his minimum drive time. Matt Bell or Ben Hanley will get into that car. So, Iribe is pressing the Aston Martin. Tirs and fuel for Nielsen Racing and they are down and away, just clipping the earthing cable! Yikes! Matt Bell is now in the #4 machine. New boots on that motorcar. High Class Racing and Kevin Weeda are running well as we see Eric Trouillet stayng in the #39 Graff Racing entry as David Droux and Sebastien Page will be getting into the car over the course of the motor race. Matt Bell goes purple on his out lap! Holy smokes! These guys are pressing hard already.
There is a limited tire supply provided by Michelin. 14 tires for LMP2, ten tires for LMP3, and 18 tires for GT. Tires are a massive portion of the strategy. Drive through penalty for contact with the #48 Porsche. This is for the D'station Aston Martin, Satoshi Hoshino, Tomonobu Fujii, and Tom Gamble. McLaren, Aston Martin, and Mercedes battle in GT. All of these cars are turbo V8 powered. Matty Bell uncorks a new fastest lap at 1:48.714. Colin Noble has taken the LMP3 class lead. We have had a busy time of it. Yours truly has been tryng hard to keep up. Hubert Haupt wants by but Ahmad Al Harthy, he slams the door in his face, does the Omani driver.
So, this is spicy motor racing in GT! Nielsen Racing lost truckloads of time to Graff Racing in LMP2! Egad! Hubert Haupt is warned for track limits. The driver change, for Nielsen Racing had some kind of hang up on it. Maybe the belts could not be yanked out of the way. Practice makes perfect on driver changes and whatnot. Matt Bell is applying the blowtorch to Eric Trouillet for the lead. Colin Noble is playing the long game in LMP3 which seems to be working, but he is being reeled in by Matty de Barbuat. Jon Miller, fourth in GT aboard the #34 Walkenhorst Racing BMW M4 GT3 in GT racing. The BMW M4 GT4 will also be all new very soon. But of course, GT3 is the top class here. Drive through penalty for Matt Bell it looks like.
Take it easy. Take your medicine and recover. Rodrigo Sales is getting used to a brand new race car. Colin Noble is in the lane and into the garage. Oh dear. Not good for the Nielsen Racing Ligier as we see a spin for the #49 High Class Racing LMP2 entry spinning and recovering. American Kevin Weeda at the wheel of it. The #12 Dinamic Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R is in the lane. This is Ben Barker sharing with Giorgio Roda and Philip Sager. Brendon Iribe and Jon Miller are in the lane as well and so are a number of other GT cars in the lane, too. Aston Martin, Porsche, and so on. This is because the Bronze rated drivers have only a 55 minute minimum drive time.
Brendon Iribe out and Ollie Milroy into the #7 Inception Racing McLaren. We will also have to watch the #33 Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Klaus Bachler sharing with Antares Au, and new Porsche recruit, Yifei Ye. Rinaldi Racing in the lane in LMP3, the #22 car. That is an all-German driving trio. Torsten Kratz, Leonard Weiss, and Hendrik Still. Drive time also varies by how many drivers you have on your team, two or three. Cars are held in the lane to make sure the pit stops are done safely. It is just common sense. #51, the AF Corse Ferrari is also in the lane. Victor Gomez, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Francesco Piovanetti. \
Nick Moss, Nicolaj Kjaergaard, and Finlay Hutchinson battle in GT. Hutchinson in the Attempto Racing Audi R8 sharing with Alex Aka and Florian Scholze. More GT pit stops including for three McLaren's, and the #17 AF Corse Ferrari, the Grunewald/Abril/Prette entry. DKR Engineering has pitted and the #2 entry now has Sebastian Alvarez at the controls. Inter Europol is second in LMP3 in the #13 car. Canadian James Dayson sharing with Chilean Nico Pino, and Portuguese driver Guillherme Moura de Oliviera. Andrew Watson has taken over the #42 Optimum Motorsports McLaren from Nick Moss. Watson is monstering the #59 Garage 59 McLaren with James Vowles, the Englishman, at the wheel of it.
Vowles sharing with Nicolai Kjaergaard and Manuel Maldonado, the Venezuelan, and brother of former Formula 1 driver and race winner Pastor Maldonado. Not brother. Cousin. Pardon me. Louis Prette has lost time. Ollie Milroy is second. Leading GT is South African David Perel who is now in the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari having taken over from Italian Rino Mastronardi. Nielsen Racing remain in the garage. It could very well be game over for them, for the #8. They have trouble with the exhaust and that is why they are in the garage right now. Matty de Barbuat is happy about his stint and now Sebastian Alvarez is in the DKR entry now. Nielsen Racing might get back out. Colin Noble may still be in the car. Tony Wells is actually now in the seat.
Matty Bell leads Eric Trouillet and Kevin Weeda in LMP2. Track limits penalty for one of the Walkenhorst Racing BMW M4's. They are of course the new GT3 spec entry. Sebastian Alvarez has put a bit of daylight between himself and the others in the top of the class. We watch the #95 Aston Martin. This is the TF Sport entry with Brits John Hartshorne and Jonny Adam, and in the car now, Portuguese driver Henrique Chaves. Yifei Ye will be driving for Herberth Porsche, and he will race for Cool Racing in the European Le Mans Series. Yifei Ye is racing now for Porsche Asia Pacific. Porsche legend Sascha Maassen is helping Yifei Ye.
Maassen is his driver coach. Ye has replaced Alessio Picariello at Porsche Motorsports Asia Pacific. Kevin Weeda's pace is improving. We are also watching an LMP3 entry for G-Drive Racing, a team we are so used to seeing in LMP2. The #26 is the Ligier Nissan in the hands of Frenchman Fabrice Rossello, Xavier Lloveras of Spain, and Russian driver Vyaceslav Gutak. Ollie Milroy, meanwhile, chases David Perel in GT. The #55 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari is doing very well. Perel, the South African, is a great real life racing driver and a coach for sim racing and building and setting up racing simulators.
Italian Davide Rigon is the third driver in this car, the #55, along with Mastronardi and Perel. Mastronardi says he had a great start but was stymied early on by an LMP3 entry. Ollie Milroy looks to close the gap to David Perel. He is eating time out of the gap. Milroy wants to push but must look after the tires and the car itself. The long run pace for the McLaren is a strength of that particular automobile. Milroy has a lot of experience in this car with this team. Milroy has been really assisting Brendon Iribe. They are racing almost every weekend and in a number of championships. 17 European racing weekends for that team consecutively. In GT, too, we have Rory Pentinnen in the HRT Mercedes following Chandler Hull in the Walkenhorst BMW M4 and McLaren of James Vowles.
Joe Osborne will finish the other McLaren's race for Optimum Motorsport. Graff, High Class, DKR, Intereuropol, High Class, are at the top of the shop in LMP3. But, the biggest scrum right now is with the GT3 boys. David Perel, Ollie Milroy, Alexander West, Chandler Hull, Rory Pentinnen, and Louis Prette. Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin, BMW, Mercedes. Wow. This is value for money as we are going to be halfway home here in half an hour or thereabouts. Alexander West for McLaren leading Chandler Hull for BMW and Louis Prette for Ferrari. Rory Pentinnen for Mercedes-AMG. Penttinen has run LMP3 before. High Class Racing in the lane for service and there is a driver change in addition to full service.
It looks like Anders Fjordbach will be in the car, or perhaps it is Dennis Andersen. Kevin Weeda has finished his stint. Will we see Anders Fjordbach get into that car in the darkness? Maybe. Sebastian Alvarez is pressing hard in LMP3. So, Louis Prette has moved around Chandler Hull. Alfred Renauer has passed Sam de Haan who is the new driver aboard the Oman Racing Aston Martin I believe. Yes. He is racing with Ahmad Al Harthy and with Charlie Eastwood in this race. This new GT3 class is going to go from strength to strength in IMSA and worldwide in the next couple years.
We will have the final year of the GTE Pro class in FIA WEC this year and one more year next year for the Am division. Track limits warnings for David Perel. Watch your step on those track limits, mate. Ollie Milroy will be on Perel's six very soon. In his world he is trying to tell himself "nobody will notice this", and he has to keep his tires together before they are busted up. Yifei Ye also being warned about track limits. Drew Watson, meanwhile, he wants a bit of the cherry in trying to move past the Aston Martin. Alexander West has Louis Prette behind and right now Sam De Haan has the advantage.
Matty Bell maintains the LMP3 lead and will be a lap up on the competition. Graff Racing, car #39 is in the lane. Eric Trouillet may be staying in the car again. What of minimum drive time? Well, Alfred Renauer has moved past the Mercedes while Andrew Watson is piling on the pressure working out a move on Rory Pentinnen. The third driver in that #6 Mercedes is India's Arjun Maini, who we saw in an LMP3 car in this series last year. The Attempto Audi R8 has been up at the sharp end with Finlay Hutchinson. Louis Prette has passed Alexander West.
The YC Panda Audi is the other Audi R8 GT3 in this motor race. YC Panda is being monstered. Track limits warnings for the D'station Aston Martin. Clumps of cars in a small section of the road. John Corbett now at the wheel of the #44 Oman Racing Aston, but they are on the back foot. The #66 YC Panda Audi has Douglas Khoo, Bashir Mardini, and endurance racing veteran John Graham on the driver's strength. Alfred Renauer wants by Alexander West and Andrew Watson, likewise, wants to pass.
That McLaren is motoring even though Alexander West does not have the preferred line. Race Control will be on the phone to him saying "watch track limits." Louis Prette has gapped these three blokes by five seconds, and Alfred Renauer finally disposes of West. Andrew Watson in equal machinery to Alexander West, the McLaren boys will be nervous. They will be chewing their fingernails as two of their cars are scrapping hard. Drew Watson needs to line up ASlexander West. Side by side, look, and traffic ahead. West squeezes by but Watson is going to try the cutback and no dice. West cleanly passes.
Andrew Watson says, "no you don't sunbeam", and moves by. Great stuff. Open the door, and walk right through. Close and lock the door, so Alexander West has to knock and say "please, let me in!" What's the password, mate? What's the password? Matt Bell is ten seconds to the good over Sebastian Page at the top of the tree. Poor old Sebastian Page has been caught in traffic, in a whole gaggle of GT machines. GT cars are less controllable than the prototypes are, sometimes. Matty Bell is still getting on with it, lunging through turn six. You don't want to be in the sin bin, but you will be if you make a move too aggressively. Matt Bell wants to put a marker down for the new era, for the LMDh/Le Mans Hypercar deal. We will see the great Grand Touring Prototype come back for those cars for IMSA for next year.
There is a great story about that, and it will be highlighted here on the blog, next week sometime, before we have two more of these races in Asian Le Mans. The light is fading and fading fast as we get towards halfway in another ten minutes. Matty Bell leads Sebastian Page by a lap and Sebastien Alvarez runs third. So, it is the Seb and Seb show, but, Alvarez will need to hit the lane soon. We also watch the #21 Ginetta LMP3 car. This is the Konrad Motorsports car of Jordan Grogor and Italian Gabriele Rindoni. Matt Bell has had a lot of experience in LMP3 cars including in Prototype Challenge in IMSA. David Perel has 4.2 seconds over Ollie Milroy. Milroy is closing in. Naveen Rao was Matty Bell's co-driver in IMSA Prototype Challenge in 2020.
David Perel runs wide at turn 15. Don't do that. We can see a car clawing it's way back in LMP3. This is the #27 Antoine Doquin CD Sport LMP3. Michael Jensen in the #3 sister CD Sport car is up ahead. Ollie Milroy will be irritated by that lapped car, swearing and muttering under his helmet. You knucklehead! Move out of my way! Michael Jensen has taken the #3 entry to pit lane for service. The sky is darkening. Louis Prette runs ahead of Alfred Renauer who now has Andrew Watson right on his back door. We are going to see both LMP3 and GT cars in pit lane. The Pro class Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3 is in the lane now. Warning for track limits for Victor Gomez. Watch out for turns nine, 12, and 16. A move being made, and no dice there for Renauer. Or is it? Alfred Renauer holds the preferred line and here comes the leader. No. That's second place Sebastian Page.
Andrew Watson, though, will not be denied. Louis Prette is 7.2 seconds behind Watson. Nicky "The Cat" Catsburg, has now taken over the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. The darkness has fallen and it is going to be really hard to see in this second half of the motor race. Car #27 having a wee issue with the scoring and timing lights on the side of the car. Dinamic Motorsports is in the lane in car #12. Ben Barker taking over from Giorgio Roda in the Dinamic Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Phil Sager, the third driver of course. Henrique Chaves has pitted as well as we cross over to the second half of the motor race. Jorg Breuer is third in GT in the second Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3. Mario van Bohlen has taken over the second Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3, the car just mentioned.
#4 Nielsen Racing team manager to report to the Race Directo as we see the leading #2 DKR Engineering car in the pit lane for service. G-Drive have also pitted. Sebastian Alvarez out, and Lorents Horr into the car. He will finis this race in the hours of darkness. Something could be wrong with car #2. They cannot work on the car if it is running, but it is not. They could have an electrical issue on the car. They are taking the engine cover off. Bad news for the boys at DKR! Deary me. Checking the Engine Control Unit? Maybe the car was stuck in gear? No real panic. Maybe it is not as serious as first thought, but there are worried mechanics.
Guilherme Moura De Oliveira is second in LMP3. This is the #13 Intereuropol entry. These cars in LMP3 were not designed to race at night. There's significantly less light here in Dubai than a place like Daytona International Speedway. Davide Rigon, after his horrid accident during the 24 Hours of Spa, last summer, he is back now in the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari and will be doing his stint. Marvin Kirchofer is the next driver in the #59 Garage 59 McLaren. Car #88 is ninth in class in GT. Lorents Horr is not at the wheel of the #2 car. It is Matthieu de Barbuat.
Optimum Motorsports pit the #42 car. Joe Osborne will get in replacing Andrew Watson. This is the McLaren, the #42 720S GT3. 25 seconds is now the gap for DKR Engineering in LMP3. They burned a bunch of time but kept the lead, somehow. Burning a minute and 43 seconds in the pit lane! Yikes! That is a bear and a half. BMW M4 GT3 #35 nw gaining places. CD Sport now run third and fourth in the LMP3 class. They likely won't need a splash and a dash. In GT, Tom Gamble now leads Mario Van Bohlen by 12 seconds. Darkness shrouds the Dubai Autodrome.
Car #8, Tony Wells, is back in the race but a long, long way down. Matt Bell leads by two laps over Sebastian Page for Graff Racing followed by Dennis Andersen in the #49 High Class Racing car in LMP2. LMP3 has Matthieu de Barbuat. John Corbet is next followed by Guillhaume de Oliviera. Edouard Cauhaupe of France, next up for CD Sport followed by the sister car for the team. #3 ahead of #27 at CD Sport as Leonard Weiss is next in the Rinaldi Racing entry in LMP3. Lorents Horr still has to drive. John Corbett has moved up to fourth. The lead battle in GT is hot! Ben Barnicoat is right on Davide Rigon's tail.
Strap in and get ready to rumble. So, Dennis Andersen is at the controls of the #49 High Class Racing LMP2 car for tires, fuel, and a fresh windscreen. The #39 LMP2 car has a light panel out. Davide Rigon leads GT aboard the Ferrari. Ben Barnicoat will need no invitation to try and fly past the Ferrari. Barnicoat in the McLaren, he ran very well in the GTD Pro class Lexus in IMSA at the Rolex 24. Someone has their rain light on when it is not raining in the desert. That will be a penalty without a doubt. That is Mikael Grenier who has been named a Mercedes factory driver. That is the #20 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes. Grenier, the Canadian, sharing with Valentin Pierburg, and John Loggie.
The Mercedes has gotten the message to turn off the rear light. 100 minutes left before we finish the first half of the first half of the Asian Le Mans Series. We are starting an hour later tomorrow. Alex Aka is ahead of the leader in the Attempto Racing Audi R8. Aka ahead of Grenier. Davide Rigon and Ben Barnicoat are not engaging each other. Barnicoat is biding his time. It takes real focus to look forward all the time with these bright headlights. The move has been made as Inception Racing passes Rinaldi Racing. Ben Barnicoat has made a power move! It was decisive, too. Boom. Done and dusted. No quibbling with that. Graff Racing pits and so, Matty Bell will be two laps up in the lead of the motor race.
Davide Rigon gets trapped and has to make way for Matt Bell, the overall leader. The Ferrari is running very well through the hairpin and the McLaren has a tad more punch on corner exit. These cars are so different, the GT3 entries. The McLaren and the Ferrari are similar with turbocharged V8 engines mounted rearward. Matthieu De Barbuat wants to stay ahead of the Portuguese driver. That is Guillherme Moura De Oliveira. A battle for third in GT sees Joe Osborne reeling in Vincent Abril presently. Joe Osborne will be pressing Vincent Abril very soon as Robert Renauer is next in line. Just over an hour and a half to go. 1:52 dead, the lap time for Matt Bell. Sebastien Page is six seconds behind running 1:58s.
We are into the last hour and a half of this race. Alessandro Pier Guidi, meanwhile, is running well. 2021 FIA WEC GTE champion, and winning the Intercontinental GT Challenge title for 2021 at Kyalami in South Africa last weekend. YC Panda is slowing. Poor old Douglas Khoo is having issues with the darkness. He has raced at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia at night. But Sepang has far more lighting than we see here at Dubai. #4 in the lane now and Ben Hanley replaces Matt Bell to take the Nielsen Racing entry to the flag. No headlights for the #72 car. That is a challenge. No headlamps around this circuit, not good. Let's hope Nikita Aleksandrov finds the headlamps switch. He has lost a spot. What is happening there?
#72 shown the meatball flag, the mechanical black flag, for no headlamps. Ben Barnicoat, meantime, is pulling away from Davide Rigon. He is a second and a half ahead, now, three seconds, to be truthful. You just have to not say this race has gone green the full time. We have had no yellows. I am reminding myself, because if I say it... well, hit me in the face with a cream pie, because we could very well have a yellow. Fingers crossed we don't. We should look at the lap times of the Konrad Motorsports LMP3 car. Konrad has legendary former Audi engineer Ralf Juettner on his team. Ben Hanley continues to lead, running consistent laps in the 1:49 range.
The #39 Graff Racing entry has no light panel for the numbers. Poor old Sebastian Page is having trouble. Guillherme Oliviera has run his fastest lap of the race so far in LMP3. As the sun goes down and we are now into complete darkness, the setups change. The feeling of the car changes, for the driver, through every part of his or her body. Lorents Horr still has to drive the #2 entry, the DKR entry. But we do not know what the trouble was with that automobile. Matt Bell is still recovering from his stint. He says he felt like he was in the car for a triple stint. The car is feeling good and they have had a couple laps in hand over their competition as Ben Hanley is of course now at the wheel.
Again, Ben Hanley has moved past Sebastian Page. In GT, Jonny Adam is closing up on Arjun Maini who is driving the Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3. Jonny Adam of course, in the Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Klaus Bachler is in the fight as well in one of the Porsche's. Eric Trouillet pits the Graff Racing LMP2. That's Sebastien Page who should be handing the car probably to David Droux actually. Yours truly is confusing the driving team here, or rather, is in confusion about who will be driving the car. Anders Fjordbach has just gone purple in sector three with a 1:50.130. That is smokin'! #39, David Droux, is now back on track.
Anders Fjordbach will be pressing hard. David Droux will as well. DKR Engineering leads Intereuropol by 28 seconds. 1:49.660, fastest lap for High Class Racing. Anders Fjordbach is coming, and fast. A driver uses all of his/her senses when driving a car. You need experience as a driver. Being aggressive with bright headlights in your eyes, it is a tough ask. These younger drivers are really pressing hard because most of the time they are used to sprint races either in a sports car or an open wheeled car. Mentally, a race like this is unbelievably draining. This is Sebastien Page's first time driving at night. Don't try this at home. These gentlemen and ladies are trained pros.
Graff and High Class are 1:17 apart. The gap is coming down but needs to come down quicker. John Corbett in LMP3, is still in third in the ARC Bratislava Ligier. Both CD Sport entries and the Rinaldi Racing entry are still in it. Inception Racing and Ben Barnicoat in the McLaren are 4.2 seconds to the good over Davide Rigon in the Ferrari. Ben Barnicoat is no longer a factory McLaren driver but is a factory Lexus driver in IMSA. The Ginetta LMP3 car for Konrad Motorsports is stopped on the road. That is Shaun Thong at the wheel of it. We have not seen the car yet. There's a double yellow, a local yellow at turn six. #21 is stopped. This is the new Ginetta G61 LMP3 car.
Horrid moment as Thong is trying to recycle the car, power cycling everything. We have gone Full Course Yellow now with just over an hour of this race to go. Shaun Thong isn't able to restart the Ginetta. Pit stop time for a number of the LMP3 entries and so are a couple of LMP2's. Joe Osborne is the highest placed GT car to pit and they might be able to get home from here. Marvin Kirchhofer, Nicky Catsburg, Arjun Maini, Klaus Bachler, they've all pitted now with just over an hour to go. Leonard Weiss is in the pit lane for WTM Racing, Wokenspiegel Team Monschau. The family that owns this team also publishes a German newspaper.
Green flag, into the final hour of the motor race. Every GT car has pitted. Will the LMP3 cars get to the end of the race? Will they need another Full Course Yellow? The cars weaving around, trying to get heat into the Michelin tires. Ben Hanley has to be smart, click off the laps, and not risk the car. Tiredness is creeping in and so is concern about vision in the darkness. Make high percentage, calculated moves. Ben Barnicoat could be moving up, as Davide Rigon has lost a good chunk of time, at least ten seconds. Davide Rigon has run a 1:58.261, fastest lap for the Rinaldi Racing automobile but Ben Barnicoat is even faster.
Vincent Abril in third spot is increasingly being monstered for the final podium place by Joe Osborne. Herberth Motorsports Porsche #91 is fifth. They dominated last year's race but have not had the race they wanted tonight. Good scrap for 12th as Joe Osborne wants by the Frenchman. Vincent Abril is staying ahead. Osborne in the tow, lining up Abril for a pass. The rear tail of the Ferrari is wriggling all over the road. Osborne in the McLaren. This could be a battle royale. Osborne can take a tighter line into the corner.
Car #55 though, has been reported to the stewards for overtaking under Full Course Yellow. The YC Panda entry, Bashar Mardini, is a bit of a mobile chicane. Something is wrong with the YC Panda machine. Abril could be pinged for track limits if he is not careful. Copy, paste. Wash, rinse, repeat. Has the team been on the phone to him? #13 is back on track. They are now seventh in LMP3. Abril has the experience. Joe Osborne will really have to push. Vincent Abril is very experienced, having run as a factory driver for Bentley Motors and for Mercedes-AMG. Osborne is turning up the wick. No dice yet. No further action on #55's overtaking maneuver. No penalty. Anders Fjordbach is still going for second, running purple in sector one, pursuing David Droux.
Osborne wants to put McLaren on the podium. That is for dead sure. Abril though is sticking to his guns indeed. Abril is withstanding the pressure. The pace of this race has been unreal. Osborne wants a run over Abril through turns 12, 13, and 14. Running too close for too long, the tires will be screamingly hot. Ahead of these two is the #12 Dinamic Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, Ben Barker at the wheel of it. Abril has repelled Joe Osborne's first volley. He will be coming out swinging here in a wee while. But stay disciplined, and don't overdrive the car. Oman Racing have continued to struggle in recent time. #69 reported to the stewards for some reason. That is the Al Harthy/De Haan/ Eastwood car.
Edouard Cauhaupe is second in LMP3 for CD Sport. Lorents Horr does not have to push. He is still running fourth overall and on his merry way in the lead of LMP3. Team manager of the #39 car to Race Control immediately. They are still having issues with that race car. Joe Osborne is still all over Vincent Abril like the proverbial el cheapo suito here. Black and white flag to Abril for infringing upon track limits. We have four more hours of this great racing tomorrow. Again, stay tuned for that. Once more, you will want to be up bright and early to check it out.
This is the motorsport version of asking one question over and over until someone cracks. The motorsport version of an investigation, an interrogation if you will. Steve Palette in the second CD Sport car is a wee bit back but is still in contention. Vincent Abril is really having to mind his P's and Q's. Ditto for Joe Osborne. He has to stay within the limits to make sure he does not incur the wrath of the stewards. The driving in GT3 though has been exemplary. I agree with commentators Graham Goodwin and Oliver Gavin. Ben Hanley continues picking his way through these clusters of lapped traffic. Poor Nielsen Racing have had a miserable race today.
Anders Fjordbach goes purple in sector one once more. The High Class Racing entry is a tad edgy to drive. It is too easy to underdrive or overdrive the car. Poor old Marvin Kirchofer has had bodywork damage and warnings for track limits. Nicky Catsburg is all over him. Meantime, Vincent Abril has put a wee bit of space between he and Joe Osborne. Hendrik Still is running 30 seconds behind Steve Palette for CD Sport and Rinaldi Racing. Herberth Motorsport have been reported to the stewards. No pressure from Robert Renauer on Joe Osborne. Pit stop time (the final stop) for Graff Racing. David Droux will take the #39 to the flag.
But, why on earth were they called to the stewards? Maybe the light panel on the fueling side is not working. Ah. It is the number panel on the left side, and they have to gaffer tape two torches to the side of the car. Torches = flashlights. Anders Fjordbach will be pushing, pushing, pushing. Ben Barnicoat has a lead over Davide Rigon. Ben Barnicoat is the closer. High Class Racing #49 in the lane. Anders Fjordbach will finish out the race in the last half hour. Fuel and tires as well. Will the #39 car fail post-race tech with the flashlights illuminating the number panels? Barnicoat is chasing down one of the BMW M4 GT3's. Not sure which one it is if it is #34 or #35.
Ben Hanley still leads the motor race overall. The racer's toolbox. A hammer, gaffer tape, a screwdriver, and two torches. Lorents Horr, second in LMP3. He has really stepped it up just in the last two or three years. #20, the SPS Mercedes, the #69 Oman Racing Aston, and the #91 Herberth Motorsports Porsche, have all incurred penalties from their pit stops. 1:57.588 for Korrainen Kempi Motorsports and their Duqueine LMP3 in the hands of Finn Jesse Salmenautio. Team manager of car #20, report to the steward's office. No coffee and cookies for you, sunbeam.
The Abril and Osborne story is still being told. Osborne is catching up. Drive through penalty for Herberth Motorsports. Nicky Catsburg, Marvin Kirchofer, and Charlie Eastwood will pass. Eastwood, too, has a penalty in his future. Does Joe Osborne have anything left in the locker for the final 20 minutes? Hard to say. Those tires will be toasted. Toasted like a couple English muffins. Stop and go penalty for the #96 entry for drive time infringement. That is Attempto Racing and their Audi. That's taking the biscuit and dropping a bowling ball on ye olde foot all at the same time.
Yellow flag, turn nine! Lorents Horr has stopped on the road in LMP3! CD Sport lead the motor race. Full Course Yellow! Wow. This is going to shake it up and shuffle the deck of cards! Was he driving in a conservative manner? Did he have a mechanical or electrical issue? Poor old DKR! They just have had a fraught race tonight. #4 in the lane for a splash and a dash. They are four laps up on their competition. Joe Osborne pits from third spot in the McLaren. He has driven through the pit lane. Did he gain a spot through the lane? That was a shortcut. Everyone is going the same speed. Garage 59 and Marvin Kirchofer are following but might need a splash of gas.
No penalty called for the #42 car. Green flag. 15 minutes left in this race. We have another race tomorrow. Keep that in mind and join us. 114 laps completed. Ben Hanley leads. Nielsen Racing have had more pace than Graff Racing have today. Neale Muston, the Australian, has moved the #44 entry up in LMP2. What will we see as far as podium places and class winners? We're about to find out. G-Drive are catching up to Rinaldi Racing while Incpetion Racing leads in GT. Ben Barnicoat in the lead of this motor race.
Full Course Yellow speed = 80 kilometers an hour. Pit lane speed = 60 kilometers per hour. Was there a timing glitch? Five cars have transgressed this. Barnicoat, Rigon, Abril, and Osborne, the top four GT contenders. The GT battle is what is going to be decided because the LMP2 and LMP3 scraps are well and truly settled. Abril has just enough ammo to go ahead and give Osborne fits. It is so mentally taxing driving this circuit at Dubai in the pitch darkness. The penalty that was supposed to go to Herberth Motorsport, for Robert Renauer, has been cancelled. He is ahead of Nicky Catsburg. Ten minutes to go.
The grip is going away with the GT3 cars, the Michelin tires being strained. Hendrik Still is being caught by Xavier Lloveras. Maybe Joe Osborne's Michelin tires are completely gone. He is pressing hard, for all he's worth. The LMP3 battle is hot and heavy. LMP2 has been settled subject to no further drama before the checkers. Inception Racing may have it in the bag for GT3. In LMP3, #26 is scything his way through traffic, or trying to. Rinaldi could be in the pound seats here. Charlie Eastwood in the Oman Racing Aston Martin scraps with the #59 McLaren for Garage 59.
Joe Osborne has kept his powder dry to take the fight to Vincent Abril. Davide Rigon being warned for track limits. What does Hendrik Still have left in the locker? Xavier Lloveras could still catch him. Osborne, meantime, wats to get past Abril. He could be saving up for a last lap lunge on Abril. Joe Osborne is loading the ammo into the shotgun, quietly, trying to get the opportunity for a sneak attack. Abril, in the AF Corse Ferrari. Osborne tries inside, but no dice. Are Abril's tires beginning to fade? Wind the speed through the center of the corner. Here comes Osborne on the inside! Who gets to the apex? Abril it appears.
Harsh but fair racing. Abril stretches out the rubber band over Osborne. He has had Joe in his mirrors for the better part of an hour. Two-minute warning. This is the battle of the race. Audi #96 reported to the stewards for not respecting a stop and go penalty. Attempto Racing did not stop long enough. That will be a mega blow to their team. One more lap to go. Ben Hanley is going to take the car for Nielsen Racing to the end. Final lap. Jonny Adam, and others have pitted on this last lap. So, G-Drive is now going to be on the podium.
Is the checkered flag ready? Will there be another lap before the end? One more lap to go now. That's strange. Joe Osborne will get another crack at Vince Abril. Any other takers for challenges on the final lap of the motor race? TF Sport have gone down pit lane and the SPS Mercedes has as well. So we have seen some drive through penalties costing people places here. CD Sport, CD Sport and G-Drive Racing with Graff will be the podium in LMP3. Slow car, a very slow car, out of petrol. What car is it? After an amazing race today, congratulations on a dominant performance to Nielsen Racing. The other LMP2 teams are going to have a hard time tomorrow and next weekend.
Ben Hanley and company win the 4 Hours of Dubai race one! One more lap for LMP3 and GT. LMP3 will come around soon. GT race winners on their last lap. Inception Racing might just win this thing. Ah yes. Brendon Iribe, Ollie Milroy, and Ben Barnicoat win GT at Inception McLaren! High Class come home third in LMP2. Rinaldi Racing second in BT. We wait for our winner in LMP3, it is the #3 CD Sport entry of Edourard Cauhaupe, Nick Adcock, and Michael Jensen.
Vincent Abril scores the podium in GT and Herberth get on the podium in the GT Am section. Overall winners, Rodrigo Sales, Matt Bell, and Ben Hanley! United Autosport will be at Yas Marina next weekend, so, a new entry for the doubleheader next weekend. David Droux, Sebastien Page, and Eric Trouillet victorious in LMP2-Am. Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock, and Edouard Cauhaupe win LMP3 for CD Sport. McLaren and Inception Racing win GT with Brendon Iribe, Ollie Milroy, and Ben Barnicoat. He is a Lexus factory driver for now, but who knows for how long.
Overall/LMP2: #4 Sales/Bell/Hanley Nielsen Racing Oreca 07 Gibson
LMP2 Am: #39 Droux/Page/Trouillet Graff Oreca 07 Gibson
LMP3: #3 Jensen/Adcock/Cauhaupe CD Sport Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT: #7 Iribe/Milroy/Barnicoat Inception Racing with Optimum Motorsport
McLaren 720S GT3
GT Am: #57 Jeffries/Ziemian/Zollo Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3
So, that's a wrap for race one at Abu Dhabi. Excited for more action on Sunday. We'll see you tomorrow. Bye for now, everybody. Take care.
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