Round three of the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series brings the drivers and teams to the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi, the recently revamped and reconfigured Yas Marina circuit which is also home to the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix which saw the massive F1 championship decider here, last December. Last weekend in Dubai we saw Nielsen Racing's #4 Oreca break out the broom, and sweep, with Matt Bell, Rodrigo Sales, and Ben Hanley. For this weekend, a new contender has stepped into the ring. United Autosport have entered their LMP2 Oreca in this weekend's races, listed as car #23 for what is presumably a duo of Scotland's Paul di Resta sharing with 16-year-old American sports car rookie, Josh Pierson. Will the di Resta/Pierson dynamic duo upset the apple cart? Will Nielsen Racing keep their dominance streak alive? Join us to find out as we bring you flag-to-flag coverage of race one for Asian Le Mans in Abu Dhabi! It's live, and it's next!
A close eye will also be kept upon the Am battle in LMP2 featuring ARC Bratislava, High Class Racing, and Graff. Momentarily, we will get to the situations in LMP3 and in the GT class for the production cars. We welcome back, once again, our commentators for the Asian Le Mans Series, Graham Goodwin, alongside former Corvette factory driver, Oliver Gavin, along with Nadia Nash reporting from the pit lane. These two races will have the championship title, and Le Mans 24 Hours invitations, at stake. CD Sport, Nielsen Racing, those are the top prototype contenders. GT is a battle between McLaren and Inception Racing and Rinaldi Racing.
United have done testing, here at Yas Marina. Lorents Horr and DKR are on pole in LMP3. The GT class is stacked. Porsche and Mercedes are improving, and the McLaren's and Ferrari's are also up there. This newly reconfigured speedway at Yas Marina is much faster. 15 seconds quicker per lap. Turn five has had the apex widened. That will be a sweet spot for overtaking. As we move down the front straight at this 5.218 kilometer circuit, we sweep througyu turns two and three. Watch track limits. Turn five is very wide and then get a great run to turn six and through seven and eight and into the Parabolica at turn nine. V the corner through the twisty bits, under the hotel bridge and through to the final turns.
The two races will go somewhat into darkness. You are racing in daytime because of the great lighting at Yas Marina as we are 25 minutes away from the start. Yas Marina was originally built in 2009. Turn nine has really been changed and given a lot of banking. This will be a side by side overtaking spot. We also have the aforementioned changes at turns five and 14. The flow of the track has changed for the better. New challenges arise. The surface change means the car balance is totally different. Some cars have more understeer and don't want to turn. Other cars are far more reactive while the front dives and the rear end of the car steps out. You have two different ages and types of pavement on this track.
Maximize the package. Everyone has Michelin tires under them. But the drivers are also finding the sweet spot so they can deliver on track. In this heat, the track temperature and solar energy will be at it's peak for the next hour and drop off. The track management will be big. It will be hot and greasy and then it will cool off in dramatic fashion. This track for all intents and purposes, is a street course but is laid out as a permanent circuit. We have talked about the flow of the track, and this is a major improvement of the new configuration. Bonjour, Monsieur Michelin. Bibendum is out on the grid.
15 minuted before we start this motor race, so at 4:30 A.M. Central Standard Time. The #23 United Autosport entry, has Josh Pierson, at age 16, as the youngest driver in the race. Happy Birthday, Josh. He just turned 16 and this is his present. In qualfying, GT cars went out first, with 23 entries. Klaus Bachler and Jonny Adam battled for pole and Adam gets it. In LMP3, Intereuropol and G-Drive battled, but it was DKR Engineering who scored pole with Lorents Horr. In LMP2, Dennis Andersen and the Graff entry scrapping for Am pole. United Autosport on the pole ahead of Nielsen Racing. We have the Chevrolet Camaro safety car ready to go, waiting for the green flag for the recon lap.
DKR Engineering and their Duqueine is the LMP3 pole sitter. Horr says that he had a good couple of sessions, thanking his team. He enjoyed the run. That's the secret of going that quick. The team had electrical woes in Bahrain last weekend. But today they are back on the button. The Nemo clownfish stripes on the car started somewhere. Lorents Horr has a buddy who designs graphics in Germany who came up with the idea for that. "Finding Nemo" and finding form, that's what DKR are doing. Dominate, and then, go to ashes. So, DKR wants to turn things around. They really do.
Weather is at 28 degrees Celsius but the humidity has dropped. The temperatures will drop as night falls. The rookie drivers will be out there in the heat of the day. Some drivers can handle it and others cannot. Yas Marina is not as physical of a track as Dubai. But Dubai was cooler. We'll have more heat here in Abu Dhabi. Paul di Resta says "I've let Josh get on with it. He knows what to do." It is a lot for him to think about. Paul di Resta will do the second stint after dark, mid-race and then Josh Pierson will get back into the car. Pierson is the student and his co-driver di Resta is the teacher. The team is looking ahead to next month and the 1,000 Miles of Sebring for the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Rodrigo Sales will start the #4 Nielsen Racing car. Nielsen Racing are looking at exposing cracks in the armor of Josh Pierson as a young driver. United Autosports team boss Richard Dean says that they are exposing Pierson to a full-on racing environment which you cannot test for. Testing is one thing while racing is another. Pierson also had a waiver to race at the Rolex 24 three weeks ago. We have fans in the stands here in the UAE. The safety car drivers are ladies today. That's great to see women involved in racing. Motor racing is very accepting of both men and women coming into the sport.
The championship winners will automatically be invited to the biggest race in the world, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Three teams will have the opportunity to go if they win tomorrow. This will be all kinds of bonkers, hopefully. Green flag. The formation lap is underway. We have a record-breaking GT field in this race. We have a 37-car field for this race. A great field. So, the lights are off on the safety car. Ready for a start. Watch the surface transitions through the final few turns. Watch the GT class action as well. They are crawling as the safety car is in the lane.
Red lights out! Punch it! We are underway! The LMP3 boys jockeying for position as Eric Trouillet goes to second. One of the BMW's loses the braking point but everyone is through turn one with no worries. Josh Pierson leads. We do not have a right, left, right chicane. Pierson has a clean road ahead. Aston Martin leads in GT already passing the LMP3 cars. Through turn six and the SPS Mercedes spins and resumes. Not sure who tapped him there. This is a frantic first lap of the motor race. Pierson leads the motor race. He has run away from everybody. He has the welly down.
Pierson is four seconds to the good over everybody else. Graff, Nielsen, and High Class, followed by ARC Bratislava;. Trouble for the #7 Inception Racing McLaren in GT. Oh dear. Did that get tangled with the #20 Mercedes? There is debris on the road in turns five and six. The #3 CD Sport LMP3 car, the LMP3 championship leader is dropping like a stone. Tony Wells tries making a move at turn nine but it's not on. Jesse Salmanautio from Finland and his co-driver Tommi Vialainen in the #72 LMP3 car for Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport is already pressing on.
Four hours plus one lap is the race duration. Good battle in GT. Herberth Porsche, AF Corse Ferrari, and D'station Aston Martin. Turn five and six lap one incidents under investigation. Lots of argy bargy there. Those different lines you can take at turn nine are available. V the corner, U the corner. There are so many cars and engine and chassis configurations. The setups are also different. Ten GT3 cars in a row. The D'station Aston of Tomonobu Fujii is running very well. Fujii needs tire temperature in the front tires and is wriggling all over the road. He needs to have the front axle switch on.
Fuji tries the Ferrari, Conrad Grunewald at the controls. Everyone has rolled up their sleeves and is already getting on with it. The #7 Inception McLaren has Brendon Iribe at the wheel of it. He needs to get his head down and focus. #34, the Walkenhorst BMW M4 GT3 is taking liberties with track limits. This is fast and frantic races. Edoardo Freitas who is Race Director here will also help in Formula 1, it was just announced. #17, Grunewald has been rotated and is now dropping like a stone. Fujii in the #77 car was not committed, scrabbling around on the road.
Car #88 is also in the fight. That is one of the Garage 59 McLaren's. Frank Bird, Marvin Kirchofer, and Alexander West. 1:43 dead for Josh Pierson. Wow! 1:43.098. Last year, the top lap was at 1:58 by Franco Colapinto. The new track surface is making the speedway a lot faster. Rodrigo Sales has moved to second around Eric Trouiller as we see the #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3. Alessandro Pier Guidi on the driver's strength. Puerto Rican drivers Victor Gomez and Francesco Piovanetti are the other drivers. Piovanetti at the controls right now. Good battle in LMP3. Torsten Kratz vs. Jesse Salmenautio. This team was in the basement in Dubai with issue after issue. But now they are bang on the money and giving the Rinaldi automobile fits.
#3, the CD Sport entry has dropped down to 33rd place and have to climb the ladder. Rodrigo Sales has passed Eric Trouiller. But Trouiller is right on his six. Nielsen Racing have to run this motor race error free. They want to win, but the bigger picture is going for the points, the title, and the Le Mans invite on the table. Replay of the start, and the BMW M4 GT3 for Walkenhorst Motorsport shot out of a cannon and the Inception McLaren was early off the road. We could not tell who hit the Mercedes who spun out. Everyone is back underway and Race Control though, they are considering incidents.
Pierson, Sales, Trouillet, the top fve, followed by the Am ranked LMP2's of Kevin Weeda and Neale Muston. The D'station incident, there's not much to say. He tagged the Ferrari and Conrad Grunewald dropped eight places from fifth to 13th spot. Ouch. That was a nerf. Pierson, 21 seconds to the good as Rodrigo Sales has Eric Trouillet all over him like a rash. James Dayson has the wheel of the #13 Intereuropol LMP3 entry. Dayson sharing with Alexander Bukhantsov and Guilherme Oliviera.
The #39 is caught out by a GT class car threading the needle. That wide apex turn five is an interesting corner. The dander is up with #17. He is pushing and perhaps just a wee bit too hard. Take a breath, don't rush. Giorgio Roda and Antares Au are the other Porsche's to deal with in GT. Grunewald is going to have to go after them next. Herberth Motorsports are pressing past the BMW or trying to. Jon Miller in the #34 BMW is being warned for track limits. Ralf Bohn and Hubert Haupt are battling, Porsche vs. Mercedes. Herberth Motorsports vs. Haupt Racing Team. Marvin Kirchofer is also a quick boy in the #88 McLaren for Garage 59. Kirchofer is really pressing on but McLaren have been pegged back in the Balance of Performance.
The gap is growing between the McLaren and the Mercedes as Josh Pierson resets fast lap at 1:42.653 running purple sectors, fastest of all. Oh dear. In the traffic, Pierson has lost time to Eric Trouiller. Drive through penalty for contact on lap one at turn five for the #96 Attempto Racing Audi R8. The #55 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari is now right behind the #59 McLaren. Marvin Kirchofer has his hands full with Rino Mastronardi. Jean Francois Brunot has been in and out of the pits in the #66 YC Panda Audi, the car just mentioned.
Miller, Bohn, Kirchofer etc. in a real scrap. But leading in GT right now, it is Henrique Chaves in the Aston Martin. Miller sharing the #34 with both Chandler Hull and Nicky Catsburg. Boatloads of action still to come your way. Don't go anyplace. Walkenhorst Motorsports, they will be racing more GT3 this year in the NLS at the Nurburgring and in DTM. Issues for #13. Hmmm. The #77 D'station Aston Martin has also run wide. Maybe there is fluid on the road. We do not know yet. James Dayson has lost a couple spots. Neale Muston in the meantime, is running well. But we have trouble as the #21 Konrad Motorsports LMP3 car has lost a wheel! Half an hour on the board. Unusual. He has made it to the pit lane. What is going on there?
Neale Muston is working over Kevin Weeda and Muston passes the Porsche, the Herberth entry, while he is also pressing the #55 car, the Rinaldi Racing car. Full Course Yellow as the Mercedes is tussling with the McLaren and it's a drag race! But he will have to give up the place. Full Course Yellow, Full Course Yellow. What a frantic opening half hour! Wowzers. The Konrad Ginetta has just now come back into the race, Jordan Grogor at the controls. Matthieu De Barbuat leads LMP2 for DKR Engineering right now. Duqueine run 1-2-3 in the class. Nielsen Racing's #8 car has just hit the pit lane. Pit action already as cars are coming in.
Aston Martin run 1-2 in GT. TF Sport leads D'station. Jon Miller third in the BMW M4 GT3 for Walkenhorst. Josh Pierson makes his pit stop but overshoots the box and gets pushed back. He does not have a straight shot into the box. Driver change it appears at DKR. Maybe not. They are off sequence with their tire change. All these cars must pit three times with a minimum pit time. The only two professional LMP2 cars do not have to adhere to that target time because they are Pro entries, not Pro-Am entries. Rodrigo Sales stays in the #4 car. 55 minutes is the required window of drive time for the first stint I believe.
Race Control are still deliberating how the penalties will be allocated if there are any. TF Sport and Henrique Chaves have opted not to pit yet. Chaves will have a big lead going back to green. The other Aston Martin has not pitted yet. New driver at DKR Engineering as Sebastian Alvarez from Mexico, takes over. The wheel that departed the Konrad Ginetta is still being retrieved. We are actually set to go back to green. Three hours and 20 minutes still on the board but the sun will sink like a stone later as we go back to green, and the track will cool off massively. So, Josh Pierson leads the motor race. Pierson is a real talent. Stephen Simpson and Oliver Jarvis are Pierson's driver coaches, two veterans of sports car racing worldwide, especially in North America and Europe.
The #96 Attempto Audi is under investigation for crossing the pit exit blend line while on track. Josh Pierson is doing a double stint before handing over to Paul di Resta. Team manager for Attempto, immediately summoned to Race Control. No coffee and treats for you. Deary me! There's a spun or two there for the #51 Ferrari and the #6 Mercedes. Francesco Piovanetti dumps Hubert Haupt who has damage to the left rear, and front end damage to the Ferrari that will do no good at all. Looks like a tire rubbing on bodywork for the Mercedes, someplace. Is that rear diffuser damaged?
Your field of vision in a GT car is not too good save for the camera and radar system. The blind spots can really catch you out. In replay, three wide oh dear, and that move was just not on. Marvin Kirchofer makes the clean pass and Piovanetti was completely caught off guard by Haupt being there and then Haupt got spun out. Kirchofer was clean and green and Piovanetti overloaded, overcorrected, and poor old Hubert Haupt was just an innocent bystander. Jon Miller is given his final warning for track limits. He needs to mind his P's and Q's as he is pressing Tomonobu Fujii. Fujii san will be penalized as well and Piovanetti has to hit the lane to check the radiator and the tires as well.
We also see James Vowles running for Garage 59. James Vowles is Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes Formula 1 race engineer. So, Josh Pierson leads. Great to have the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari in this motor race after they could not start either of the events at Dubai last weekend. That is the car shared by Mikkel Jensen of Denmark, David Fumanelli of Italy, and Michael Broniszewski of Poland. Sebastian Alvarez is the leader in LMP3 running strongly at this stage, 13 seconds up the road from the Finnish entry, the Korainen Kemppi Motorsports car. Team manager of the #17 Ferrari to Race Control immediately.
Conrad Grunewald should still be at the wheel of that Ferrari sharing with Vincent Abril of France and Louis Prette of Monaco. Trouble for the #13 LMP3 entry. That is James Dayson. Dayson did not race in Dubai as he could not travel and he has GT cars passing him left, right, and center. Henrique Chaves at the controls of the #95 Aston is running well. Now, we have yet another Full Course Yellow in 30 seconds. There will be driver changes to come. The more professional drivers will come into the cars this time. Two Full Course Yellows and we are not even at the end of the opening hour. No indication as to why we are under FCY right now. The #51 Ferrari is a bit damaged after that fracas with the #6 HRT Mercedes.
Ah. We do have some debris on the road at turn five. That's well off the racing line though. There must be soemthing else going on. Hard to tell at this stage. A mirror has fallen off someplace and there is more debris on the road so the marshals are picking up the debris now and will be in touch with Race Control. That had to be from the contact between the #6 and #51. You do not want carbon fiber on the track because that is so sharp, it will cut a tire immediately. #4 and #66 in the lane. #13 and #21 in. #8 at Nielsen Racing and also the Kox Racing Porsche, car #48. Peter Kox, Stephane Kox, and Nico Pronk. Right front corner damage on the #51.
Pit stop time at United Autosport. Is Josh Pierson driving or is Paul di Resta in? No. Pierson stays in the car. We have a BMW mirror and a bollard that has been squished. Ian Loggie aboard Mercedes #20 is told to respect track limits. That is the SPS Automotive Performance entry. Same for Antares Au, the Turkish driver in the #33 Herberth Motorsports Porsche. Au started the race sharing with Yifei Ye and Klaus Bachler. Francesco Piovanetti is headed for the garage. They are actuall visually looking at the damaged bodywork. It is peeling off the front.
Use the 200 mile an hour tape and more. Changing the tires and we are going to see the racer tape come out in force. It is a quick fix, a bandage. The two standard tools in motor racing is the super sticky racing tape and the hammer. Get plenty on there boys, because you will have to pull it into the garage. Full Course Yellow ends and we are back to green. Ben Barker and company are a lot happier with the #12 Dinamic Motorsports Porsche this weekend. Andrew Watson is in the #42 McLaren that was started by Nick Moss. Joe Osborne will finish out in the second of the Inception McLaren's.
So, hour one is indeed in the bag and it was frantic. We move into the second our of the motor race, now. Sam De Haan in the Oman Racing Aston Martin Vantage, car #69. De Haan sharing with Ahmad Al Harthy and Charlie Eastwood. Ferrari #17 has served it's penalty and there is also one for car #77 and a looming track limits penalty as well for the #17. Ben Hanley is now in the #4 Nielsen Racing Oreca right ahead of Josh Pierson. Pierson might be told to back it down a wee bit. Rodrigo Sales had track position that Ben Hanley now must maintain. Drive through penalty once more for the #96 Attempto Racing Audi for crossing that pit lane line. Read the rulebook, boys.
CD Sport #27 in LMP3 has the trio of the French trio of Christophe Cresp, Antoine Doquette, and Steve Palette. More penalties to serve and more visits to the Race Control office. Francesco Piovanetti has finished his stint and has something to say. He says that the start of the race was very dramatic with a lot of crashing. They lost time on their strategy. Piovanetti cannot be happy about what he has gone through. He is probably a little bamboozled. Marvin Kirchofer did not hit him. It was something with the Mercedes as we saw earlier on. Meanwhile, Josh Pierson is pressing on and has a lap lead if he can close the gap to Ben Hanley driving the #4 Nielsen Racing Oreca.
Pierson goes purple in sector two. Pierson is definitely going to school as a racer today, dealing with slower traffic with the LMP3 and GT cars. Rinaldi Racing have a ten second penalty added to their next stop for a pit stop infringement. The #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 has pitted but it has forced them down out of the top ten in GT. Pierson has now lapped Ben Hanley in the #4 Nielsen Racing car. They are working to their plan. They won by four laps in race one in Dubai last Saturday. Ben Hanley is being told to take it a little easier. Pierson has now lapped the field. Top of the shop in GT is the #95 TF Sport Aston Martin, now being driven by John Hartshorne.
Henrique Chaves has finished his stint and he says in his interview that the stint went well, and they are into a rhythm. However, when the rear tire temps went up, they lost momentum and were caught out by the Full Course Yellow. Hartshorne has just been passed by Marvin Kirchofer in the McLaren, #59. Rinaldi Racing, car #55 of Rino Mastronardi is third, five and a half seconds down. So, Marvin Kirchofer is the GT leader ahead of John Hartshorne and Rino Mastronardi who has to be cautious about track limits. Spin for Jorg Breuer, the German aboard the #35 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. #35 is 21st in GT out of the 23 car field.
We have to see how things happened with the car. V8 turbo Ferrari vs. inline six turbocharged BMW. So, Marvin Kirchofer leads GT currently. Rino Mastronardi is now ten seconds down on Kirchofer. No result yet in the investigation for the contact for the #77 Aston Martin for D'station and Ollie Milroy tries but decides discretion is the better part of valor. Satoshi Hoshino ahead in the aforementioned Aston. Andrew Watson is coming in a hurry. Ollie Milroy is running a faster line as he is all over the Aston like the proverbial cheap suit. D'station have to watch on the track limits. The stewards will be watching that like hawks.
Milroy passes Fujii. Done and dusted. No dice. So, Ollie Milroy fourth in GT. Lapped traffic there, look, and here comes #42 on #77. Fujii being monstered by Andrew Watson. Watson goes inside. Nope. Nope. Don't chop the nose off the car. Poor old Fujii is skating around. Alfred Renauer in the #91 Herberth Motorsports Porsche closes in. Ollie Milroy is disappearing, whistling off into the distance. We've been duped. Fujii san is at the controls of the D'station Aston Martin, the team boss. Criminy. Fujii is the Bronze rated driver. Meantime, Alfred Renauer is pushing, pushing, pushing. Milroy and company are leading the GT championship by a single point.
Davide Rigon is yet to come in the Rinaldi Ferrari and Ben Barnicoat in the #7 Inception McLaren. Josh Pierson continues in the #23 overall leading United Autosport car. Satoshi Hoshino is dropping down the order. Three-wide into turn five. Oh dear. An off for the #26 LMP3 entry, the car has fluid chucking out of it. Safety car scramble. Oil on track. It is a nasty deal. You can be a victim of someone else's misfortune. It is like driving on ice. That is very dodgy, because you cannot see the oil until you are slithering on top of it. The LMP3 field for the most part finds this FCY as a saving grace. Sweet relief. Nikita Aleksandrov has to pick up his speed in the #72 Duqueine for the Finnish team in LMP3. Aleksandrov, the Russian driver.
The #26 G-Drive LMP3 car may be the offender with grease venting out of it. Pit lane is closed. The safety car is waving the queue by to pick up the race leader. Ah. OK. Safety car picks up the leader. No wave by needed. Hard to tell if there is liquid chucking out the back of #26. It is not losing fluid, or they've lost all of it. This is the G-Drive Ligier #26 being shared by Vyaceslav Gutak of Russia, Spaniard Xaiver Lloveras, and Frenchman Fabrice Rossello. The marshals are laying down the oil dry. I wonder if #26 spun twice going under the bridge. The oil was dropped but not on the prefferred racing line.
The #26 may get a meatball flag, a mechanical black flag. #26 rotated but not on his own oil. So, there is a car that has spilled it's guts someplace. Pit lane is still closed. We're closing in on halfway. We need one safety car crocodile while the marshals deal with the track cleanup. #26, it could very well be game over with terminal trouble. Oh God, he's on fire! That is not good. Thank Heavens the driver is out of the car. Leaking fuel. This is a significant fire. Jeepers creepers! The marshals put the fire out. The driver is clear of the burning race car. Fire is the worst fear of any motor racing driver. Phew! He's safe, thanking God for saving his life.
This will require a mega cleanup. Red flag. The race has been stopped because we need to do a cleanup with two hours and 20 minutes left on the board, so we are 20 minutes away from the halfway mark of this motor race. The fire is out on that car was saw burning. Thank you to the orange army of marshals. We could not race without them. There's some fluid runoff on the track surface and we will need a track cleanup. This will be a lengthy red flag to clean up the mess as the cars form up single file on the front straightaway. The track is completely clear. The pit lane is closed. Teams cannot touch the cars under the red flag conditions. The doors are open s the drivers can cool off.
No tires or fueling opportunities. Maybe there will be safety issues they can tend to. But fundamentally, race cars are in parc ferme conditions. Everyone has opened the doors. As soon as you stop, the heat soak on these cars without air running over the car, the car becomes like a sauna and the heat absolutely cooks you and the car. Plus, the sun is blazing, and the track surface is screamingly hot. The teams can bring batteries, fans, water etc. Race Control gives them instructions on a closed, specific radio channel. We will wait 15-20 minutes for the cleanup to happen as the fire crews are taking care of things as well.
The modern safety innovations and sciences behind accidents and safety features on the cars, are so important. Window nets, crash boxes, head and neck restraints. Quick evacuation systems also are necessary for things like fire, to evacuate in under five seconds. Pop the door on either side and bail out. We are near the halfway mark of the race. This track at Abu Dhabi was redesigned for Formula 1, but it seems to be working wonderfully for multi-class sports car racing. We have seen more contact here than we saw in Dubai. This new track configuration is really improving the racing. What we saw in that latest incident was an oil fire.
Drivers will be taking on fluids, stretching their legs, perhaps heading for the restroom briefly. Drivers can tense up and get tight. Physios will help the drivers if their muscles are tight or sore. Fatigue can set in with these short, but back-to-back races. We have ten minutes now before the race restarts. In five minutes, we will have ourselves another round of pit stops. Stephane Ratel of the SRO, Pierre Fillon from the ACO, and John Doonan, President of IMSA, is calling in. Glad you all are checking it out. No one is hurt. But it is game over for G-Drive #26. Let's hope they can repair the car for tomorrow's finale.
36 cars still in the motor race. Single file restart behind the safety car. The cars will have to come back up to racing temperature. Josh Pierson, in the lead, will have to get used to this. This is endurance racing bingo. Remember, Nielsen Racing are going for the championship and the automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Pit entry now open. We are looking for the green flag. Start back timing this race. That is the plan now, since we are past the halfway mark, and we have had a half an hour under red flag conditions. Pierson will be the rabbit until the end of his stint and Paul di Resta will finish the race out. Only two drivers at United Autosport. Pierson will have clear track unless Ben Hanley is going to unlap himself and make a move. Hanley won't make his move too soon. Fourth spot, Eric Trouillet, the Frenchman.
Green flag. We are back underway. Many cars hit the pit lane including the #59 McLaren as Ben Hanley goes to the inside and has now passed Josh Pierson to get onto the lead lap. Pierson though is not oging to give up. He just has to be patient, but he might have a run. Hanley is going to try holding the youngster at bay. The United car has pace on the straight. Hanley will be pushing and he does race clean but is a fighter. Pierson is just feeling his way into the car. Richard Dean and company might be telling him to cool off. The Inception Racing McLaren is now the GT leader as the two leaders pass the Haupt Racing Team Mercedes, car #6.
A major shuffle in LMP3. DKR Engineering leading Rinaldi Racing and the #27 CD Sport entry followed by Koirannen Kempi Motorsport, and Konrad Motorsport I believe. Nielsen Racing down the order. Inception lead GT. Driver change as Lorents Horr is now at the wheel of the #2 DKR LMP3 car. Sebastian Alvarez and Matthieu de Barbuat have both done their driving stints. Jonny Adam has now taken over the #95 TF Sport Aston Martin in the GT division. Victor Gomez, from Puerto Rico is now at the controls of Ferrari #51. John Corbett in the #44 ARC Bratislava entry is now unlapped after the #49 High Class Racing car hits the lane. Dennis Andersen sharing with Anders Fjordbach and Kevin Weeda.
Kessel Racing in the lane in car #57 for fuel, tires, and a driver change. Meantime, Ollie Milroy has made a move on the Ferrari. But Alfred Renauer is coming fast and so is David Fumanelli. Herberth cedes a spot to the CD Sport LMP3 entry. Andrew Watson has a run on the Ferrari and Renauer runs wide. The Aston Martin sees a spot and moves in. That had to be Tom Gamble in that Aston Martin, not Satoshi Hoshino. That is one of those "check this out" move. Victor Gomez and Jonny Adam are also flying. Adam wants his lap back. Optimum, D'station, Herberth, Dinamic, Kessel, ah... D'station and more. Tom Gamble is indeed in the D'station car. #4, the Nielsen Racing car pitted and Matt Bell is into the car.
Josh Pierson is still driving the #23. Ben Barker has the wheel of the #12 Dinamic Motorsports Porsche. Barker will a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship starting at Sebring in a few more weeks. This is spirited driving. Very impressive. Three cars have been reported to the stewards for working on cars under red flag. The deal is, you would think they'd have permission to fix the cars under red flag. Maybe not. Maybe the parc ferme conditions did not permit that. Antoine Doquin leads in LMP3. He has been a star in LMP3 in Europe over the last year. Matthieu de Barbuat remains at the controls of the next LMP3 car, the #2 DKR Engineering car.
A queue of eight GT cars and some argy bargy there between the Ferrari and the Porsche. AF Corse vs. Herberth. #17 and #33. Yifei Ye at the controls of the Porsche which has had a bear of a race today. #51, #96, and #33 all pit. Peter Kox driving the #48 entry, he is still right in it. He has been racing for a long time, racing with his daughter Stephane. Stephane may finish out the race, maybe. Yellow flag under the bridge or just beynd. The #35 BMW spins and rejoins. There's a quick, offset camber change through that corner for Jorg Breuer.
Andrew Watson pitting for a driver change to hand the #42 McLaren over to Joe Osborne, and they are halfway through a fuel stint as well, look. Tom Gamble moves past the Garage 59 McLaren, Alex West at the wheel of it. Jonny Adam also moves by Alex West, the Swede. The #17 AF Corse Ferrari which has had a fraught race today, they are third and have come back into contention. Marco Seefried is leading GT Am for Herberth Motorsport as well. #91 pits for Herberth as well. The engineers and strategists are crunching the numbers to the end of the race, earning their money to make themselves competitive.
Robert Renauer maybe is assisting his brother Alfred Renauer. No driver change apparently. Trouble for the #33 Porsche which has stopped for a reset and maybe he spun. That is Yifei Ye at the wheel of it. He had to reset the car. Control, Alt, Delete. Oman Racing, the #69 Aston Martin is second in GT Am with Ahmad al Harthy at the controls. Oman not far from the UAE. Rory Penttinen, the Finn, will inherit second spot, now in the #6 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes, as he is with a TV crew from Finnish television doing a documentary about endurance sports car racing.
Ben Barnicoat, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Joe Osborne, a lot of the hot shoes are aboard the GT cars now. You have missed nothing up front. Josh Pierson has a lap over Matt Bell. Their lap times are very close together as we watch driver stint times. High Class Racing have resumed in the lead of LMP2 Am. In LMP3, Antoine Doquin has Matthieu de Barbuat right on his six. LMP2 Am have 100 second delta times for the pit stops while the LMP2 regular class does not. Pit stop time at Oman Racing. Charlie Eastwood, the Irishman, is into the Aston Martin. Where will Haupt Racing Team cycle into when they pit?
Final stops will be shorter. Splash and a dash for fuel, likely. #27 loses the lead to #2 in LMP3. So, DKR Engineering will lead CD Sport. Matthieu de Barbuat takes the lead in LMP3. Rory Penttinen is the new leader in GT in the #6 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes, who is a Silver driver. Ben Barnicoat is next in line. He will be racing three different GT3 cars this year with McLaren, Lexus, and Porsche as well. Our mate Oliver Gavin has also driven a lot of GT cars through his career. Saleen, Corvette, McLaren, Lexus etc. Inception Racing are running in many championships this year. They ran at the Gulf 12 Hours and in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and they are racing here. They have a Porsche in FIA WEC and a McLaren in SRO GT World Challenge. Optimum will be racing GT Open and Michelin Le Mans Cup as well.
Joe Osborne running third in GT. #7 and #55 separated by one point in the championship in GT. Osborne will be telling #55, "follow me, sunshine." Alex West briefly spins the McLaren. Vincent Abril is next behind in the race order there. So, Haupt Racing Team and Rory Penttinen, has Ben Barnicoat right on his gearbox. Josh Pierson moves through and will have a clear lap. So will the Ben Barnicoat and Rory Penttinen story. Barnicoat is pressing hard. Penttinen has clag on his tires. He is now going to be eaten up by that McLaren or so it seems.
Penttinen shuts the door. Local yellow? Hmmm. Penttinen wants to do the switcheroo on Barnicoat. Maybe it is the other way 'round. When do I pull the trigger? When do I go for it? Barnicoat lets another car go at the right spot. The Mercedes is moving around here comes Barniocat who got chopped by the BMW. The V8 in that Mercedes has the oomph. Robert Renuaerr battles David Perel as Barnicoat takes Haupt on the brakes! Wow! Pass secured. Eight minutes to go before we see final pit stops and the last hour here in Abu Dhabi race one.
David Perel is dropping behind the Porsche but is being caught by Tom Gamble. #39 moves on #44 to unlap himself. Gamble is being chased by Jonny Adam and by Ben Barker and Charlie Eastwood. Hopefully you have eaten breakfast because you don't want to go to the fridge or the coffeemaker before the end of this motor race. Joe Osborne and Rory Penttinen are pressing hard as well and we have loads of drivers really pushing Davide Rigon has not been into his Ferrari yet. We now will hear from Haupt Racing Team and the boss, Hubert Haupt himself.
Haupt says that the first two long pit stops were under yellow and had a short stop after the safety car. Rory Penttinen is fighting for second. He will be pushing. Arjun Maini should take over for the end of the race. Yes. Maini will step into the Mercedes soon. Maini drove a Mercedes-AMG last year in DTM. Ben Barnicoat is on the tail of the Audi for YC Panda who have had trauma the last week or so. They wanted to have two cars but the travel difficulties into southeast Asia have been really hard. Jean Francois Brunot currently driving.
Final pit stops are being planned now and they will be in the lane in the next lap or so because we have about an hour left to race. Tom Gamble, Jonny Adam and others are coming in a hurry as Joe Osborne slides past Rory Penttinen. The GT scrap will come down to the pit stops, truly. Jonny Adam is the first to blink. Penttinen is losing momentum, so his tires could be knackered. Robert Renauer is now right on top of the #6 car. The gun drivers are in the cars to close out this motor race before we come back tomorrow for the closer. Penttinen moves past Renauer. Can Renauer use the slower Audi as a pick?
Anders Fjordbach has taken the lead in LMP2 Am, passing John Corbett. Alessandro Pier Guidi warned for track limits. Aston Martin #95 back on track and nearly contact with Pentinnen and Adam! Yikes! That was a close shave! Renauer wants Pentinnen but runs into the corner a tad too hot. Jonny Adam now has a run on both of these blokes! Holy mackerel! One hour to go. Jonny Adam is overtaken by leader Josh Pierson, clicking off the laps. He is absolutely doing an iron man stant. Will he hand the car, over to Paul di Resta?
We have seen Phil Hanson do this driving for United Autosport before. Shadows grow long here in Abu Dhabi. The last hour will be massively important as Colin Noble slides onto the clag on the outside, on the dust and grit out there, and into the sausage curb and the driver will be feeling that. Ouch! Less than an hour to go. 52 minutes, now 51 minutes. So, Paul di Resta will be taking the final 51 minutes of this race after Josh Pierson finally finishes his stint, does the 16-year-old phenom driver. Just a two-driver team here at United Autosport. Fuel, tires, done. Down and away. Ben Barker is catching David Perel.
Inception still leads GT. Arjun Maini goes too deep into the turn. The red flag will have helped some drivers and teams and ruined it for others. Brief local yellow at turn 12. Quick spin, maybe. Paul di Resta has to be going for fastest lap. Josh Pierson says that he did not expect to be in the car for three hours and overall he says his stint went well with fuel saving and old tires. He is confident about race two tomorrow. Good onya, lad. He looks fresh as a daisy after a three hour stint in an LMP2 car. Wow. Drive through penalties for the three cars that were worked on under red flag. AF Corse's #51 Ferrari is one, the #72 LMP3, our pals from Suomi, and it still says the #97 but it is the #96 with bodywork damage, the Audi. That was a misreported car number.
Fin Gehrsitz and Vincent Abril battle, the German and the Frenchman. Porsche vs. Ferrari. This is the #99 Herberth Porsche with Fin Gehrsitz, and fellow German's Marco Seefried and Jurgen Haring. Nielsen Racing are looking good for the title, and they could very well take two if they get a good place in LMP3. CD Sport do not have an LMP2 program or a race program for the rest of the year. Inception Racing has a WEC effort with Project 1. They could have an entry under their own name for Le Mans if they cash in tomorrow.
Final stop at DKR Enginering for the #2 car. Lorents Horr will get 40 minutes to do his thing. The rebuild they did on the car at DKR Engineering has been successful. They have changed three tires, or perhaps just the right-side boots. The track changes here at Yas Marina have made the track 15 seconds quicker than it used to be. David Droux puts in another quick time in the Graff Racing LMP2 Am car. #33 and #77 pit for the final time. Tom Gamble will finish the race and the #33 Porsche for Herberth has just not had the race they've wanted. Taking on fuel and they will need tires.
Paul di Resta sets new fastest lap of the race at 1:41.657. Good battle in LMP3 as CD Sport are passed by Nielsen Racing. Colin Noble passes Steven Palette. Noble has just pitted. 35 minutes to go. He now has to pass Hendrik Still but gets balked by the Kox driven #48 Porsche. Colin Noble will be fired up. The red mist will come down. Drive through penalty for the #96 Attempto Racing Audi. Penalty after penalty for those chaps. Noble has to keep his wits about him. But he will want to move in for the pass. This is for the final step on the podium in LMP3 with major championship implications.
CD Sport really want this. #8 has less power and not enough traction. This is a Pro-Am partnership with Colin Noble and Tony Wells. Trying to accommodate Wells' comfort level, has probably upset Noble a wee bit. We still have GT battles to look at in the last half hour. Inception Racing and Optimum Motorsports have been in and out of the pits with Ben Barnicoat and Joe Osborne respectively. Herberth Motorsports will have to pit soon too. Robert Renauer at the controls. AF Corse and Herberth will need to pit.
Contact under investigation at turn 11 between the #74 Kessel Racing car and the #66 YC Panda Racing Audi. Jonny Adam's tires are starting to get knackered as Ben Barker passes. Lorents Horr can clear those two chaps. Adam decides to give it up as he is losing time. Deary me, what is going on with the BMW? He is just not up to speed. Mario van Bohlen in a spot of bother. Drive through penalty for YC Panda after that scrape with the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari. Robert Renauer continues to lead in the GT class with 26 minutes left on the board. #17 and #91 still need to pit. GT cars can do a tad over an hour on fuel. More full throttle running here in Abu Dhabi than there was in Dubai.
Pit stop time for the #91, look. Herberth will have to play catch up. #17 goes through and completes another lap. McLaren #7 have done their final stop. Final stop for Herberth Motorsports. #17 will take the lead. No sign yet of the Inception Racing McLaren. Where is Ben Barnicoat? Now he comes through the picture. It's squeaky, squeaky time right now. David Droux in LMP2 is now pressing hard to catch Anders Fjordbach. There is no Le Mans entry for LMP2 Am. But the race win and pride are still at stake.
Where on earth is car #17? Where are they on fuel. In the lane now for the Ferrari, but it will drop down behind the McLaren. No tires. Track position is key. Robert Renauer and Herberth Motorsport retain the lead as Ferrari #17 is back on the speedway, leading by 13 seconds. The Inception McLaren is being monstered now by the Ferrari but there were no tires taken. So, Ben Barnicoat, he is going to be a bit better off. Arjun Maini in the #6 HRT Mercedes will be the only driver to have enough in the locker to put up a fight. #17 is not keeping up with the McLaren. Abril not on pace with Barnicoat. Black and white flag for Tom Gamble on track limits, last and final warning.
Gamble is being harried by Ben Barker. The Aston Martin's are fading now after having a head of steam after the red flag. Ben Barker is pushing at 1:52.364. Vincent Abril is ahead by under ten seconds... Arjun Maini, pardon me. Maini has to press Abril but has Joe Osborne on his six as well. In LMP3, Steve Palette is motoring away from Colin Noble who has to be kicking himself right now. He will be a sourpuss after this race. Violation of pass around procedure for the #99 Porsche! Oh my! The Ferrari of Axcil Jeffries will move ahead in GT Am. Herberth Motorsports has a 3:45 penalty in their future.
In LMP2 Am, it is Anders Fjordbach vs. David Droux. The Danish driver vs. the Swiss driver. The performance difference between LMP2 and GT is unreal. Paul di Resta is two laps up on Matt Bell in LMP2 and the overall. Eight second pit penalty for the #6 HRT Mercedes for violation of minimum pit stop time! Wow! Herberth have not served their penalty yet either. They have time but they need to do it. A two secnd stop and go for the #88 Garage 59 McLaren for a pit stop time violation, Frank Bird at the controls. David Droux runs way wide as Paul di Resta uncorks another fastest lap. 1:40.913.
Up the inside, and David Droux passes Anders Fjordbach! That was a smart move! Droux is certainly faster than the Dane is. Abuse of track limits for #88. Their race at Garage 59 is going pear shaped, and fast. Anders Fjordbach has perhaps been vanquished in this battle. He has junk all over his tires. #6 takes the pit penalty. Joe Osborne is now right back behind Vincent Abril. Late stop and a splash and dash for United Autosport. #88 takes their penalty. This has been an action packed event, unlike some of the racing we saw in Dubai. Tomorrow we will be going into the darkness to settle the championships.
United Autosport are a lap up on Nielsen Racing. Will they have wrapped up the title after this event? We are going to have to check and see. DKR Engineering are having a much better run in Abu Dhabu than they did in Dubai last weekend. Car #77 reported to the stewards for track limits abuse. That is the D'Station Aston Martin as the #99 Herberth Motorsports Porsche has served their long penalty as the Aston Martin is not a happy bunny on knackered old boots. Robert Renauer is now 12 seconds ahead of Ben Barnicoat. Inception Racing going for a championshup. They cannot seal the deal on the title today but could do it tomorrow.
Paul di Resta, carving his way through traffic like a hot knife through butter. Title not settled overall yet. That will be tomorrow, so, be sure to join us. Final track limits warning for Nicky Catsburg. No worries for Robert Renauer. Herberth Motorsport have delivered so far and did so a lot last year, too. Mikael Grenier is catching up to Axcil Jeffries. This is for the GT Am win. Herberth will go for a formation finish it appears. Miro Konopka has just had contact with the #88 McLaren and both of those cars are headed for the scrapyard as the McLaren is spraying and spattering parts all over. Pardon me. That is the #59, better placed car, Nicolai Kjaergaard at the controls. Yellow flag at turn nine for debris.
Double yellow at turn nine. Stay to the right. There's bits of bodywork all over the place. Two laps to go. Four hours plus one lap for this race. Team manager for car #57 report to the stewards. That is for Kessel Racing, GT Am leader. Deary me. That is not good. The battle is on. Axcil Jeffries and Mikael Grenier I believe. Final lap now. Josh Pierson has done the lion's share, three hours in an iron man stint and has passed the test with flying colors. Time is up. Final lap. Nielsen Racing will come home fourth. Inception does not have enough of a lead over Herberth Motorsports. Final lap. Do the basics well, and you will succeed.
Jonny Adam right on Charlie Eastwood's back door. This has been an impressive, clinical run for United Autosport and the duo of Josh Pierson and Paul di Resta. United Autosport wins it! LMP2 Am goes to the #49 High Class Oreca. Axcil Jeffries has lost time on the last lap and dropped down two places. Faultless execution in LMP3 for DKR Engineering with Lorents Horr and company. Return to form as Herberth Motorsports win GT for Porsche. Joe Osborne is a second and a half behind Vincent Abril. Osborne will finish right on the rear deck of the #17! Holy cow! Graff Racing beat High Class in LMP2 Am. David Droux, Eric Trouillet, and Sebastien Page.
LMP3 class winners, DKR Engineering, with Lorents Horr, Sebastian Alvarez, and Matthieu De Barbuat. In GT, Herberth Motorsports and the #91 Porsche win, with brothers Robert and Alfred Renauer, and Ralf Bohn, on the driver's strength. GT Am accolades go to Kessel Racing and their Ferrari 488 GT3 in the hands of Axcil Jeffries, Roman Zieman, and Francesco Zollo.
Overall/LMP2: #23 Pierson/di Resta Oreca 07
LMP2 Am: #39 Droux/Trouillet/Page Oreca 07
LMP3: #2 Horr/Alvarez/De Barbuat Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan
GT: #91 Renauer/Renauer/Bohn Porsche 911 GT3R
GT Am: #57 Jeffries/Ziemian/Zollo Ferrari 488 GT3
We will see you tomorrow, for the finale, here at Yas Marina, in Abu Dhabi. Looking forward to it.
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