It all comes down to this. Championships on the line, invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, on the line, today in the finale of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. Welcome to the second installment, race two of the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi. We are ready for championship day at Yas Marina and in addition, to place in the final automatic invitations to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans which is actually coming up very, very soon. This race locked in the final invitations for the class winners. Come with me now as we are in gloriously sunny Abu Dhabi for the final event of Asian Le Mans 2023. Hailey Edmonds hosts our coverage and we have Graham Goodwin and Oliver Gavin on commentary, taking us through this event. Let's look again at the circuit.
We are onboard the Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of American driver Thomas Merrill. 16 corners, 3 and a half miles roughly. Down the front straight we come, through turn one. Get a good run into turn one and it is vitally important to exit as well so you can negotiate this next flowing sequence of corners. Watch track limits to turn four. Spot the braking point for turn five. High grip as we are passed by an LMP3 car. All the drivers need to exist on the track together in multiclass sports car racing as we are onboard with Merrill in the BMW and he is dueling with an LMP3 car here on his qualifying lap. We brake into turn six which is a 265 kilometer an hour corner. In standard money, that is nearly 166 miles an hour. At the apex we decelerate way down to 65 clicks, pushing nearly 41 miles an hour through the corner and in the braking zone.
Turn seven is off camber. Use the tow from the prototype as we approach turn nine. It is tricky and high grip. The GT3 cars are taking a wider line through this turn than what we would see from an LMP2 or LMP3 machine. That could be an ice cream headache squabbling over the same piece of tarmac. Into turn 12, it is tricky passing the W Hotel. Turns 13 and 14 are next and both of them are off camber. The BMW is not as competitive on this part of the course as other cars. Then we approach the final corners with lots of curb on the outside. Another lap of Abu Dhabi as we prepare for this season finale.
The first race last night was bananas. The drivers have been stellar in LMP2 and the established drivers are being monstered by the rookies. If you think about it, we have the veteran LMP2 stars going up against the hotshot rookies. You see all the names you know like Paul di Resta, Oliver Jarvis, and Ben Hanley. Along with them, there are the upstarts, the rookies who are giving the veterans a tough run for their money. Nolan Siegel, Kyffin Simpson, and Malthe Jakobsen are three of these drivers and to tell the truth, I believe Jakobsen was the bloke who really laid his cards on the table in race one last night. He threw down the gauntlet and said to his competition, "top that!"
Jakobsen, yesterday's winner. The points rankings have been shaken up. Eight of nine LMP2 teams can still mathematically win the championship and the auto invite to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Four teams are still alive in the LMP3 fight while in GT we have three contenders who can still pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat. 15 teams are still title contenders and possible candidates for the automatic invitations for the centenary running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A stunningly picturesque view of Yas Marina, that gives it's circuit it's name. All the boats, all the yachts, docked in the marina, providing the backdrop for this, the climax of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series.
Bad news. That bad news is that we have lost another three cars from the grid since race one which we brought you yesterday. We are starting this race an hour later and the track will be cooler plus there will be more time in the darkness. The LMP2 cars have had some setup and aero changes. Will we see that? We have eight or so LMP2 cars in the fight. We are taking a look now at one of the GT contenders, the #10 GetSpeed Mercedes AMG GT3. Florian Scholze of Germany starting the car sharing with countryman Fabian Schiller and with Raffaele Marciello, the master at the wheel of one of these Mercedes GT3 cars, the Swiss domiciled Italian.
GetSpeed have had some trouble in their first Asian Le Mans Series campaign but are still in the fight, celebrating their tenth anniversary. We have an interview with Fred Lequien who is the boss of the Asian Le Mans Series and LMEM (Le Mans Endurance Management). Lequien tells us how wonderful this season has been. They have broken a record of entries, the format works great. It will be an amazing race we are looking forward to and as we look at the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, this is a segue into analyzing the GT class points as they stand now. Here's the table of the top six positions.
1. #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 64 points
2. #7 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3 46 points
3. #10 GetSpeed Mercedes AMG GT3 42 points
4. #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R 31 points
5. #21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 17 points
6. #19 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 16 points
In every endurance race, things can be tossed up in the air, like a game of 52 pickup. Walkenhorst executed yesterday and ought to do the same today. They have to finish sixth or better to secure the title and must win to secure the Le Mans invitation. That is what they are looking for. Martin Konrad will be the starting driver in the #7 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3. Konrad, the Austrian sharing with Luca Stolz of Germany and Omani driver Al Faisal Al Zubair. This is the winner from yesterday evening's race of course. They were faultless in yesterday's event.
HubAuto Racing, next up, car #72, also in a Mercedes, are looking for good things. Australian driver Liam Talbot will start the race sharing with Jules Gounon of France and Ollie Milroy of England. They are the GT class pole sitters. Liam Talbot had a couple of storming qualifying laps after the team took a long, long time, around ten hours, to do an engine change on that car. Let us now go over the LMP3 points standings as the competition for the championship there is close, too.
1. #29 MV2S Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 58 points
2. #8 Graff Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 48 points
3. #5 DKR Engineering Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan 43 points
4. #4 Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 33 points
5. #11 WTM By Rinaldi Racing Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan 30 points
6. #1 CD Sport Ligier JS P320 Nissan 21 points
So, a mere 37 points separates the top six LMP3 contenders. MV2S have a ten point lead on Graff Racing and they are in the pound seats. They need a podium to win the title. Second on the grid in LMP3 is the #73 Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P320 Nissan to be started by Aussie John Corbett sharing with England's James Winslow and Saint Kitts and Nevis registered driver Alexander Bukhantsov. He has driven Radical's before.
Maurice "Mo" Smith, won the 2022 European Le Mans Series LMP3 championship with Malthe Jakobsen and Mikey Benham. He is here this weekend. On pole in LMP3 is the #11 WTM by Rinaldi Racing #11 Ligier JS P320 Nissan to be driven by Torsten Kratz, Leonard Weiss, and Nicolas Varrone. They need the luck but just can't catch it, head and shoulders above everyone else in the class. Here too are the top LMP2 qualifiers. In fourth spot, the #25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca being started by American John Flab sharing with James Allen and Kyffin Simpson. Allen, the Australian, and Kyffin Simpson, the Barbados domiciled American.
DKR Engineering car #3 starts third. Turkey's Salih Yoluc the starting driver sharing alongside his countryman Ayhacan Guven and Irishman Charlie Eastwood. They are the championship leaders. Here are the points standings going into the finale for LMP2.
1. #3 DKR Engineering Oreca 07 51 points
2. #25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07 39 points
3. #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 39 points
4. #37 Cool Racing Oreca 07 39 points
5. #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca 07 35 points
6. #23 United Autosports Oreca 07 30 points
We have a three-way tie for second place going into the finale. So the LMP2 battle could be the closest fight we see in the final race of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. Salih Yoluc was frustrated about yesterday's race but they could still have a shot. The defending champions from Nielsen Racing are buried down in the fifth place in the championship in 2023. Rodrigo Sales the American will start sharing with Ben Hanley from England and with Swiss veteran driver Mathias Beche of course. They ended up with big damage after that accident in yesterday's race hence why they are down the order for the final today.
On the pole, it is Ahmad Al Harthy, the Omani driver, starting the #98 99 Racing Oreca 07 that he will share with Russian driver Nikita Mazepin and with Neel Jani of Switzerland. Watch the red lights. Watch the red lights. We are getting ready to start the final race of the season for Asian Le Mans Series 2023! Red lights, on. Red lights, out! Away we go! They spread out to turn one and the #3 car goes inside but Torsten Kratz is in massive trouble! Christian Bogle side by side with Paul di Resta and through the hairpin there is no drama. Hard braking to turn six as Paul di Resta moves to fourth wit Christian Bogle fifth.
Ahmad Al Harthy leads the motor race just ahead of Rodrigo Sales as we get started here in Abu Dhabi. Paul di Resta's experience coming to the fore and he makes his move! Did Rodrigo Sales see him coming? I think so. di Resta is moving up to second place on cold tires. No tire warmers in any ACO sanctioned championship this year in 2023. Paul di Resta trying to make his move on Ahmad Al Harthy and you have to believe the Scotsman won't let him get away. Why is a team called 99 Racing using the #98? Well, Herberth Motorsport and their Porsche 911 GT3R had already been registered for the championship with #99.
Paul di Resta moves to the inside and into the lead. #11 has that puncture. A puff of smoke from the #22 and we'll keep an eye on that as Christian Bogle is ready to pounce and make his move on Salih Yoluc. Christian Bogle is a talented young open wheel driver from the Indy NXT (Indy Next) series, stateside. Positions chopping and changing at every turn down the order especially in the GT ranks as we speak. It is all on the line, the championships, the invitations to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Henrique Chaves started the #95 TF Sport Aston Martin and he is putting the welly down immediately. Salih Yoluc remains glued right to Rodrigo Sales' six. This is a battle indeed, look, for fifth in LMP2. Sales, Yoluc, and Bogle, going at it.
Whoops! We have a spinner who has made it onto the painted runoff area outside the track. That looks suspiciously like one of the two United Autosports LMP2 entries. It is. That is Yasser Shahin, the Australian, who went off the road, sharing the #23 United Autosports Oreca 07 with countryman Garnet Patterson and with Oliver Jarvis. Turn nine here at Yas Marina is not a heavy braking zone for an LMP2 car and so you have to wonder why he spun off at that point. There is no braking overload in that turn. Three wide along with a GT car and Alexandre Coigny is going up the inside of Rodrigo Sales! Will he make this one stick? The answer is... hang on here. The answer is... yes! Sales is not as comfortable in the race today as he was yesterday for some reason as we have 14 laps now on the board, 46 miles.
#37 and #24 are in their own battle while going wide and off the road is the #15, the RLR MSport Ligier JS P320 Nissan in the LMP3 class! That car being shared by American Bijoy Garg, Saint Kitts and Nevis domiciled driver Amir Feyzulin, and Australian Andres Latorre Canon. There was a touch and Yasser Shahin squeezed the Herberth Motorsports Porsche and then spun out. Yasser Shahin trundling to the pit lane and we can see he has more damage but said damage was not incurred in the spin. So it is completely unrelated. Meanwhile, as we move forward and are now 27 minutes into the race, Christian Bogle has gone by Salih Yoluc.
Meanwhile, the battles are heating up in GT as Mikkel Jensen in the #57 Car Guy Racing Ferrari is trying to find his way past Alfred Renauer aboard the #33 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R, one of four Herberth Porsche's entered in this race. Renauer, the German, not sharing this car with his brother Robert Renauer, but rather with Klaus Bachler of Austria and Antares Au of Hong Kong. Frank Bird is in trouble for abusing track limits. Bird, he could cop a drive through penalty for a move off the road aboard the #6 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3. The British driver sharing alongside Frenchman Michael Blanchemain and Arjun Maini of India.
Maini to the inside in the chicane! That's a late lunge but he makes it stick moving past one of the Ferrari's! Simon Mann did not have the run he wanted, not enough momentum. Now he is flashing the lights at Frank Bird to acknowledge him or to say "let me back through, please." Mikkel Jensen doing all he knows to try to pass the Herberth Motorsports Porsche. Jensen makes the pass but then barges the Herberth Motorsports Porsche out of the way! That was a cheeky move! A full service green flag pit stop for the #22 United Autosports Oreca team. No driver change. Fuel going in, and perhaps tires will be changed. But no driver change at this moment at United Autosports.
No windscreen tear off for the team and it is expected that Jim McGuire will get into the car but not now. A little early for a tear off. Ahmad Al Harthy goes to the lead. From fourth place, car #43 in the lane for fuel only. It is a very different race today than what we saw yesterday. Trouble now for the #5 DKR Engineering Duqueine in LMP3! This could be trouble with the starter motor for the duo of Valentino Catalano of Germany and Tom van Rompuy of Belgium. I believe the case is that the starter motor is getting too hot and needs to be cooled so the Nissan V8 engine can be started again without stalling. There is heat soak on the starter motor.
The top three LMP3 cars are all in the lane now including the #29 MV2S entry leading the race having now completed 32 laps, 105 miles. Pit lane is extremely busy and there are driver changes. Rob Bell in the McLaren wants to make a move on Alfred Renauer. The Porsche can eke out a tiny advantage over the McLaren 720S GT3. Bell in the #59 Garage 59 McLaren that he is sharing with fellow British driver Nick Halstead and with Louis Prette of Monaco. Bell is monstering Renauer as we have crossed over one hour of this race being completed. At this moment, I don't believe the 4 liter turbo V8 in the McLaren has the horsepower to match the flat six in the Porsche.
Bell is surely frustrated as these two are both closing in fast on Martin Konrad for second spot. #22 in the lane now at the hour and ten minute mark with Jim McGuire in the car and they are going for fuel and a tire change. We will see what Jim McGuire can do as from the lead they pitted having now completed 39 laps, 128 miles. #98 goes through for the LMP2 lead and the overall lead. Ahmad Al Harthy running very well in his first weekend in an LMP2 car. #29, the MV2S entry in LMP3 runs wide and off track. He has to give it up and give the position back. That is Jerome de Sadeleer at the wheel of it, the Swiss driver.
de Sadeleer sharing Vyacheslav Gutak of Russia and Fabien Lavergne of France. He is being challenged by the #18 360 Racing Ligier with France's Frederic Jousset at the controls. Jousset sharing with British driver Ross Kaiser and Mexican driver Sebastian Alvarez. Just up the road is the title contending #8 Graff Racing Ligier. That is the car being shared by French drivers Francois Heriau and Fabrice Rossello alongside Spaniard Xavier Lloveras. A good battle brewing in the GT class now too as we have been racing for about an hour and 20 minutes by now. This is a scrap for second. Martin Konrad, the Austrian, aboard the #7 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3 wants to take that spot away from the #95 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the hands of Englishman John Hartshorne.
Anxious moments indeed as the championship leading LMP2 cars thread the needle through this GT3 traffic. One of the LMP3 cars is also in this frame as we watch the action. One of the Rinaldi Racing LMP3 entries. That is car #55 being driven by Matthias Luthen of Germany sharing with countryman Jonas Ried and with British driver Lorcan Hanafin. Konrad in the meantime is losing boatloads of time to John Hartshorne and he wants to make a move on the Aston Martin driver and get past him. While these chaps are squabbling for position, all this is allowing Klaus Bachler to speed away. Bachler is very rapid in a GT3 Porsche. We have seen it in the European championships, in IMSA, and here in the Asian Le Mans Series. He is a wheelman wherever he races.
At Herberth Motorsports they still need to put their Bronze rated driver in the car, that is the aforementioned Antares Au who we were just talking about, the Hong Kong driver. Hartshorne runs really deep into the entrance of the turn and is going to give Martin Konrad the spot. I think he gift wrapped it but Martin Konrad seals the envelope and sends it! It's a drag race down the straightaway with two cars with very similar motors. Although, the Aston Martin is turbocharged and the Mercedes is not. Both are V8's but the Mercedes has a much bigger displacement. That is a 6.2 liter normally aspirated V8 compared to the Aston Martin turbo V8 which is 4 liters.
This is wickedly good racing between the two of them! Hartshorne is still hanging tough on the outside! Konrad has the pass done, and has tucked poor old Hartshorne up like a kipper there, taking the Aston Martin man by surprise no doubt. OK. I just repeated myself because tucking someone up like a kipper in British slang is literally taking them by surprise. When you have target fixation, the car in front of you, not the apex, you overshoot it and don't turn in. That is just what happened and allowed Konrad to make his move to second spot. Now we move back to the lead battle among the LMP2 cars. United Autosports #22 vs. Inter Europol Competition #43. This is a battle of the American drivers as Charlie Crews wants by Jim McGuire.
Crews is not close enough yet to McGuire and will have to make the move either out of the final corner or down into turn one. Ah yes. Crews makes his move in the final turn and takes the lead away from McGuire. That one is done and dusted for now. We are working lap 48, so we have now gone 157 miles. This lead battle is ten seconds ahead of the third place 99 Racing Oreca, the #98 car, the ironically numbered #98 machine. Meanwhile, as we close in on two and a half hours to go, Liam Talbot has spun the #72 HubAuto Mercedes! Yikes! He quickly recovers but will drop like a stone down the order. Let's see in this replay what happened.
Oof! He tried making a move on the #10 Mercedes and had too much load on the front axle into the turn, lightened the rear end of the car and he spun out. The #91 Herberth Motorsports Porsche almost got collected in that mishap as did the aforementioned #10 Mercedes, the GetSpeed car. Big trouble on the road! One of the LMP3 contenders is off! It is the #9 Graff Racing car with a broken left rear wheel! There was a Race Control message we have as well, a drive through penalty issued to car #77 for abusing track limits. #77 is the D'station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 shared by British driver Charlie Fagg and Japanese drivers Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii.
Yellow flag is out. Car #43 for Inter Europol now leads the race by nearly seven seconds over the #98 99 Racing car and the leader has completed 50 laps, 164 miles. In replay, we can see the #9 side by side with the #55 he lost control all by himself and slammed into the #55 which was trying hard to take evasive action! Wow! Unreal! Both cars completely unsighted and this could deploy a safety car for sure. That is Spaniard Belen Garcia at the wheel of #9 sharing with Eric Trouillet of France and Sebastien Page of Switzerland.
6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow. We are under Full Course Yellow. Debris at several points on the track and we have the #55 car being backed into the garage. #55 looks to need repairs and might be out of this one. That is the Rinaldi Racing entry we mentioned earlier, the Hanafin/Luthen/Ried car. There's oil or water or some form of fluid all over the road there and so the red and yellow slippery surface flags will indeed be out to warn the drivers to be careful. Oh dear! At least two cars did not see the slippery surface flags as the #77 Aston Martin may have already been parked and now the #99 Herberth Motorsports Porsche spins off. The #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca continues to lead the race by nearly 18 seconds having completed 51 laps, 167 miles.
The #17 Cool Racing Oreca, yesterday's race winner, he is off the road as well! 4, 3, 2, 1. We are back to green flag racing now here at Yas Marina with the halfway mark of the race approaching fast. Two hours and 16 minutes on the board yet. Charlie Crews coming off turn seven and got deep into turn six but he is doing a fabulous job and has been a real surprise of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series, now leading the motor race as Malthe Jakobsen passes Jim McGuire for fourth. McGuire after making contact with the BMW M4 GT3 (I believe the Walkenhorst Motorsports car), has lost a dive plane off the nose of the #22 United Autosports Oreca.
Jakobsen is now making inroads from fourth place on the leaders who we follow currently, the #43 and #98 cars. Malthe Jakobsen will be applying the blowtorch indeed/ Crews gets snookered and is passed by Ahmad Al Harthy. Crews should soon have his hands full with the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca in the hands of Ayhacan Guven. We have just crossed the halfway mark in the season finale of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. So less than two hours to go in the season. We have now seen driver changes in both of these cars as Ayhacan Guven is in #3 and Nolan Siegel has just taken over the #43 Inter Europol Competition entry from Charlie Crews.
I should say, Nolan Siegel will take over once Charlie Crews has finished his stint. He has not done so yet so the battle is still between Crews and Guven. My apologies. Guven is still looking to force the issue on Charlie Crews. Guven to the inside of Charlie Crews with LMP3 traffic ahead. Crews tries to make another move on Guven but it won't work. The door was slammed right in his face. Guven is now ten seconds or so behind the leading #98 99 Racing Oreca. Now we see a spin for the #5 DKR Engineering car! That is their LMP3 entry of course that we just spoke about and now, Charlie Crews dives for the pit lane.
Malthe Jakobsen now moves to third spot. The gap was at 38 seconds but could very well have changed as we are notified of a drive through penalty for the #10 car for abuse of track limits. That is the GetSpeed Mercedes AMG GT3 that has had a fraught race today. Malthe Jakobsen, meanwhile, is closing fast on both Ayhacan Guven and on Charlie Crews in the lead. Oh boy! We have a loose wheel! Which car has that come off of? We'll have to find out. It looks like that was one of the Inter Europol cars that had the wheel fall off. Ah. I see everything now.
It was the #53, the first of their three LMP3 Ligier's in the hands of American driver Wyatt Brichacek that suffered that embarrassing moment. You've picked a fine time to leave me loose wheel. In replay, we can see poor old Wyatt Brichacek has run extremely wide and completely lost the left rear as it is bent upwards, and it rolls right off the stub axle. To quote the old song by Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band, "roll me away, roll me away tonight. Roll clean out of sight." He'd be in a boatload of pain, a world of pain, rolling over the curb and mercifully the #53 has made it to the pit lane but with the old three wheels on me wagon scenario rearing it's head.
Car #98 is the overall race leader with an hour and 40 minutes of racing remaining in the season. 99 Racing and the team of Ahmad Al Harthy, Nikita Mazepin, and Neel Jani have now completed 73 laps, 239 and a half miles. The team is trying to push the three-wheeled car into it's own pit box so as to not block the AF Corse pit and put the car on the air jacks. Now, they bring the new left rear wheel out and replace it. They were missing the nut but they got it and hammered it home with the rattle gun. Now, will the wheel stay on the car? Will the car drive and steer properly for the rest of the race in the final hour and 40 minutes of action we have at Yas Marina tonight?
Oh no! We've got every more trouble! Even more trouble! Malthe Jakobsen has spun the #37 Cool Racing Oreca! Yesterday's race winner is in big, big trouble! He is tangled up off of the final corner with another LMP2 car! Jakobsen has had a coming together with the #24! That is the Nielsen Racing LMP2 entry! Dear oh dear! Well, well, well. This flings all the cards in the air and we have just played another round of 52 pickup! Synchronized spinning for both cars into the final turn! Wow! You don't see that every day. Was that Malthe Jakobsen spinning in sympathy to avoid the Nielsen Racing car?
We do not know who is at the wheel of #24. It is either Rodrigo Sales, Ben Hanley, or Mathias Beche. Ah. It is Ben Hanley, the Brit, at the wheel of it. OK. That clarifies things a wee bit but this is still a shemozzle of the highest order. This could very well be a defining moment of this motor race as Charlie Eastwood is 49 seconds in-arrears at the wheel of the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca currently in fourth spot. Jakobsen has rejoined the motor race in third but believe you me, his tires are going to come off that race car in the shape of cubes! Malthe Jakobsen has lost heaps of time, 14 seconds to the overall lead and nine seconds to the new second place man, Nolan Siegel.
We move forward now to less than an hour and 20 minutes to go to the lead battle as now, the #98 car has completed 85 laps of the Yas Marina circuit, 279 miles. The leaders are 3/10ths of a second apart. The race is well and truly on between Nikita Mazepin and Nolan Siegel! Mazepin locks the brakes into the corner and now Nolan Siegel knows he has a head of steam, look. Mazepin is having none of it! He pushes Siegel to the inside! Siegel over the curbs, over the rumble strips and into the dust on the outside of the circuit! Nolan Siegel is going to take the lead and for sure his family are going to bonkers!
Siegel takes the spot away from Mazepin! He can hold it through both of the chicanes and now, can he open an advantage over the former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin? Brilliant driving by Nolan Siegel! But the battle is not over. You know that Nikita Mazepin wants it back. He is going to fight here to the bitter end. Nolan Siegel has to be smart as Mazepin is right on his six and you know that Mazepin is going to send it. He is going to take a lunge at the driver for Inter Europol Competition to try and put 99 Racing back at the top of the shop. Well, well. No dice. Siegel is in the clear. He has him covered, look.
It is going to be tubby bye byes now and Nolan Siegel is going to motor off into the distance. Nolan Siegel kept his foot in it and he was committed to making that pass and taking the lead of this motor race. How close do you like it?! Siegel had a massive drink of courage there and has put Mazepin in the weeds even though Siegel has to have dust and grit all over his tires. His Michelin tires will be trashed. Cool Racing, now with an hour and ten minutes left, have worked their way back to second place but they have incurred the wrath of the stewards and will cop a drive through penalty for contact when Malthe Jakobsen tagged Mathias Beche from behind.
A full-service pit stop in LMP3 for the #29 MV2S Ligier. The LMP3 battle is going to go down to the wire. 85 laps now completed by MV2S, 279 miles. But now, with the pit stop, and a late one at that, Matt Bell in the #4 Nielsen Racing Ligier will lead LMP3 sharing the car with Tony Wells. We fast forward in the action to 53 minutes to go in the season and in less than 15 minutes, at about the 40 minute mark, we are going to see final pit stops for the leaders in LMP2 and the overall. #17, Cool Racing's LMP3 entry is stopping now and so, we wonder when we will see the #8, the better placed Graff Racing LMP3 car in the lane? That is the question. Again, #8 is being shared by Francois Heriau, Xavier Lloveras, and Fabrice Rossello.
The #29 MV2S Ligier has now moved to second in LMP3, 27 and a half seconds behind the leader who has now turned 94 laps in this race, 308 miles. Car #18 from 360 Racing has also made it's final stop with Frenchman Frederic Jousset taking the car to the checkered flag. Matt Bell will do likewise in the #4 car for Nielsen Racing. That has been another cracking race and it is not done yet. We still have about 42 minutes left to run as the gap is decreasing at a rapid rate and Neel Jani is catching Charlie Eastwood hand over fist.
Jani is going to make a pass on Charlie Eastwood! Have a go at this! Have a Captain Cook at this one, ladies and gentlemen! Eastwood makes the pass, or does he? Jani still on the inside. It is not done yet. Kyffin Simpson drives around Eastwood! Where did he come from? Holy smokes! Kyffin Simpson remains ahead of Charlie Eastwood. Charlie Eastwood trheads the needle again! Holy cow! Kyffin Simpson vs. Charlie Eastwood for second spot! Eastwood goes in hot into turn 12 and locks the brakes! Holy smokes! Neel Jani watches all of it unfold and says "I am going to stay out of this mess. Thank you, kindly."
Now then, here's another plot twist as if we needed it. Kyffin Simpson is in the pit lane! Oy! Poor old Simpson is bottled up behind a GT Ferrari as we see a 49 second gap now between Inter Europol Competition and DKR Engineering. 110 laps now complete, 361 miles. Kyffin Simpson has to be thinking the Ferrari driver is going too slow. I am sure he is. "Move it, Mister!" he must be muttering inside his helmet, or more coarse words that are not fit for broadcast. This is a family program. We are making a guess that Charlie Eastwood and DKR Engineering will need a splash and a dash and as we close in on the end of the race and the end of the season, here are your class leaders.
Overall/LMP2: #43 Bogle/Crews/Siegel Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07
LMP3: #8 Heriau/Lloveras/Rossello Graff Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT: #7 Al Zubair/Konrad/Stolz Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo
We have a number of the LMP2 contenders in the lane as we speak. Kyffin Simpson, Nolan Siegel, and the #22 United Autosport entry. Salih Yoluc says he is feeling OK but knows how much time the team has lost. Now then, with 25 minutes to go, it will be fuel only for DKR Engineering and the fueler did not connect the fuel probe to the fuel vent as well as he wanted to. Right now, as we speak, with less than 24 minutes to go, Cool Racing leads Inter Europol Competition. #37 leads #43 to the tune of 7.8 seconds and has completed 115 laps, 377 miles. The gap was 56 seconds or so and now, Cool Racing are about to lap the #25 Algarve Pro car running fifth.
The 56 seconds I referred to (let me correct myself), was not a gap. It was a fuel fill time in the lane. Sorry about that. That much fuel isn't necessary to make it to the end of this one. That was the DKR pit stop. Malthe Jakobsen pits from the lead with 17 minutes left and Nolan Siegel is now the leader letting the #24 Nielsen Racing car through which is back out of the garage. The #8 Graff Racing car, the LMP3 leader is in the pit lane for the final time this season as we see another penalty for the #10 GetSpeed Mercedes, another drive through penalty with barely 15 minutes left in the race and the season.
The drama is building here at Yas Marina. Currently, #43 leads #37 in LMP2 and the overall by 8.9 seconds having completed 120 laps, 394 miles. #8 in the lane and #29 will be in soon. This is a timed stop. #43 to the lane and the same is true for the #34 BMW M4 GT3. Nicky Catsburg did not have enough fuel in the tank to make it home. So he needs a splash and dash and the #7 Mercedes AMG GT3 will retake the GT class lead, the Haupt Racing Team Mercedes for Al Zubair, Konrad, and Stolz. Walkenhorst fueling up as we moved farther ahead and now have just over eight and a half minutes to go before the season ends for Asian Le Mans Series 2023!
Malthe Jakobsen leads the motor race but has a penalty in his future we believe. Oh no! It is game over for Inter Europol Competition and car #43! The all-American team are out of the race with just over eight minutes remaining! A sad end of the race tonight for Charlie Crews, Christian Bogle, and Nolan Siegel! The team is unfastening the rear clip off the #43 and now we see the Mercedes, car #7 retaking the GT lead. No urgency for #43. Game over. Wow! Less than a minute and a half to go in the season and we are going to be treated to one more LMP3 battle in Asian Le Mans Series 2023. This is the #17 Cool Racing car being harried by the #29 MV2S Racing car.
That turns out to be a massive move for position as Cool Racing passes MV2S! If this is the order at the end, MV2S Racing are going to lose the championship to Graff Racing! Oh boy. This is going to be razor thin! Around the outside into turn six, the #17 car makes the pass! Holy mackerel! MV2S were on the wrong side of that coin and the #8 Graff Racing car leads LMP3 completing 122 laps, 400 miles. MV2S have lost the 2023 title in the final moment of on track running! Unbelievable! Heartbreaking for the Spanish team!
This is the final lap. 129 laps will be recorded in the books. 423 miles covered. Charlie Eastwood just has to make the turn under the W Hotel and he will be home and hosed. DKR Engineering will win the finale for the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series! DKR Engineering win the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi tace two! Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc, and Ayhacan Guven do it, and they get the championship and an automatic invitation ot the centenary running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans! The biggest reuslt in the team's history! 99 Racing are second. Malthe Jakobsen takes third in LMP2. Winners in GT, the #7 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3!
It is Al Faisal Al Zubair, Luca Stolz, and Martin Konrad winning the race! Taking second place and taking the title, Walkenhorst Motorsports with their BMW M4 GT3, car #34, for Chandler Hull, Thomas Merrill, and Nicky Catsburg! Walkenhorst Motorsports, former Spa 24 Hours winners, now Asian Le Mans Series champions, and invitees to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans! In LMP3 it is the #8 Graff Racing car that will take the title in the class on countback. They have had a fabulous run this season and have come through to win the Abu Dhabi 4 Hours. Francois Heriau, Xavier Lloveras, and Fabrice Rossello are your LMP3 winners!
Overall/LMP2: #3 Yoluc/Eastwood/Guven DKR Engineering Oreca 07
LMP3: #8 Heriau/Lloveras/Rossello Graff Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT: #7 Al Zubair/Konrad/Stolz Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo
In the championship standings, DKR Engineering take the title by 22 points over Cool Racing followed up by Algarve Pro Racing, 99 Racing, Inter Europol Competition, Nielsen Racing, United Autosports, the sister United Autosports car, and ARC Bratislava. Graff Racing get the title and an invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Graff Racing, on countback, win the title, tied with MV2S Racing on 73 points followed by Nielsen Racing, DKR Engineeering, WTM by Rinaldi Racing, CD Sport, Inter Europol Competition, Cool acing, CD Sport with their second car, and the second Graff Racing LMP3 car.
The two French teams had pace, consistency, and reliabikty and fought all the way to the bitter end. In GT, it is time for the podium. Two in a row for Al Manara Racing and HRT. Perfect pit stops and no penalties. Haupt Racing team win the battle but lose the war by 11 points as Walkenhorst Motorsport take the season title 82 points to 71 points. The order continues for the top ten as Walkenhorst Motorsport, Haupt Racing Team, GetSpeed, Herberth Motorsport, Leipert Motosport, AF Corse, the second Herberth Motorsport entry, Garage 59, Hub Auto Racing, and D'station Racing.
That's a wrap for the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. DKR and Graff scored the overall titles in LMP2 and LMP3 and have their Le Mans invitations. Haupt Racing Team win the race and Walkenhorst win the title and the Le Mans invite. We'll see you in 2024. So long for now, everybody. Take care.
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