Welcome, everybody, to another season of the Asian Le Mans Series. Once again, this year, the championship ran over two consecutive weekends in the month of February at familiar tracks in the Middle East. Two races at the Dubai Autodrome where the 24 Hours of Dubai GT and touring car event is held every January, and at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi which is home of the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. We begin, with the first event of the year, race one in Dubai. Freighting issues for the teams and their cars, means, that we shall stick to this tried-and-true schedule for the 2023 season just as has been the case the last couple of years. Three classes are in competition. LMP2, LMP3, and GT. We have 48 cars entered and battling for three entry invitations for the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans. We join Oliver Gavin from the commentary team, to take us on a hot lap around the Dubai Autodrome.
We are aboard the #61 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT car. This circuit is 5.39 kilometers long, 3.369 miles, with 16 corners. Across the start/finish line we go, plunging downhill through turn one and into a high speed, sweeping section hard on the left front tire. Watch for the prototypes if you are driving a GT3 car. Turn six is the lowest part of the course before winding into the seventh corners. Second gear at around 100 kilometers an hour, so that is roughly 63 miles an hour. Up through the gears again, into turn nine. This banked turn is critical for achieving a good lap time. We are flying down the straightaway, the backstretch, at 260 kilometers an hour or so, translating in new money to nearly 163 miles an hour.
Hard braking then, into turn ten and the slowest part of the race track here in Dubai at around 65 kilometers an hour, getting to the apex. 40-41 miles an hour, roughly. On the power into turn 11, sweeping through to another hairpin. Down to 80 clicks, 50 miles an hour, holding the car in third gear on the exit of the turn. Keep the traction through here. Through turn 13, increasing speed to 220 kilometers an hour (138 miles an hour), hard on the brakes for another hairpin at 80 kilometers an hour, 50 miles an hour. That is roughly safety car speed.
Drive off the corner and into turn 15, breathe the throttle, up and over the crest and into the 16th and final corner on the circuit up to where we started the lap. Use the curb on the exit of 16 and that is a lap of the Dubai Autodrome. Qualifications are done and dusted and we'll break down how things went with our presenters Hayley Edmonds, Graham Goodwin, and Oliver Gavin, going into the race today. The first moments of qualifying looked to be peachy! Then, whack! An incident on the road with the Dinamic Motorsports Porsche in GT! That was a huge crash for the Porsche with heavy damage sustained to the front end of the 911 GT3R!
Session stopped, red flag, and we were down for some two hours while the safety crews cleaned everything up. Once things got running again, the GT qualifying session was a battle between the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of American driver Thomas Merrill, and Martin Konrad, the rapid Austrian Mercedes driver aboard the #7, the second of two Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo's. Thomas Merrill ultimately scored pole for both races here in Dubai. Martin Konrad sharing the #7 car with German Mercedes factory driver Luca Stolz and Al Faisal Al Zubair of Oman.
Great qualifying for both LMP2 and LMP3 in their 20-minute session as Graham Goodwin tells us the abbreviated version of that story. Different drivers, cars, and teams compared to what we have seen in the European Le Mans Series. Recall, yours truly just finished covering the 2022 ELMS season. Charlie Crews, the American driver, making his debut at the wheel of an LMP2 car put in a stellar drive in qualifying. Pole position, convincingly for both races here in Dubai for the #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Crews is set to share alongside fellow American drivers Nolan Siegel and Christian Bogle.
This seems like a team to keep an eye on for both races this weekend. Salih Yoluc, the reigning LMP2 champion in Europe, but this time, with a different team. Yoluc, the Turkish driver, is racing the Asian Le Mans Series with DKR Engineering aboard their #3 car for the team out of Luxembourg. Yoluc is sharing the car with fellow Turkish driver Ayhancan Guven and Charlie Eastwood from Ireland. We are going to see a battle royal in LMP2. In LMP3, at the top of the shop it is the defending champion from a year ago, Nick Adcock, the Brit, driving the #1 CD Sport Ligier JS P320 Nissan and sharing with Danish drivers Valdemar Eriksen and Michael Jensen.
On the pole in LMP3 though, it is the #11 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine chassis. Keep in mind, like the LMP2 cars with their 4.2-liter Gibson Technologies V8's, these cars have spec Nissan 5.6-liter V8 naturally aspirated engines, but unlike the LMP2's which have the Oreca as the preferred chassis, in LMP3, we do tend, across the globe, to see variety in the chassis/tub used. Anyhow, WTM are on the pole and their rapid German driver Torsten Kratz put them there. Kratz is sharing countryman Leonard Weiss and experienced LMP3 driver Nicolas Varrone, from Argentina. We are going to see a situation, I believe, (in agreement with Mr. Goodwin), that if WTM has the speed and the reliability, which they did not have in 2022, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the LMP3 ranks.
We have two great races coming up and the first of them is moments away. Stay tuned, everyone. You do not want to miss this! We are just about to see the green flag which signifies the cars shall roll off in grid formation behind the safety car for the formation lap. The drivers are focused on getting he car in the zone, the window, for tire, brake, engine, and gearbox temperatures. It will be tricky. The circuit and the track surface have been challeniging. Be smart and watch out for the sand. The green flag waves from the start gantry along with the UAE flag.
Pure Racing was having an issue with getting their car started and off the line for the rolling formation lap. Actually, that mght have been one of the four Herberth Motorsports entered Porsche 911 GT3R's we have in this event and throughout the championship. Watch for the sand and keep the tires cleaned. Fans are in the grandstands. We have seen a problem already for the #23 Oreca 07 of United Autosports. This is the second of their two cars with Oliver Jarvis as the lead driver, from England, sharing with Australian's Garnet Patterson and Yasser Shahin.
They qualified second on the grid well up the order, or on the second row. But now, they shall have to start from the pit lane. Not only that, but, they will also start a lap down and have to join in at the tail end of the queue with one lap completed in the race. We'll have to find out what the trouble is. Meantime, we have a huge 46 car grid for this race as the red lights go out and we are underway for race one here at Duabi Autodrome!
Charlie Crews has the jump on the rest of the field as the LMP2 cars fan out across the track. To the outside, the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca, the Eastwood/Yoluc/Guven entry. Charlie Crews keeps the car on the island as some congestion is developing in the middle of the pack. Everyone seems to be through cleanly except for one. One of the Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R's has looped it. #33 has spun, the second of the team's four Porsche 911 GT3R's, the 991 generation two model. Antares Au of Hong Kong, Austrian Klaus Bachler, and Alfred Renauer of Germany are the three drivers listed. Hard to say who's the starting driver.
It sounds like electrical problems for the #23 car for United Autosports. They should get into the race shortly and make up time. Charlie Crews and Salih Yoluc are both running hard and as we can see in the picture, they've already put a fair amount of the fading daylight between themselves and the rest of the pack in LMP2 or otherwise. We know Charlie Crews has the pace and can he and the Inter Europol team keep it throughout the race? Meanwhile, there is a fight on for third spot between cars #24 and #25. #25 trying to pass, and cannot make it without rattling the curbs. In this battle, look, the #25 is Algarve Pro Racing from Portugal vs. #24 Nielsen Racing from England.
Algarve Pro has James Allen from Australia, American racer John Falb, and the rapid and rising star Kyffin Simpson from Barbados on the driver's strength. Nielsen Racing, car #24, that one is being shared by American Rodrigo Sales, British LMP2 veteran Ben Hanley, and Mathias Beche from Switzerland, another veteran of the category. In LMP3, the battle is also on in earnest between Cool Racing car #17 and Graff Racing car #8. Into turn 14 they go. Some different drivers in these cars than we are used to seeing in the European Le Mans Series. #17 being shared by Adrien Chila of France, Cedric Oltramare of Switzerland, and Argentinian Marcos Siebert.
Another contender is the #37 Cool Racing Oreca. Things are neat and tidy between these three thus far as we have just barely gotten underway in race one at Dubai Autodrome this evening. On a full fuel load, look after the car. Don't damage the floor. Don't damage the car. We have a side-by-side LMP3 battle as well between the #17 Cool Racing Ligier and the Graff Racing Ligier, car #8. The #8 entry for Graff Racing has on the driver's strength, Frenchmen Francois Heriau and Fabrice Rosello, sharing with Spaniard Belen Garcia. Whoops. Bullitt Racing are in trouble in the GT class, car #66. That is the Aston Martin Vantage off the road and stopped at turn ten, with Martin Berry from Australia at the wheel of it. Berry sharing with veteran French GT racer Valentin Hasse-Clot and Germany's Jacob Riegel. Berry has done a lot of racing in Japan but has had a fraught start to his 2023 campaign in Asian Le Mans Series competition. Meanwhile, nose to tail racing in LMP3.
Berry's Aston Martin all torn up with smoke coming off one of the rear wheels. He has had a wheel failure or has had contact someplace on the circuit. The tire is not flat but I think the right rear wheel is broken and that is where the smoke is emanating from. Meanwhile, just past the 20 minute mark in the race, Cool Racing are in big, big trouble! Alexandre Coigny, the rapid Swiss driver, is off the road! No Hoppe Suisse today I am afraid. Coigny sharing with team boss, Frenchman, Nicolas Lapierre, and with Malthe Jakobsen from Denmark.
Coigny is parked at the side of the road, fire belching from the exhaust which means he may get the car running again, but the left rear tire could be low, or flat. Wow! In replay, we can see that he had contact with another car, the D'station Aston Martin from the GT class, car #77 with British driver Charlie Fagg, and Japanese drivers Satoshi Hoshino and Tomonobu Fujii. These three are regulars in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the GTE Am class. Race Director Edoardo Freitas makes the call on the radio. Full Course Yellow.
So, there will be the recovery process by the marshals, and the issue we are going to see here with these LMP2 cars is that the Oreca 07 is a very difficult car to get into reverse gear. We have seen these cars universally in different championships whether it is here in the Asian Le Mans Series, in the European Le Mans Series, the World Endurance Championship or the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Reversing the car, that is the Achilles heel of the Oreca I'm afraid. He had the fire in the hole but is having a tough old time getting the car into reverse as we see Satoshi Hoshino and the D'station Aston Martin into the pit lane.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow removed as we watch first of all the McIntosh liveried BMW M4 GT3. That is the aforementioned Walkenhorst Motorsport car for Dutchman Nicky Catsburg racing alongside American drivers Chandler Hull and Thomas Merrill. Oh dear! Just as we hear "Full Course Yellow removed" from Edoardo Freitas, there is a spin as one of the LMP2 cars gets tagged! John Falb wanted to get the jump on the Nielsen Racing car but did the opposite and sent himself spinning! That is a fairly harmless looking spin but he will lose bucketloads of time and several positions on the road.
Rodrigo Sales moves past Falb for third spot. Cold tires and mashing the throttle too early resulted in that rotation as there is dust all over the road. We are in the desert after all. It is very slippery on the track and we have had high winds to deal with that blow all the sand onto the surface of the track. Lap by lap the conditions are going to get worse as the ambient temperature is cooling and darkness is falling with every tick of the clock. Car #11 leads the LMP3 class, the WTM (Wochenspiegel Team Monschau), followed by at least one LMP2 car. I am trying to get a read on who that LMP2 is. #73 is gaining. That is the third of the Inter Europol Competition LMP3 Ligier's.
Alexander Bukhantsov now registered under a St. Kitts & Nevis racing license is sharing with Englishman James Winslow and Australian John Corbett. We did not see this coming but there is trouble in paradise, look, for the #11! There's smoke or sand coming up from the tail and perhaps there is an intermittent electrical problem on the car. Cars #6 and #60 are being pinged with drive through penalties for track limits. #6 is the other Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3 of Frank Bird from England, Frenchman Michael Blanchemain, and Indian driver Arjun Maini.
The #60 car is the GT class Formula Racing Ferrari 488 GT3, the all-Danish trio of Conrad Laursen, Johnny Laursen, and Nicklas Nielsen. Cruel luck for Torsten Kratz and car #11. The pit crew umps on the car, fueling it first and Torsten Kratz is clearly very upset. The trouble is that he was stuck in gear according to his co-driver Leonard Weiss. The team says they have indeed fixed the issue and hopefully it does not recur for the rest of today's race. The team will be in recovery mode as they are starting on pole for tomorrow's race as well.
The battle is afoot for third place in LMP2 between Rodrigo Sales and John Falb. #24 vs. #25. Nielsen Racing vs. Algarve Pro Racing. Falb is clearly getting inside Sales' mind, and he is spending more time looking in his mirrors than out the windshield. Sales is pushing Falb out wider in the corner apex and not making good time. Falb has the quicker of these two cars as we have indeed crossed over the hour mark in this race. Keep in mind, all of these Asian Le Mans Series events, much like the European Le Mans Series races, are four hours in duration. Sales' tires are going to be really dirty. Green flag pit stops now underway for the GT lead cars with what, an hour and five minutes on the board.
Chandler Hull has brought in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 and right behind them is the #72 HubAuto Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo, being shared by Jules Gounon, the Andorra domiciled Frenchman (Andorran licensed, actually, not domiciled), Ollie Milroy from England (a man who we are used to seeing race McLaren's quite frequently), and Aussie Liam Talbot. The top three GT cars did not stop. We now see Alexander West in the lane as well, driving the #88 car. That is the second of the two Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3's.
West, from Sweden, is sharing with Danish driver Benjamin Goethe, and for the races in Dubai, Tom Gamble from England. Johnny Laursen has made his pit stop in the #60 Formula Racing Ferrari. Service is finished at HubAuto and the Mercedes is released from the lane. Ollie Milroy is doing all he can to put temperature into those Michelin tires as they are green, and therefore, they are stone cold. Thomas Merrill has now taken over the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW. We have a new leader in the GT class. It is the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo 2020. This is the car being shared by Stefano Constantini of Italy, Simon Mann from Great Britain, and veteran Miguel Molina from Spain.
Constantini is at the wheel of the #21 and he is leading by seven seconds, not from the Lamborghini behind him, but from the #7 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes. Incidentally, that Lamborghini we are looking at, is the sole Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo in the field. The #19 Leipert Motorsports entry from Germany. We have seen that team in the Creventic 24 Hour Series in Europe and elsewhere in the past, and of course they race the 24 Hours of Dubai here at the Dubai Autodrome every January. That car from Leipert Motorsports is being driven by Brendon Leitch from New Zealand, Italian Lamborghini veteran Marco Mapelli, and Gabriel Rindone from Luxembourg.
Good spot, Oliver. Our mate in the booth Oliver Gavin has picked up on the fact that Ferrari #21, Stefano Constantini, he has damage to the right rear wing of the car and the small end plate on that side is either halved or missing. Any damage to that rear wing, aerodynamically, is going to be a loss in performance. We have talked about it time and time again. These GT3 cars are aerodynamically sensitive to the same level as a prototype. So any bodywork damage, it is a bear to deal with especially on the wing. We've seen it in every championship that has GT3 cars. IMSA, SRO, Asian Le Mans Series, Creventic... whatever the sanctioning body, it does not matter. The aero on a GT3 car is crucial.
In theory, the team can change the rear wing on the next visit to the pit lane. Right now, at the top of the shop in GT3, Stefano Constantini leads in the Ferrari ahead of two of the Mercedes AMG GT3's The #7 Haupt Racing Team AMG GT3 with Martin Konrad at the wheel of it, and the #10 GetSpeed run AMG GT3 in the hands of German Florian Scholze. GetSpeed Performance have two cars entered in 2023. #10 being driven by German drivers Florian Scholze and Fabian Schiller, and the multiple GT3 champion and race winner, Raffaele Marciello, the Swiss-born Italian. Again, Martin Konrad is now second. Pit stop time at an hour and 11 minutes for the LMP3 leading #73 Inter Europol Competition Ligier.
Alexander Bukhantsov is driving currently, running sixth in the overall with the aforementioned co-drivers James Winslow and John Corbett. We have also seen the #17 and #11 cars in the pit lane. #17 is Cool Racing's Ligier that we have mentioned already and of the three drivers I do not know who is at the controls, presently. Sadly, though they are back out, it is going to be a fraught recovery in the first race of the season for WTM. The #11 car is buried down in 45th place. Our leader is in. The #43 Inter Europol Oreca is pitting for service and a driver change. Charles Crews has done his drive time and will hand over to one of his two co-drivers. He has done marvelously for his first time racing an LMP2 car and is ten seconds to the good over the competition in his first drive in an LMP2 car.
With Crews pitting, this should put the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca 07 in the erstwhile lead. Fuel in the tank and new boots on the car. I think Charles Crews had built up a six or seven second advantage while in P1 in his most recent stint. Blimey! It was double that. He had a 13 second lead! Well, well, well. Salih Yoluc is driving the #3 car and may take over the top spot here in a wee while as things cycle through. Alright. We have seen driver changes as we move ahead in our race highlights coverage to just over an hour and 20 minutes in. American driver Christian Bogle has taken over the #43 while the #3 is piloted by another Turkish driver on their team, Ayhancan Guven.
Let's see how evenly matched in driving skill these two blokes are. Bogle vs. Guven. Guven is also making his debut at the wheel of an LMP2 and man alive, he has to put the squeeze play on another car! That was a shedload of commitment for Guven there, passing one of the Porsche's in GT and then, albeit more easily done, giving one of the Aston Martin Vantage's the same treatment. Guven on pace is doing all he can to pass Bogle! It is going to be a drag race down the backstretch. Equal cars. Oreca chassis, Gibson Technologies 4.2 liter naturally aspirated V8 engine. Guven is going for the lead but he is going to be balked by both another LMP2 car and an LMP3!
Egad! I wonder how this lot is going to sort things out. #43 is going to try making an inside move. Now then, the two cars they are trying to pass are the #53 LMP3 entry, yet another Inter Europol Competition entered Ligier. The three drivers, American Wyatt Brichacek, Kai Askey from England, and Portuguese driver Miguel Cristovao. There was no way through for #43 as the sister LMP3 car from the same team unintentionally plays the role of the blocker! So, Ayhancan Guven stays in the clear in the DKR Engineering Oreca, car #3, for now. DKR Engineering are really taking this race in both hands and laying down some impressive lap times. We have an interview with Charles Crews right now.
He says the race has gone according to plan so far. Building the gap was their intent. Now, Crews admits the team was taking a conservative approach and lost some of their gap during the Full Course Yellow we saw earlier. Crews says he and his co-drivers are steadily getting acquainted with the LMP2 car. I think he is one of the drivers who is in an LMP2 for the first time in his career. I also believe the same can be said for his co-drivers Christian Bogle and Nolan Siegel. Nolan Siegel, we have seen him racing in IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge competition. So he has gone between a GT4 car and an LMP3 car and I think this is one of his first races in an LMP2.
Of course, this race I am bringing it to you far later than when it happened, and since this event, Nolan Siegel did run at the 12 Hours of Sebring in an LMP3 car to the best of my knowledge. Crews mentions that with no testing, getting used to the car has been difficult and by the time we get to the next doubleheader in Abu Dhabi next weekend, everyone should be on pace. Such are the pitfalls of racing four races within the span of only two weekends and calling it a season. But that has been the routine in the Asian Le Mans Series in recent years.
This whole scenario came together as Charles Crews, Christian Bogle, and Nolan Siegel work together closely in racing. Charles Crews is Nolan Siegel's driver coach and in turn, Christian and Nolan are teammates in open wheel racing stateside in the Indy Lights/Indy Next series which is the feeder series to the IndyCar championship. With the all-American driver lineup, the #43 car has the nickname "Ms. America". They get along well and have a great time. Closing in on the halfway point in the first race of the weekend and the season, and we have a Full Course Yellow. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. We are under Full Course Yellow.
We have yet to see what this is for. But, now we understand that it is for debris on track and with looming darkness the marshals want to clean it up ASAP and allow us more time for racing. Thomas Merrill brings the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 to pit lane from the GT class lead. They have had a good start to their 2023 Asian Le Mans Series campaign and this new BMW M4 GT3 looks good. This car has been a strong platform in every GT3 based series it has competed in. This black and blue McIntosh livery (and no, I don't think it is the computers), was also fielded by the Turner Motorsports team at the Rolex 24 and at the 12 Hours of Sebring just recently.
This is a timed stop and so, Merrill waits in the box before being released back onto the circuit. Do it now and you won't lose out to your competitors when we get down to crunch time and this race comes towards it's climax. 15 seconds to end Full Course Yellow. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow removed. Just under two hours and 15 minutes to go as Race Director Edoardo Freitas is letting a team know they must stop to make repairs. Car #17 is told to make a pit stop for emergency service ASAP as one of the cheese wedges, and hence, the rear taillamp is missing.
That is the Cool Racing car running third in the LMP3 class, Frenchman Adrien Chila at the wheel of it. The wedges are the compliance panels on the rear of the car. Adrien Chila will have to visit the pit lane racing behind Tony Wells right now. Cool Racing vs. Nielsen Racing. Yet another car off the road, but that is to be expected as in the second half of this race we have transitioned from daylight/twilight into full darkness where everyone will be using their headlights. One of the other cars is in a spot of bother, the #15 RLR MSport Ligier JS P320 Nissan. Car #15 is being shared by American driver Bijoy Garg, Amir Feyzulin from Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Australian Andres Latorre Canon.
We move ahead to just over an hour and a half to go as the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca pits from the race lead and Charlie Eastwood it appears, has finished his stint and hands over to Ayhacan Guven. I digress. Correction. Guven has finished driving and Charlie Eastwood it appears, is ready to take over. Many of these sports car drivers also do work behind the scenes on simulators for Formula 1 teams hoping to get a drive in the top echelons of open wheel racing and motorsports. Sports cars are at the top echelon indeed, but Formula 1 is the dream, and perhaps, IndyCar, too, is a good goal.
Formula E, too. To complete points on your FIA license, you have to win a championship. The talent level that we are seeing in the top levels of sports car racing is through the roof. Believe me. Attention, open wheel teams in Formula 1 and IndyCar. Keep an eye out for drivers of the future coming from sports cars. It appears DKR Engineering have now taken their fourth pit stop of this race as Charlie Eastwood is out on track in full darkness for his driving stint as we are past the halfway mark in race one at Dubai Autodrome with an hour and a half or so left on the board. So, the battle will be on in LMP2 among drivers such as James Allen, Nolan Siegel, and Ben Hanley.
Neel Jani has not taken his stint for 99 Racing. The Swiss driver sharing with Russian driver Nikita Mazepin (a former Formula 1 driver), and with Portuguese driver Goncalo Gomes. The top of the shop then, is occupied by #98, #25, and #3. 99 Racing with Nikita Mazepin. Algarve Pro Racing with James Allen, and DKR Engineering with Charlie Eastwood. They fly into turn ten and here comes James Allen, trying to pass and he goes back to the other side of the road and Allen is caught napping as Charlie Eastwood says, "thanks, mate" and makes a clean pass. This is a spectacular battle in the darkness! Allen is doing all he can to make a move as well.
This is wonderful racing in the dark at Dubai Autodrome! This is so much fun to watch! All three of these cars have led the race at one time or another as has the fourth place Inter Europol Oreca, car #43 as I understand we are going Full Course Yellow in 30 seconds and have to find a cause for that. Do we have a yellow flag? 3... 2... 1... Full Course Yellow. Yes. Edoardo Freitas, the Race Director, calls it. We are indeed under Full Course Yellow conditions. So, the #98 takes the opportunity to pit from the lead. Jani is in the lane but DKR Engineering are going to gamble. They are rolling the dice, staying out.
Graff Racing have pitted in LMP3, the #8 car and now, the #43 Inter Europol car is also in. So, we are seeing DKR Engineering will assume the lead of the motor race but are going to be off strategy presently. DKR have had four pit stops so far and I think all LMP2 cars have gone through all their required pit stops by dint of having to pit more often with reduced fuel tank size. Charlie Eastwood, James Allen, Neel Jani, Nolan Siegel, and Paul di Resta, your top six runners in LMP2. The GT3 cars in the lane as well. DKR Engineering are surely rolling the dice pitting a lap later than everyone else hoping for an extended Full Course Yellow now with just an hour and ten minutes of racing left as we move forward in our highlighted coverage of race one of the Asian Le Mans Series here at the Dubai Autodrome.
We have the second race coming up tomorrow. I want to say that DKR Engineering are doing this particular pit strategy to avoid congestion in the lane. That is what all of this is about as we look again at the top three runners in LMP2. Charlie Eastwood leading Neel Jani and James Allen. Generally speaking, our Asian Le Mans Series Race Director, Edoardo Freitas, will let the teams know how long he and the race control staff and marshals will leave the Full Course Yellow out before returning the speedway to green flag conditions. This helps manage the congestion in the pits. Neel Jani is now tucked up right behind the Inter Europol car as we are looking for a restart. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow removed. Thank you very much. Green flag!
We have an hour and eight minutes to go in race one here at Dubai Autodrome. There is still debris on the road. It could be spent debris from tires. Hopefully it isn't shrapnel. Wow! Did you see that? Nolan Siegel gets completely swamped! Charlie Eastwood took off like a rocket! The battle is now on in earnest. Another car struggling with coming back up to speed. That is the #16, the second of the two GetSpeed Performance Mercedes AMG GT3's being driven by Swiss veteran Alexnadre Imperatori and Chinese drivers Zhou Bihuang and Wang Zhongwei.
Go for it, sunshine! Neel Jani has his hands full. James Allen in the lane for service at Algarve Pro Racing under team boss Stuart Cox. A tear off removed from the windscreen is manna from heaven for a driver as he has a clean and clear view ahead which helps tremendously. Car #24 from Nielsen Racing is in as well. Half an hour to go now. We are getting close to the end of round one for the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. That was a 50 second pit stop for James allen as we look at the breakdown of how many stops the LMP2 frontrunners have made. Everyone else has made six stops including Algarve Pro Racing, Nielsen Racing, 99 Racing, Inter Europol Competition, and United Autosports, leaving DKR Engineering the only team yet to pit, from the lead.
But, you can bet they don't want to relinquish any ground. Ben Hanley of corurse remains at the wheel of the #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca and I wonder if he too got a tear off taken off for a fresh and clean windscreen as well. You would think so. Trouble for Hanley, though because he was stationary in the box for a minute and seven seconds. Way too slow! He is going to lose gobs of time and oodles of track position after that! 99 Racing are coming in a hurry with a head of steam. Under half an hour to go as DKR Engineering plays the strategy of pitting a lap later than their competition. This pit stop could very well determine the outcome of the race.
Charlie Eastwood and DKR may only take fuel this time. No windscreen tearoff this time. Team 99 in as well. Team 99 in car #98. Some irony there. #25 coming t0 the final turn. We are looking to see where the DKR car is after they have completed a 50 second stop. Oh criminy! DKR are still on the pit lane! DKR are coming back on track now, and James Allen takes the lead away. 58 seconds in the lane for DKR! The #16 GetSpeed Performance Mercedes AMG GT3 is back on the circuit but traveling very slowly. 59 seconds in the pit lane as well for the 99 Racing car, which of course is numbered #98. Just to make things a wee bit more confusing for all of us, yours truly writing the race report, and you all out there in cyberspace, reading it.
Nielsen Racing also had a slow stop. Trouble in paradise for the #43! Stand by. We will get to that situation. Right now, here are your class leaders within 27 minutes or so of the finish of the race.
Overall/LMP2: #3 Eastwood/Guven/Yoluc DKR Engineering Oreca 07
LMP3: #8 Heriau/Lloveras/Rossello Graff Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT: #34 Catsburg/Hull/Merrill Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3
Will these leaders stay the same to the end? Will things change? Folks, it is crunch time here in race one in Dubai. Keep reading to find out what happens as the drama unfolds and we look forward to a thrilling conclusion to the race. Don't miss it. Uh oh! Just as I say there, there is smoke coming off the back of the #43! Could it be game over for the Inter Europol Competition car? This is the all-American entry for that team! I hate to burst your bubble, everybody. But Charles Crews, Nolan Siegel, and Christian Bogle could be in a spot of bother here.
There's a puncture, or worse. I think he has broken suspension on the car! I think there's a failure in the upright, or the spring or something. Left rear corner cattywampus on that car. #43 was side by side with #3. DKR Engineering were a quarter of a second ahead of the Inter Europol entry! Well, well, well. This shakes things up. Was there contact with a competitor in the darkness for the #43? Neel Jani reassumes third spot aboard the #98 99 Racing Oreca. It is not the tire. I really believe this whole incident is due to suspension damage.
Boys, I'm afraid changing that tire is not going to help matters. We can see one of the mechanics armed with a tire. Boys, I'm sorry to tell you. It is not a tire. Your rear suspension is totally busted. Nolan Siegel is in the car, running in fourth place right now but I fear that car shall plummet down the order and fast. Finally, I think one of the team members sees the problem and sees that the suspension has completely collapsed. Don't panic. The wheel is not centered on the stub axle. It's game over, boys. I'm sorry.
This is heartrending for the pit crew. Up until what we have just seen, in his first LMP2 race, Nolan Siegel was battling with Neel Jani. The pace is there. An unfortunate failure for the team but they do have race winning potential. The wheel bearing failed. It was a completely unexpected, freak, shock failure. They'll be back tomorrow. Now we move to the GT class and a battle for second with 16 minutes to go before the race ends, between two Mercedes'. Luca Stolz in the #7 Haupt Racing Team AMG GT3 has it, and Fabian Schiller in the #10 Getspeed car, wants it. Tune in right now. It is the Luca and Fabian show!
There's half a second between them. Third, and half a second away from this scrap (so, he won't make inroads) is Harry King in the third Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. This car runs their well known #91. King, the British Porsche ace in 911 Cup cars, sharing with United Kingdom licensed Russian driver Alex Malykhin and Joel Sturm from Germany. Schiller is doing everything he can, and now, he fires it up the inside and makes a successful pass. Well executed pass and he makes it stick. Great battle in the fight for LMP3 honors as well! #8 is Spaniard Xavier Lloveras under pressure from #29 Fabien Lavergne of France.
Lavergne sharing the #29 MV2S Ligier JS P320 Nissan alongside Vyacheslav Gutak of Russia and Swiss driver Jerome de Sadeleer who figured prominently in a few of the 2022 European Le Mans Series races for this very team in the LMP3 class. Lloveras vs. Lavergne. Ah! The lead changes hands and Lavergne makes the pass. Lavergne seems to have more pace, more performance, and more tire life than Lloveras does. Xavier Lloveras still wants a bite of the cherry. Fast forward the tape. Under nine minutes to go and the Walkenhorst BMW team pull a rabbit out of the hat and are going to make a final pit stop, pulling a blinder perhaps on the Mercedes boys. I wonder. Will this strategy succeed? Will it backfire? We'll find out in a wee while.
Nicky Catbsurg taking the car to the flag and fuel only at Walkenhorst BMW. Catsburg is down and away. Side by side to turn one between BMW and Mercedes for the lead with the BMW coming out of the lane! Wow! Catsburg tried to stop the #7 and he wasn't close enough! Now we have utter confusion. I mentioned that it was the #7 machine who takes the lead. But where on earth is the #10 car? They too have been in the pits and #7 have not made their final stop yet. Dear oh dear. This is going to be squeaky, squeaky time in the GT ranks!
#7 and #34 scrapping for the lead and #7 runs wide to avoid an LMP3 car. AMG Mercedes, BMW, AMG Mercedes, Porsche. Stolz, Catsburg, Schiller, King, the top four drivers. Catsburg making his move on Stolz for the lead in GT! He throws it down the inside, and no dice for Catsburg. But, #7 is pitting! Catsburg may be able to take advantage of this. Hold it. Hold the phone, folks. I think he just got out of the way for the BMW! He moved because he is trying to get home on the fuel he has in the tank before the race ends avoiding a splash and a dash.
That's peculiar. He was maybe being told to box by the crew chief and then at the last second the crew chief comes on the radio and says "stay out, stay out." That was an unusual line into turn 15 and you don't let an experienced hand like Nicky Catsburg by without some kind of fight. Six minutes plus one lap before this race is over. On this lap, Stolz comes in. That's odd. How on earth did he stay out an extra lap? He has 23 seconds in hand over the #10 Mercedes which is in fourth place, the first of the GetSpeed Performance cars, the Marciello/Schiller/Scholze car.
Luca Stolz finally does come in. Maybe there was a misheard pit call. Very strange. Meanwhile, the gap from second to third in the overall and in LMP2 is almost a second between Charlie Eastwood and Neel Jani. That will not matter. Car #25 sails on to the final lap of the motor race and we could see a win for Algarve Pro Racing here in the lid lifter of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. Keep in mind, Algatve Pro, this team was the one that won that very close photo finish battle for LMP2 at the Rolex 24 in January. Three more races to go in Asian Le Mans Series in 2023.
We will have race two tomorrow. Eastwood has made up a bit of ground and now he does not have a car inbetween. Drive smart, and he does. 25 points will go to the #25 car. James Allen and company will e over the moon. Algarve Pro Racing win this race! James Allen from Australia, American John Falb, and Kyffin Simpson of Barbados are your winners! Charlie Eastwood just barely brings it home for second ahead of Neel Jani! Neel Jani in third, let me tell you, if there had been one more lap after the finish, he would have had a head of steam!
LMP3 honors go to Fabien Lavergne, Vyacheslav Gutak, and Jerome de Sadeleer for MV2S Racing! BMW and Walkenhorst win the GT class.
Overall/LMP2: #25 Allen/Falb/Simpson Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07
LMP3: #29 de Sadeleer/Gutak/Lavergne Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT: #34 Catsburg/Hull/Merrill Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3
Race one is in the bag for the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series. Join us again tomorrow, right here at Dubai Autodrome for race two! We'll see you tomorrow. Good night, for now.
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