Welcome back, everybody, to the Dubai Autodrome. Here we are again on day two, for race two of the weekend and of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series season. 33 teams representing 14 countries have entered these races. Successful teams and young, emerging talents. The Bronze rated drivers, the young drivers, they are the ones who qualify the cars, and now, we are set to go racing for the 4 Hours of Dubai, race two! Last night, we saw sheer domination from Walkenhorst Motorsport. The Mercedes AMG GT3's could not challenge from either GetSpeed or HRT. In LMP2 and LMP3, the battles were on indeed. Nielsen Racing had a starter issue yesterday. Gearbox woes for the WTM boys. Wochenspiegel Team Monschau are definitely looking to rebound in the second race of the weekend.
MV2S made the late race pass on Graff Racing of course. CD Sport, defending Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 champions, came home third. We have a blend of young, emerging talent, and veterans in the LMP2 class and we saw that on full display in the race last night. Kyffin Simpson, one of the drivers for the winning Algarve Pro team. Nolan Siegel in the #43 Inter Europol Oreca really impressed. Neel Jani was on his heels but could not quite make it. Algarve Pro are looking for their fourth Asian Le Mans Series title. For today's race, we are dealing with a very different grid than what we expected with the #43 Inter Europol Competition car on the LMP2 pole. Nolan Siegel sharing with Christian Bogle, and Charlie Crews.
Emerging talent, aspirant gentleman drivers, new drivers coming into the series. Nolan Siegel, Kyffin Simpson, and more. Kyffin Simpson is actually a junior driver for Chip Ganassi Racing who has him in the Indy Next junior feeder series and of course Ganassi a major motorsports name in the world of open wheel, NASCAR, and sports cars. Although I believe open wheel and sports cars are more of his focus these days. On the outside of the front row is the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca that figured prominently in yesterday's race. Salih Yoluc sharing with Charlie Eastwood and Ayhacan Guven. Watch for them to be at the front early doors as well.
Their car is called Nemo and as you can see, the dorsal fin on the back of the car is painted in the orange and white of a clownfish. All three drivers really did a superb job last night leading on three different occasions. The only trouble this team might face is in giving up time with their refueling which has compromised their pit stop times. Third on the grid is the #23 United Autosport Oreca to be driven by British veteran Oliver Jarvis alongside Australian's Yasser Shahin and Garnett Patterson. Starting sixth is the #37 Cool Racing Oreca in LMP2 with Alexandre Coigny taking the ooening stint. Of course, the Swiss driver is sharing with Malthe Jakobsen from Denmark and with team boss and third co-driver Nicolas Lapierre of France.
Coigny lost laps yesterday after being tangled up with a GT car in turns five and six on the road. That quick succession of corners between turns one and five funnels down and narrows and can catch unsuspecting drivers out. Now we move to our polesitter in the LMP3 class which was a beleaguered car in the opening race yesterday. This is the WTM by Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Torsten Kratz, Leonard Weiss, and Nico Varrone. More spectators are here to watch. Second place in LMP3 is the Spanish flag liveried (red and yellow) Ligier in the hands of Danish drivers Michael Jensen and Valdemar Eriksen who are joined by Nick Adcock from England. The team is running two cars in the championship.
The second entry has Vladislav Lomko from Russia, James Sweetnam from England, and Fabien Michal of France. Next weekend we will have more racing at Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. We saw a great LMP3 scrap yesterday before the end of the race between Graff Racing and MV2S of course. Nielsen Racing had a starter failure on their LMP3 car yesterday and the pole position car #11 of course had trouble with the gearshift. So, look out for the #73 Inter Europol Competition Ligier. John Corbett, Alexander Bukhantsov, and James Winslow could be a factor.
We are going to see a great fight in LMP3 for sure. Next up on the grid in 12th place is the black and orange MV2S Racing car, fourth in LMP3, in the hands of Jerome de Sadeleer, Vyacheslav Gutak, and Fabien Lavergne. I believe, as Oliver Gavin points out, WTM could be a contender. Once more, we have 46 cars starting this race. Maybe 45. We do not know if the Bullitt Racing Aston Martin is going to start this second race. That is the car of Martin Berry, Valentin Hasse-Clot, and Jacob Riegel that ran into trouble yesterday.
We are under 30 seconds before starting the formation lap per Race Director Edoardo Freitas on the radio. There is also a gap at the back missing the #67 Orange Racing powered by JMH McLaren 720S GT3. That is the all British trio of Marcus Clutton, Michael O'Brien, and team boss and driver Simon Orange. If they join in the race, they will start a lap behind everybody else. We are underway on the formation lap and Freitas tells the drivers to minimize the gaps between the cars before the race begins. Some drivers we will have to have a Captain Cook at are in the GT ranks. Ollie Milroy, Chandler Hull and in LMP2, Phil Hanson, a multiple LMP2 champion, Torsten Kratz, Alexandre Coigny, and more.
At Garage 59 it is McLaren factory driver Rob Bell at the back of the grid. McLaren have recently had a Balance of Performance adjustment. Rob Bell is the brother of Matt Bell who is starting in LMP3 in the #4 Nielsen Racing Ligier that he is sharing with Tony Wells. The speeds down the backstretch will be higher into turn ten. Bullitt Racing have indeed made the start. Overnight, they fixed the car, flying in a mechanic and new parts from Prodrive in England who build the Aston Martin GT3 cars. They have made the grid. The car was in bits this morning. Driver Martin Berry knew he made a mistake in the race yesterday and you can bet he wants to redress things and put his team at the top in the GT class in today's event.
Learn how to manage traffic through a long race at four hours. The grid is closing gaps and becoming orderly. There is a reason to order up the grid, for safety. Here they come. We've got a green flag! We're underway for race two in Dubai! Let's go! Charlie Crews takes the lead and DKR Engineering are challenging hard and fast right from the beginning! It looks like the United Autosports #22 is the one making the challenge, Phil Hanson the starting driver, sharing with Paul di Resta and Jim McGuire. Correction. That is the #23 sister car, I beg your pardon. That is the Oliver Jarvis, Garnet Patterson, and Yasser Shahin entry.
Whoops! We've got a spinner right in the middle of the pack. There is a yellow and purple LMP2 car turned backwards. Trying to catch the number. That is the #44 ARC Bratislava Oreca 07, the Slovakian team with Slovakian driver Miro Konopka the starting driver sharing with Nico Pino of Chile and Laszlo Toth of Hungary. Nico Pino had some astonishing drives during the 2022 European Le Mans Series campaign in an LMP3 car. There are yellow flags locally at this point. I am not sure if this will incur a Full Course Yellow as the field is wisely spreading out and leaving space between the cars just as Freitas instructed everyone to do. Always follow the instructions of the Race Director. He or she is the one who will be watching everyone like a hawk.
That was very congested into turn one as the #44 ARC Bratislava car is back in the race. Charlie Crews had a great start and everyone else just pulled the pin. Look at this! United Autosports are not hanging about and they have just gone to the lead. Garnett Patterson wants it and wants to lead this motor race right from the green flag and is now challenging Charlie Crews and giving him all he can handle. Oh no! Charlie Crews spins! The pressure was on and Charlie Crews overcooks it! Now, will he be out of harms way and be safe to rejoin the circuit?
He is going to be stuck on that curb for a wee while with the traffic bearing down on him! Phil Hanson meanwhile, is making hay while the sun shines. But for Charlie Crews there is no chance of him reentering the speedway until it is clear of the GT traffic. Crews is back up and running but he is quite literally tail end Charlie at this moment, the caboose on the train. He will have to push, push, push to regain ground. Garnett Patterson in that blue and red #23 United Autosports Oreca, he is making good his escape as we speak, ladies and gentlemen. Race start under investigation by Race Control. Understandably so.
We have a good ding dong scrap, look, in the GT class for fourth place between Florian Scholze in the #10 GetSpeed Mercedes, Ollie Milroy in the #72 HubAuto Mercedes, Rob Bell in the #59 Garage 59 McLaren, and Chandler Hull in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW. A couple of front engine GT3 cars vs. a couple of mid-engine GT3 cars in the case of the two McLaren's. Bell puts a pass on Milroy and goes by the HubAuto Mercedes. In Balance of Performance adjustments it seems the BMW and the Mercedes have incurred weight penalties which will hurt them in terms of their tire wear and their performance.
OK. Fast forward to 25 minutes into the race and watching a battle for second. Phil Hanson and Salih Yoluc the drivers squabbling for position. That green and yellow LMP3 car we see in the picture is out of position. It is the #55 Rinaldi Racing Duqueine M30-D08 Nissan being driven by Mathias Luthen of Germany, his countryman Jonas Ried, and British driver Lorcan Hanafin. Yoluc and Hanson continue to fight for second as they pass by the Aston Martin. Hanson uses the Aston Martin as a pick and is going to do everything he knows to make a pass on Salih Yoluc. Trouble in paradise again for Charlie Crews with an early pit stop.
So, his day and the race for Inter Europol Competition not off to the best start on this Sunday morning. The car is taking fuel. Fuel only. I thought, and so did our commentators Graham Goodwin and Oliver Gavin, that the car was going to go onto the dollies and back into the garage. But no, it is fuel only at Inter Europol Competition for the time being. Salih Yoluc maintains second spot on the road and Phil Hanson wants it. All of the LMP2 cars are Oreca 07's but not all of the ones we see across a myriad of championships are engineered the same way. I think the car Yoluc is driving is number four out of 110 cars made by Oreca under the direction of Hughes de Chaunac, a man who has had a very successful career as a constructor and also as a team manager.
de Chaunac has won races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the 24 Hours of Daytona with Mazda and the awesome 787B Group C car with the screaming rotary engine and with the massive and successful Dodge Viper's that won in class at Le Mans and overall at the Rolex 24 at Daytona more than 20 years ago. This older Oreca chassis being used by DKR Engineering, they acquired it from Graff Racing. The Oreca 07 has been around since 2017 and from what we have heard, there will be new LMP2 regulations but they have been delayed for another two years until 2025. So, this car will have a very likely eight year lifespan.
When yours truly went to Daytona for the Rolex 24 back in 2020, in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship, there were a number of the Oreca LMP2 cars on track and IMSA had not yet adopted another class with the LMP3 cars just yet at that particular time. We could be seeing trouble for the HubAuto Mercedes, a team that has run with GT3 Ferrari's in the past, the 488 GT3 model, but are now a part of the Stuttgart camp and AMG and their customer GT3 efforts. One of the cars is being pinged by the stewards for not using the headlamps. In endurance racing even in the daytime cars must run all the time with their headlights on for safety reasons.
The HubAuto Mercedes underwent an engine change overnight and hopefully they do not have a wiring issue changing out one M159 series Mercedes 6.2 liter V8 for another. Salih Yoluc is really showing what he can do as he holds off Phil Hanson. We have seen Yoluc in GT cars and now he is coming into his own as a prototype driver in LMP2. We have just gone past a half hour on the board in race two here at the Dubai Autodrome. There is a long, long way to go yet. Phil Hanson has to use the traffic up ahead and plan his moves. Just as those words come out of my mouth, he dives to the outside of Yoluc going for the pass!
How about that! Hanson goes really deep into the corner, but man alive, he holds onto it, somehow! Hanson moves to second and after a dismal outing in race one yesterday, we can see United Autosports coming back into form. If you were with us for the 2022 European Le Mans Series event run at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, or for many of the FIA World Endurance Championship races, you know what a formidable team in LMP2 United Autosports is, run by Zak Brown who also owns McLaren w9th their Formula 1 and IndyCar teams. Hanson has given up some time to his teammate Garnet Patterson, around 18 seconds give or take.
Team boss at United Autosports, Richard Dean, will be loving this! He was not too happy about the Saturday result. But on Sunday, at least early doors, things are looking good for the British team. A good battle for position in GT between the #99 Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R and the #66 Bullitt Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. Alright. 36 minutes now on the board and United Autosports in the pit lane with #23 for a routine stop. Garnet Patterson out of the car and handing over to Yasser Shahin as we see another track limits penalty for the #60 Formula Racing Ferrari in GT.
Both United Autosports cars ae on schedule and the DKR Engineering car is in but locks the brakes on pit entry! It was a late call to decide to pit, by the team and it sounds like they are running shorter on fuel mileage than expected. Each class in the first three and a half hours must complete three timed pit stops at 100 seconds each. A good battle shaping up here, look, for ninth place in the overall and among a couple of LMP3 cars. The #11 WTM car and the #18 360 Racing car. 360 Racing, car #18, started at the tail end of the field among the GT entries. This is the 360 Racing Ligier JS P320 being driven by Sebastian Alvarez of Mexico, Frederic Jousset of France, and Ross Kaiser of England.
Sebastian Alvarez takes the lead in the LMP3 class! Wow! That is indeed the 360 Racing car we have just spoken about and I want to say that the 360 Racing car may have started on the final row of the grid for this race as John Falb makes a pass in the #25 Algarve Pro LMP2 entry that won the race yesterday. Miro Konopka is the meat in the sandwich between Charlie Crews and John Falb it looks like. Crews comes motoring up the inside at turn 12. Charlie Crews dove in on John Falb when Falb was trying to decide how to negotiate the LMP3 lapped car, and... bish, bash, bosh. He makes the pass as easy as you please. Boom, like that.
Oh no! The nightmare continues for WTM, for Wochenspiegal Team Monschau! For the second race in two days, it is game over early doors, right at the end of the first hour of the motor race! Sigh. These guys just cannot catch a break! Another gearbox issue on the car and Leonard Weiss is standing at the side of the garage thinking, "ugh! What do we have to do?!" We will have to find out what happened as we watch a battle for 11th place in the overall between two LMP3 cars. #29 is the MV2S Ligier and #5 is the DKR Engineering Duqueine.
#5 being shared by Tom van Rompuy, the Belgian driver, and German Valentino Catalano. Trouble for the #25 car! A left rear puncture! Oh my! The carcass of that Michelin tire is nearly off the wheel and it looks like it is tilted. Is there suspension breakage? Maybe Falb has been driving too quickly. When you get a puncture, slow down, because all you are going to do is unravel the rubber, the surface of the tire from around the wheel but then it can bind up over the suspension components, the rear axle and so on. That is a massive failure! The team will be on the radio saying "John, I know you need to get back, but be smart and drive slowly."
The carbon fiber bodywork is tearing itself to pieces as we have just gone over the one hour mark in the race. Bad news for the winners from yesterday. I don't think they will repeat their triumph today. John Falb is in desperation mode as the MV2S car passes. It appears one of the Herberth Motorsports Porsche's is out of the race in the GT class. Nicky Leutwiler of Switzerland is going to be headed for the house, and a lie down in a quiet room and perhaps some sweets, some chocolate, maybe. I think according to what Oliver and Graham are saying in commentary, it could be game over for car #20. Leutwiler sharing that Porsche 911 GT3 R with Mikkel Pedersen of Denmark and Matteo Cairoli of Italy.
If you retire, it kills your confidence. Leutwiler is passed by an LMP3 car! No wonder he is losing confidence and may want to throw in the towel at least briefly. Oh no! We have a huge spin for the #17 Cool Racing LMP3 car! He's obliterated a Styrofoam sign at the side of the track! Deary me! Wait for the bang. Ker-runch! I think he was drawn in by the battle going on up ahead and that target fixation made him lose control of the car. That's Adrien Chila, the Frenchman in the #17 Cool Racing LMP3 entry sharing with Cedric Oltramare of Switzerland and Argentinian Marcos Siebert.
He has driven away from where he made contact. However, one of the tires is dragging on the floor and there's going to be more damage done as we've seen already. The destructive power of a cut down tire on a sports car or any race car, is enormous. That right rear is toast. He got stymied behind the slow moving #18 LMP2 car, didn't see where he was into the corner, and spun off the road, obliterating the the sign and smashing into the barriers. He locked up the rear tires, cannoned into the wall, and the rest, is bent metal and broken carbon fiber.
So, we move ahead to an hour and 20 minutes into the race and are presently under yellow flag conditions of some description. Phil Hanson was running away from the rest of the field throughout his stint and we are about to hear from him about how things went, with pit reporter Hayley Edmonds. As they safety car is deployed, Phil Hanson tells us how things have been going. "It is a bit unfair because most cars will start their amateur drivers. Unfortunately, we were able to start Jim (McGuire), yesterday, because the start of the race got delayed and we had changed our minds.
We weren't sure he would enjoy driving during the night. But then, because we declared the starting driver yesterday after quali, we couldn't change it today. Obviously, the rules declare you have to declare your starting driver 30 minutes after quali. So, it is unfair because I am out there driving with the gentleman drivers and it makes no sense." Ah yes. Safety car boards and flags from the flag stand and the waving yellow. Hanson continues telling us of their situation and how they are trying to dig themselves out of a hole at United Autosport.
"Because we qualified ninth in class and sadly behind a lot of LMP3's, it has taken Jim a lot longer to get going and get past slower traffic. He's going out, and basically traffic should be constant the whole run. He might not lose as much time with the chaos unfolding in front of him. As you saw, it wasn't an easy start for me. I went off track and actually lost a few positions on the first lap, which isn't great. Had Jim been in that situation, he would have been struggled even more. Now it is smooth sailing and quite consistent for Jim and then, Paul is in at the end to bring it home."
When a safety car comes out, when there is a restart, there will perhaps be another incident. Safety car in at the end of this lap. But that said, safety cars can breed more safety cars. We see it all the time. The pit lane is open as we have two hour and 25 minutes left on the board. So, we are closing in on the halfway mark in race two here in Dubai. By the end of this event we will be halfway through the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series campaign. Pit lane is now open. The #24 Nielsen Racing Oreca is the erstwhile leader behind the safety car, but there is no question in my mind that they will need to pit.
In doing so, it shall have to be under green flag conditions which can be risky because they could lose track position at best and at worst, lose an entire lap. This also will be a fascinating restart because we've been trundling 'round behind the safety car and believe you me, those Michelin tires are going to be stone cold and covered in pickup, in clag, the little marbles off the tires that pile up like shavings off your pencil eraser. Oh criminy! The safety car is in the lane, but you will notice that a boatload of cars had to pit and so they followed the safety car into the lane, in their own crocodile.
Now that's weird, because the other crocodile that is on track, will have to continue motoring around at slow speed for at least another lap. Oh boy. Just when you thought we'd fix this confusion. C'est la vie. C'est la guerre. That's motor racing for you. Green flag. But everyone else is tiptoeing around. Talk about walking on thin ice. The rest of the field has not caught up to the original crocodile yet. Oh man, oh man, oh man. Reshuffle the deck. We are playing the motor racing equivalent of 52 pickup here. Jim McGuire in the #22 United Autosports Oreca is your leader as we see the Nielsen Racing Oreca in the lane along with a handful of GT cars.
Rodrigo Sales has finished his driving stint and Mathias Beche, the Swiss driver, will take over at the wheel of the #24 entry. Beche is a race winner in the LMP1 and LMP2 classes in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the old Rebellion team. LMP3 and GT3 cars in a solid wad, a relax mixed candy dish. It's not a candy dish though. This is a giant wad of toffee or something. It's not a homogenous mixture. Trouble for the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 with a massive chunk of polystyrene wedged into the grille opening.
Poor old Nicky Catsburg, not only will he have compromised aerodynamics, but that polystyrene is going to cause that BMW to overheat if he's not careful. Catsburg fighting Stefano Constantini on the inside. Will he be able to make his move on the Italian in the Ferrari, the #21 AF Corse 488 GT3 Evo 2020? He can't, but he is going to do cutback anyway! No space anywhere. But, the flying Dutchman makes the move anyway! That was the move of the race there, Mr. Catsburg! Wow! He did it with surgical precision! I shall quote Graham Goodwin. Nicky "The Cat" Catsburg, "he can squeeze through the smallest of spaces. He's got whiskers that show him the way." Oh dear. Feline like reflexes? Oh my word!
Past the halfway mark. Ugh. I've got to get a grip. But, we have a Full Course Yellow on the speedway again. Jonas Ried in one of the LMP3 cars is off the road big and now a myriad of cars hit the lane for service. The HubAuto Mercedes AMG GT3, the #72 car, is still in the garage with something awry on the right front corner. Jules Gounon was driving and there's been contact on that corner. He had a big clonk with something. This is the car of Jules Gounon, Ollie Milroy, and Liam Talbot. The Andorran licensed Frenchman, the Brit, and the Australian.
OK. So, the Full Course Yellow is coming to an end just past the halfway mark. An hour and 42 minutes left on the board. I think we are still at twilight, so this race is going to have slightly less darkness than what we saw yesterday before the end of race one. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow removed. Thank you. Trouble for the #29 MV2S Ligier in LMP3! He is not up to speed or not off the speed limiter yet! This is scary business because someone who is at full speed could plow right into him! Car #11 just went by.
That is not for position though because #11 is a lap or two down after that trouble we saw for them earlier. The #72 HubAuto Mercedes has had no luck. Ollie Milroy says something came loose on the front right corner and they had to box under Full Course Yellow to fix the problem. With an hour and a half of racing remaining, the Graff Racing and MV2S LMP3 cars have been welded together in combat for a wee while now. Two Swiss drivers scrapping with each other. #8 is Sebastien Page in the Graff Racing Ligier and the MV2S Ligier is in the hands of Jerome de Sadeleer.
de Sadeleer tries the inside but it isn't working. Yikes! That's a strong move and he needed more patience with an hour and a half left. Don't get greedy and try to get the move done too soon. Now, he will follow all the way to turn one and find his next overtaking opportunity there. So, we continue to watch Sebastien Page and Jerome de Sadeleer scrap while Kyffin Simpson is taking time out of the overall lead of the motor race. To the inside and the #9 makes a clean pass on #29. Jerome de Sadeleer was impatient, but he did make his move and get by Sebastien Page.\
The #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 leads in the GT class as we get the thoughts of Nicky Catsburg. He says that the team is on a different strategy, and he was racing against Bronze and Silver rated drivers as well as LMP3 traffic. It looked good on paper but the plan was to do more with Thomas Merrill in the car and in the lead. They are putting their Bronze rated driver in the car for the final stints. Catsburg has a bit more driving to do. Yesterday went well but it could have been better. With just an hour and 21 minutes of racing now remaining, we see a huge off for the #65 car!
The whole front end has been absolutely obliterated! That is the #65 Viper Niza Racing Aston Martin GT3! This team, out of Malaysia, we have seen in TCR touring car competition in the Creventic 24 Hour Series before and I think this is their first foray into GT3 racing. A Malaysian team with an all-Malaysian driver lineup and the duo of Dominic Ang and Douglas Khoo. But, that car is over and out. The front of it is completely destroyed. There is no nose section whatsoever! Safety car scramble. Douglas Khoo is back in the car but there's fluid everywhere. Radiator fluid, oil, water, you name it. It has all gushed out of that car.
He is moving inside the car, trying to get out and get the driver's side door open. That was a massive impact and we hope that Douglas Khoo is not hurt more than he was yesterday as during the race the car was dropped onto his foot! Ouch! He is hobbling away from the car and certainly winded. He'd probably had the wind knocked out of him on impact. That is massive damage for the Viper Niza Aston Martin and I don't think they will make it to the next two rounds of the championship to close out the season in Abu Dhabi next weekend after this happened.
In replay he was already off, sailing sideways and spun around in the other direction, into the barriers, hard! He hit on driver's left, the driver's side door. Pit stop action now with an hour and five minutes of the race remaining. The #3 DKR Engineering Oreca is in the pit lane from the race lead. A bit of a snafu getting the tear off off of the windscreen. You know how we say that pulling an old tear off from the windscreen gives the driver clear vision, and it sure does. The fuel probe was not inserted into the fuel filler as quickly as it could have been. Pit stop discipline will be critical at this stage. #25 is in the pit lane, in the box, but cockeyed and will need to be turned. He is parked at an angle.
Everyone is in the lane. It is wholesale pit stops, like the parking lot at the giant department store sale. 42 of the 45 starters are still running and probably 35 of them are in the pit lane as we speak. #24 at Nielsen Racing, he can't find his pit stall. The #34 Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW is in. Your current leaders include DKR Engineering in LMP2, RLR MSport in LMP3 and Walkenhorst Motorsports in GT. With this many cars in the pit lane at the same time, it is tricky and dangerous. You cannot see where on earth your pit box is.
Some cars might have to go back up on the skates, on the dollies, to get turned and get them out of the pit lane. We see this a lot in the races at the Nurburgring where there are so many cars entered for one of those races which are also about four hours in duration. So many cars start that in the pit lane they have to be turned at a 45 degree angle to perform service. Repairs have been made to the barriers after the accident as Charlie Eastwood has accidentally flipped the switch for the windscreen wiper which he does not need as there is no rain in the desert, at least not now.
#24 down and away. So, the #3 and #23 cars are back on track. #23 for United Autosports is a lap down. The next cars to leave pit lane will form up in the queue. #43 followed by #37 New tires and full fuel loads for the run to the checkered flag with 55 minutes remaining on the clock. New drivers on board in some of the cars as well for the run to the flag as they are doing all they can to get heat into the the tires for the restart. Safety car in this lap according to Race Control. Everyone is pretty much packed up together nose to tail. Paul di Resta is a lap down. He isn't in the fight but he will be hard to pass.
Green flag. Paul di Resta running two or three wide. James Allen passes Ben Hanley, or tries to. Traffic ahead. This is getting spicy. Pick the bones out of this lot. Algarve Pro Racing ahead of Nielsen Racing as the two leaders work through traffic. Charlie Eastwood and DKR Engineering are making hay while the sun shines. James Allen and Ben Hanley are actually resuming the battle we saw them in to the bitter end in the LMP2 class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona back in January! How about that?! Paul di Resta, too, slides of turn 11 and into 12. Hanley is motivated to redress the situation that we saw in LMP2 at the end of the Rolex 24.
Hanley takes the position on the inside! He takes the spot away from James Allen as they split between a GT car! The sun is setting and darkness here in Dubai will fall remarkably quickly. Charlie Eastwood leading the motor race five seconds to the good over Nolan Siegel in second place. We fast forward to around 27 minutes to go and the situation at the front has not changed. It is still #3 vs. #43. If this were stock car racing those numbers would be tied to two legendary names in Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty. However, this is indeed sports car racing.
There are a few more drive through penalties including for Herberth Motorsports and for United Autosports for Ollie Jarvis overtaking under safety car. Nolan Siegel is going for it right on Charlie Eastwood's six. Can he make it work into turn ten? Not quite. He will need a massive lunge to do anything with that DKR Engineering automobile. Be smart about this. Don't go throwing the car off the road in the pitch darkness this late in the game. Siegel is lining up Eastwood for a pass. Siegel to the inside! He's right there and he almost runs into Eastwood! Siegel has the drive and makes the pass around the outside! Inter Europol Competition to the front with 25 minutes to go!
Nolan Siegel, what a pass! What an incredible move! Charlie Eastwood gives Nolan Siegel the room and I think Nolan knew he was able to get the job done and that he was quicker than Eastwood. Siegel is able to drive flat out and Charlie Eastwood, it looks like he is just having to breathe the throttle every so often. The LMP3 battle is also raging on big style. Fabien Lavergne in the #29 MV2S Racing Ligier has second place and Xavier Lloveras in the #8 Graff Racing car wants it. The Frenchman vs. the Spaniard. This one will be the battle of the late brakers. That's for dead sure.
Wriggling under power is Lavergne and now this might just be Lloveras' chance! It shows how little they can see in the pitch darkness here in Dubai. There are floodlights trackside but it makes no difference, really. Lloveras on the outside but he can't get by. Under braking, Lloveras moves Graff Racing to second spot in LMP3. That was a fabulous move! You could see Lloveras had been working over Lavergne two corners before that move was successful. I think the Graff car has LMP3 in the bag as we are now on the final lap of the second and final event here at Dubai Autodrome for the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series.
Inter Europol scored nil points in yesterday's race but it looks like they are going to score a haul of 25 points this evening. These are your leaders coming to the end of the race and they could very well be your winners if things hold true on the last lap. Nilan Siegel for Inter Europol Competition is ahead in LMP2. LMP3 is being led by Valentino Catalano for DKR Engineering and in the GT class it is Thomas Merrill aboard the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. Ben Hanley will have to settle for third place and the final step on the LMP2 podium. He is not going to catch Charlie Eastwood for second.
115 laps completed, 385 miles the total distance. Winner, winner, chicken dinner! #43 Inter Europol Competition, and the driving team of Charlie Crews, Nolan Siegel, and Christian Bogle! James Allen will finish in fourth place just ahead of Malthe Jakobsen. So the top six are Inter Europol Competition, DKR Engineering, Nielsen Racing, Algarve Pro Racing, Cool Racing, and 99 Racing. Walkenhorst Racing wins GT a lap up on the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari for GetSpeed and for AF Corse. BMW ahead of Mercedes and Ferrari here in the second race at Dubai Autodrome this evening.
Overall/LMP2: #43 Bogle/Crews/Siegel Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07
LMP3: #5 Catalano/van Rompuy DKR Engineering Duqueine M30 - D08 Nissan
GT: #34 Catsburg/Hull/Merrill Walkenhorst Motorsports BMW M4 GT3
So, the second consecutive win for Nicky Catsburg, Chandler Hull, and Thomas Merrill and Walkenhorst Motorsport! The races in Dubai, and half the season are now complete. The next and final two rounds of the championship are in Abu Dhabi. We'll see you there. Goodbye for now, and goodnight, everybody. Take care.
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