Welcome everyone, to a new season of Asian Le Mans Series competition, returning to Malaysia and the Sepang circuit in Kuala Lumpur, for the first time in four years, since before the beginning of the global pandemic. The track has recently been rebranded to the Petronas Sepang International Circuit, in partnership with the Petronas Malaysian oil company. The 3.445-mile circuit plays host to the first round and the first two races of the championship season as we join pit reporter Claire Jedrek for the intro to the season. We last raced here in 2020. 39 cars and 117 drivers with LMP2, LMP3, and GT3 production cars making up the field. We have Oliver Gavin, former 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner, taking us around the circuit to show us the track, and we’ll hand off in a moment, to Graham Goodwin to take us through the racing action.
But first, the track map with Oliver, and we are riding along with Prince Jeffri Ibrahim, in the #88 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. Ibrahim is in his home race, a member of the Johor royal family in Malaysia, and a racing driver. He is sharing the Triple Eight Australian entered Mercedes with Australian Supercars regular Broc Feeney (a regular for Triple Eight in that championship), and veteran Mercedes-AMG GT3 racer Luca Stolz of Germany. We are flying down the frontstretch in fifth gear, at 250 kilometers an hour, 156 miles an hour, in fifth gear, searching for the braking zone.
Hard on the brakes using the ABS, into second gear, looking to V off the speed and decelerate all the way down to 62-63 kilometers an hour (so, roughly 38-39 miles an hour). Back to the left, get the traction. Wind through turn three and onto the short straight, braking uphill into turn four. Hit the apex, be careful of track limits. A fast right-hand corner is next through turns five and six. The blend of slow and fast corners puts the car through a lot of strain, but these modern cars can handle it. Look for the apex, over the curb. Watch out so you aren’t pinged for track limits.
Through turns seven and eight, next. Line it up, thread the needle, and be careful of track limits on corner exit at turn eight. That could bite you. Fourth gear, braking hard for turn nine. Into second gear, into a slow speed hairpin. Then, another long right-hand turn. The Michelin tires are going to be screaming for mercy around here at the end of a double stint. Watch out again for track limits before we come down to another left hander. High speed through turn 12, and jeepers creepers, watch for track limits, again.
Another hard braking zone, spot the apex, and spot the corner exit. Watch track limits on exit before rocketing down the backstretch. Get as much speed out of the car as possible setting up for the final turn on the circuit. Line up the braking point. This is an off camber turn, the final corner, and it is hard to get to the apex before going back to power. Then, finish the lap here at Sepang. It is going to be a long couple of races for the drivers and teams, both today and tomorrow. Imagine if this were a full eight-hour enduro, say, World Endurance Championship style. That would be even more difficult.
So, we will now hear from Graham Goodwin and Oliver Gavin for a little pre-race briefing before handing it off to Graham to tell us the whole story. Red flags during the qualifying sessions disrupted the rhythm, the flow, of the qualifying sessions. This was a 15-minute session in GT qualifying and we saw car #75 spinning off the road with Germany’s Heiko Neumann at the wheel of it. Neumann sharing the Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Austrian Lukas Dunner and Danish driver Morten Stromsted.
The Sainteloc Audi’s have been fast all the way through practice and qualified third in the GT3 class. Frenchman Alban Varutti will be the one to watch in their #42 Audi R8 LMS Evo II. Varutti sharing with German GT3 and Audi veteran Christopher Haase, and Belgian Gilles Magnus. Varutti on the class pole. The sister car #43 has a trio of Dennis Marschal of Germany, Paul Evrard of France, and Bihuang Zhou of China on the driver’s strength. Graham is about to inform us of the LMP2 and LMP3 sessions. He tells us that we think there’s a shadow over the possible pole sitting LMP2 car, the #90 TF Sport Oreca with Turkey’s Salih Yoluc driving.
Yoluc was released to the end of the pit lane a wee bit too early. Currently, it sounds like Yoluc will keep the pole position along with co-drivers Charlie Eastwood from Ireland and American GT3 racer Michael Dinan also in the lineup. Stay tuned. We’ve got race one coming up in mere moments. Don’t go anywhere. A packed and happy grid as the grid walk is being conducted by Le Mans Endurance Management head bosses Fredric Lequien and Pierre Fillon along with Stephane Ratel from SRO. So, let’s look at the top qualifiers in each class beginning with GT, for the GT3 cars.
2. #37 Liu/Gounon/Ojeda Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 2:04.373
3. #9 Bartone/Walker/Jans GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 2:04.488
23 GT cars have entered this season. Sainteloc Racing hoping for a good result. It is hot! Drivers like Giorgio Roda and Francois Perrodo are feeling the heat. Here’s how the top qualifiers line up in LMP3.
2. #17 Winslow/Bukhantsov/Frost Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 2:01.054
3. #26 Skocdopole/Gerbi/Stefan Bretton Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan 2:01.546
The third-place team at Bretton Racing are from the Czech Republic as is Skocdopole, their lead driver. Second place belongs to Cool Racing, LMP3 champions in the 2023 European Le Mans Series but with a new driver trio of James Winslow of England, Saint Kitts and Nevis licensed Russian driver Alexander Bukhantsov, and Danial Frost, from Singapore. On the pole, venerable Danish team High Class Racing who have been extremely successful in LMP2, now dipping their toes into the LMP3 waters. Iceland’s Audunn Gudmundsson sharing with Danish driver Anders Fjordbach and American Seth Lucas.
So, a new look car with a new look team at High Class in LMP3 and they are at the top of the shop. They are co-branded with MDK Motorsports and the team boss, American Mark Kvamme is a former driver in the Asian Le Mans Series. We have five minutes before the cars roll off on their formation laps. Let’s take a good look at the LMP2 contenders before we get started. Fifth place goes to the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca 07 in the hands of Alexander Matschull of Germany, his countryman Laurents Horr, and Frenchman Tom Dillmann, a sports car racing veteran.
This is the team that won the LMP2 overall title in 2023. Fourth place goes to the #99 99 Racing entry of Ahmad Al Harthy from Oman racing under a Jordanian license, Russian former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin, and Swiss racer Louis Deletraz. Third on the grid, the #22 Proton Competition Oreca 07 in the hands of Giorgio Roda of Italy, Frenchman Julien Andlauer, and Austrian Rene Binder. In second spot, the venerable Duqueine Team Oreca in the hands of American John Falb, Thai driver Carl Bennett, and Oliver Rasmussen from Denmark.
On the pole, TF Sport, just as they were several times in the 2023 European Le Mans Series. But this time, with a newly revised driver lineup of Salih Yoluc from Turkey, Irishman Charlie Eastwood, and American GT3 racer Michael Dinan.
2. #30 Falb/Bennett/Rasmussen Duqueine Team Oreca 07 1:54.064
3. #22 Roda/Andlauer/Binder Proton Competition Oreca 07 1:54.064
Completing the top five.
5. #3 Dillman/Horr/Matschull DKR Engineering Oreca 07
Note the identical lap times in qualifying for the Duqueine car in second and the Proton Competition car in third. Two formation laps coming up to heat the Michelin tires before we go racing. No tire warmers in Le Mans Rules/ACO racing just the same as it is in say, the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Everyone goes away from the grid cleanly for the formation laps before we turn them loose. Joy and trepidation everywhere. Michael Dinan at the head of the field. The lights flash green and we’re underway here at Sepang!
Michael Dinan has John Falb all over him in a battle of the two top American drivers as the field steams towards turn one for the first time. Giorgio Roda, the Italian, poking his nose in trying to find a gap. No dice. Trouble towards the back of the pack in LMP2 for these identical Oreca chassis with their 4.2-liter Gibson Technologies V8 engines built as a spec motor for the class, in England. Chris McMurry has some argy bargy with George Kurtz sending Kurtz spinning. That means there’s trouble as well for the LMP3 and GT3 cars at the tail end of the field.
George Kurtz’s car he is sharing with Colin Braun and Malthe Jakobsen is still hung up on the curb with the rear wheels in the grass and trouble, too, look, for one of the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 GT3 cars. That is Gabriele Rindone aboard the Leipert Motorsports Lamborghini, car #19. Rindone, the Luxembourgish driver sharing with New Zealander Brendon Leitch and Italian Lamborghini GT3 veteran racer, Marco Mapelli. Oy yoy yoy! More trouble up the road, look, for the Craft Bamboo Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, the #37 Craft-Bamboo Racing car, from Hong Kong. Anthony Liu of China is the starting driver, sharing with Andorran licensed Frenchman Jules Gounon (a Mercedes-AMG factory driver), and Aussie Jayden Ojeda.
Ojeda is a veteran of Australian Supercars competition. Liu would have even more trouble in store, making front to front contact with the #33 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992) being shared by fellow Hong Kong driver Antares Au, Tim Heinemann of Germany, and Matteo Cairoli of Italy. Game over for the #37 car and into the pit lane comes the #33. So, unfortunately, no more action will be seen in today’s race for Jules Gounon, Jayden Ojeda and Anthony Liu. They will be back for race two tomorrow, I am sure.
Michael Dinan, consolidating his lead over John Falb at the top of the shop as we keenly watch the LMP2 battle unfold. The top five in LMP2 is TF Sport, Duqueine Team, Proton Competition, 99 Racing, and DKR Engineering. P.J. Hyett, the American driver and team boss, he is hanging right in there behind Alexander Matschull. Hyett in the second of the Proton Competition LMP2 Oreca’s which he shares with Paul-Loup Chatin of France and Harry Tincknell from England. Hyett also owns “Rexy” the dinosaur liveried Porsche we see in IMSA and don’t forget, their new LMP2 Oreca, “Spike”. “Spike” is themed after a dragon of course. We have yet another LMP2 battle right behind the Proton Competition car. AF Corse vs. Algarve Pro Racing. Francois Perrodo racing with Chris McMurry.
Chris McMurry, the American veteran sports car driver is sharing the #25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca with British drivers Toby Sowery and Freddie Tomlinson. Freddie Tomlinson the son of longtime sports car team boss, Lawrence Tomlinson. This is a battle for seventh. Michael Dinan who leads for TF Sport, he is the only starting driver in the LMP2 class that is not Bronze rated. The LMP3 cars run behind the LMP2 cars and then come the GT3 cars which I believe are mixed into the candy dish with the LMP3’s. Chris McMurry is getting feisty and wants to pass Francois Perrodo! McMurry makes his move past the championship winning Frenchman.
Chris McMurry has a high level of experience across the globe in the United States, Europe, and Asia, driving both the old LMP1 cars and LMP2 cars alike. He is clearing the cobwebs and still knows how to drive a sports car, as you can see from that pass. Blimey O’Reilly! It is an Oklahoma land rush, look, in the GT3 class! The trouble these blokes in the GT3 cars are having is that Douglas Khoo from Malaysia who is the starting driver in the #65 Viper Niza Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan, he is the cork in the bottle, a lapped car, a mobile chicane who is balking the progress of the lead pack.
It is not complimentary to refer to a driver as a mobile chicane, especially if they are amateur. But Mr. Khoo must mind his manners and move. Khoo sharing the Viper Niza automobile with countryman Dominic Ang and with Australian endurance racing veteran Josh Burdon, who also has many years of experience in LMP2, GT3, and LMP3 machinery. The train of cars is being led by the third place #66 Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo II. Sharing the driving chores, Alex Aka from Germany, Luxembourg’s Dylan Pereira, and Russian driver Andrey Mukovoz.
Some high ranked drivers had trouble in qualifying, not the least of which, Kei Cozzolino of Japan who is the starting driver aboard the #82 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. He did not set a lap time in the session after co-driver Charles-Henri Samani from France, had issues with the car. Cozzolino and Samani sharing the automobile with veteran French sports car racer, Emmanuel Collard, who has been driving prototypes and GT cars for many years. D’station Racing and the #77 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 are already on the move as well.
The car is being driven by Tomonobu Fujii of Japan, sharing with countryman Satoshi Hoshino, another veteran long-distance racer, with the British driver Casper Stevenson also on the team. Attempto Racing are holding up the Al Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3. This is car #7 shared by Omani driver Al Faisal Al Zubair, Austrian Mercedes veteran Martin Konrad, and Fabian Schiller of Germany, another longtime campaigner for Mercedes in GT3 racing. Cozzolino has passed Fujii and now, he has his hands full with passing 2023 British GT champion Darren Leung, the Englishman starting the #93 Team Project 1 BMW M4 GT3.
This is the second of their two-car team. Leung sharing the #93 with fellow Brit Dan Harper (the two of them teamed up to win the 2023 British GT title for another team), and joining them is American racer Christian Bogle, another driver who we have seen in the Asian Le Mans Series in LMP2 and now he is trying his hand at GT3. Three-wide in a traffic jam with George Kurtz trying his best to play through. I should mention, before we resume the racing, the second Team Project 1 BMW M4 GT3 carries their more familiar #56.
That car is driven by Sean Gelael of Indonesia, the veteran LMP2 racer from the FIA World Endurance Championship, alongside Chinese driver Huilin Han and Dutchman Maxime Oosten. Some all-new driver lineups to get used to in the Asian Le Mans Series campaign of 2023-2024. George Kurtz is using the power and aero of the LMP2 car in his recovery drive. Kei Cozzolino has his hands full in making an effective pass on the BMW. This is a scrap for sixth place, looking to the outside down the front stretch. Bish, bash, bosh. A demon under braking, Cozzolino gets the deal done, whistling past the BMW.
Cozzolino’s next target is the Pure Racing (Pure Rxcing) Porsche from Lithuania. They have two cars as we have spoken about. But this is the sister #91 car in the hands of Saint Kitts and Nevis domiciled Russian driver Alex Malykhin, Porsche GT3 veteran Klaus Bachler from Austria, and Germany’s Joel Sturm all in that driver trio. Only two laps have been completed in the GT class thus far and the lead gap between Sainteloc and GetSpeed is 2.2 seconds. Close, close racing in GT3 between different cars and different racers. With the drivers changing in the race and the levels of drivers being different, traffic giveth, traffic taketh away. This is when the Bronze rated drivers take their stints.
George Kurtz passing by Douglas Khoo in the LMP3 car. Michael Dinan, too, is eking out a gap in the race leader after just two laps. He is now 1.6 seconds ahead. Dinan is finding his feet in his LMP2 debut. Michael Dinan leading the race over John Falb and Giorgio Roda. He is running to his ability as a Silver rated driver early doors, but how will he perform as the race goes on? Stay tuned to find out. Meanwhile, we return to the GT3 traffic jam, and all these blokes are having a little party where seemingly everyone was invited. Kei Cozzolino catches and passes the Pure Racing Porsche.
He still needs to pass four more cars. In the meantime, because of the delay for the cars behind him, Alban Varutti, the Frenchman, is beginning to whistle off into the distance. He is still being stymied by the LMP3 car, the Viper Niza car with Douglas Khoo at the wheel of it, and his only tormenter (Varutti that is) is that pesky #9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 from Team GetSpeed which now runs three and a half seconds in-arrears. Kei Cozzolino is turning up the heat on Martin Konrad, the Austrian driver in the #7 Al Manar Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Lots of action in the GT3 class. The AF Corse Ferrari is really motoring. Meanwhile, the damaged #33 Herberth Motorsports Porsche makes a needed call to the pit lane for repairs of the damaged front bodywork.
The front bumper just below the nose has been damaged and the team replaces it. They copped that earlier crunch with the Craft Bamboo car, the Mercedes, a wee while ago. AF Corse monstering Attempto Racing to go for a podium place early doors. At the top of the shop, meanwhile, Michael Dinan’s advantage in LMP2 is beginning to creep up to nearly three seconds over the second place Duqueine Oreca, car #30 in the hands of John Falb. Falb under pressure from Giorgio Roda, a man finding his feet in LMP2 in extreme heat and high humidity.
Ahmad Al Harthy still in it but the fight is between Duqueine and Proton. Further back, there’s a dramatic half spin for Francois Perrodo chasing Chris McMurry. Perrodo is fine, and he continues. Whoops. Drama as well, look for the #8 EBM Porsche 911 GT3R for Earl Bamber Motorsports and starting driver, Johanes Setiawan Santoso, from India. Setiawan Santoso sharing with Tanart Sathienthriakul, the driver from Thailand, and Danish GT3 racer Bastian Buus. The battle remains for fifth place between Pure Racing and Al Manar Racing.
A spin too, for the #66 Attempto Racing Audi. Yes. He spins all by his lonesome and will drop down the order like a stone. Half an hour into the race and trouble, as the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3 is into the spin cycle. That is the AF Corse entry for Simon Mann, the American driver, sharing with Italian Ferrari GT veteran Davide Rigon and Frenchman Francois Heriau. We have seen Heriau racing all over the world in America, Europe, and now Asia. That spin was induced by a careless move from Prince Jeffri Ibrahim aboard the #88 Triple Eight Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Prince Jeffri is Malaysian royalty in his home race, and he is sharing the #88 Mercedes, the car we rode aboard with for the track description at the beginning of the race report and the program, with German Luca Stolz and Aussie Broc Feeney, a regular on the Australian Supercars circuit. Tisk, tisk, Prince Jeffri. Once again, he has a “discussion” with another car, tagging the #69 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3. This car has the all-British driver trio of Sam De Haan, James Cottingham, and Tom Gamble. For that, Prince Jeffri Ibrahim will cop a penalty from the stewards.
Meanwhile, we fast forward to the end of the first hour of racing and find John Falb in the lead aboard the #30 Duqueine Team car in the overall and in LMP2. Falb cycles through to the lead of the motor race after the pit stop sequence. Good pit sequence strategy from the Duqueine Team. Alban Varutti, the Frenchman, remains out in front in the GT3 class aboard the #42 Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II. In the meantime, it is still hot and heavy in LMP2 for ninth place.
George Kurtz had a spirited battle with the #24 Nielsen Racing entry. Now, I am not sure who was driving the Nielsen entry at the time. Kurtz finishes his drive time out and hands off to his two co-drivers who should handle the remainder of today’s race, his American teammate Colin Braun, and the Dane, Malthe Jakobsen. Kurtz is chilling out in front of a cool air blower fan in this heat here in the tropics of Malaysia. Meanwhile, the gap is closing for second in GT. 1.7 seconds separates second place Joel Sturm, the German driver in the Pure Racing Porsche #91 FROM THE #7 Al Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Austrian Martin Konrad at the controls.
As we look at the clock, in the highlighted coverage, my gosh. Time flies when you are having fun! We’ve already put an hour and a half of this race on the board and are sneaking up to the halfway mark. Now, it is an all-Mercedes scrap in GT3 for 15th place. Triple Eight has it and GetSpeed wants it. The GT3 battle intensifies as the professional racing drivers begin to appear to knock out their stint time. There has been a great mid-race battle in LMP2 between Paul-Loup Chatin in the #55 Proton Competition Oreca 07 Gibson and the identical LMP2 racer, the #90 TF Sport car now with Turkish ace Salih Yoluc at the controls of that automobile.
Yoluc, the reigning champion, ranked as a Bronze driver for the Asian Le Mans Series, but, when he races in Europe later in 2024 his ranking will be promoted by the FIA to Silver status. Chatin makes a great move ‘round the outside in the battle with the Turkish driver. Yoluc completes the deal with assistance from traffic. Paul-Loup Chatin moves to sixth place in that two-tone green liveried Proton Competition LMP2 car. After an earlier spin the #21 Ferrari is making its recovery drive with nearly half the race done and dusted. Two and a quarter hours still to go which means we have now been racing for an hour and 45 minutes.
Simon Mann on a recovery drive after his spin passing both the #8 Earl Bamber Motorsports Porsche and the #93 Team Project 1 BMW. Proton Competition, as we are close to the halfway point in race one of the season, and of the weekend, they lead over Duqueine Team to the tune of nearly 17 seconds with 56 laps completed, 193 miles, essentially, the distance of a Formula 1 Malaysian Grand Prix that we’d see around this track. Matthieu Vaxiviere, as he is speaking to the team at Proton Competition, he is one of three drivers in this field who will be racing the new Alpine Le Mans Hypercar in this year’s FIA World Endurance Championship.
With two and a half hours to go, coming up steadily on the halfway mark, 99 Racing now leads the motor race and the top 11 cars are all in LMP2. 99 Racing’s lead is 9.1 seconds to the good over the Duqueine Team.
2. #30 Bennett/Falb/Rasmussen Duqueine Team Oreca 07
3. #22 Andlauer/Binder/Roda Proton Competition Oreca 07
4. #83 Perrodo/Rovera/Vaxiviere AF Corse Oreca 07
5. #3 Dillmann/Horr/Mattschull DKR Engineering Oreca 07
6. #90 Dinan/Eastwood/Yoluc TF Sport Oreca 07
7. #55 Chatin/Hyett/Tincknell Proton Competition Oreca 07
8. #44 Beche/Konopka/Ried ARC Bratislava Oreca 07
9. #4 Braun/Jakobsen/Kurtz CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca 07
10. #24 Garcia/Habsburg/Loggie Nielsen Racing Oreca 07
11. #25 McMurry/Sowery/Tomlinson Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07
At this stage it is Nikita Mazepin, the ex-Formula 1 driver, leading the way here at Sepang for 99 Racing. 43 laps now completed, 148 miles in the book. Mazepin leads by nine seconds, ten seconds truthfully. Two and a half hours of racing left. The teams are employing a variety of strategies. Some are employing their Gold rated drivers while others are saving them for later in the race as we are closing in rapidly on the halfway mark.
We will now look at a nearly full field rundown in the GT3 class before we move ahead to further racing action.
2. #91 Bachler/Malykhin/Sturm Pure Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
3. #7 Al Zubair/Konrad/Schiller Al Manar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
4. #19 Leitch/Mapelli/Rindone Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2
5. #93 Bogle/Harper/Leung Team Project 1 BMW M4 GT3
6. #21 Heriau/Mann/Rigon AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
7. #43 Evrard/Marschall/Zhou Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo II.
8. #8 Buus/Santoso/Sathienthirakul Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
9. #69 Cottingham/De Haan/Gamble Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
10. #66 Aka/Perera/Mukovoz Attempto Racing Audi R8 LMS EVO II.
11. #86 Barker/Pera/Wainwright GR Racing Ferrari 296 GT3
12. #77 Fujii/Hoshino/Stevenson D’station Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
13. #95 Adam/Hartshorne/Tuck TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3
14. #27 Bell/Millroy/Radcliffe Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo
15. #88 Feeney/Ibrahim/Stolz Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
16. #9 Bartone/Jans/Walker GetSpeed Performance Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
17. #56 Gelael/Han/Oosten Team Project 1 BMW M4 GT3
That is the running order in GT3, currently. In the meantime, we look at the LMP3 leader. CD Sport have moved to the class lead. The #2 car are defending champions in LMP3 from the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series campaign. This is the leading car in only a five-car field in LMP3 for this year’s Asian Le Mans Series, being shared by Nick Adcock from England, Dane Michael Jensen, and Frenchman, Fabien Lavergne. Four of the five LMP3’s are in the overall fight for class victory with the Viper Niza entry the only car delayed at all.
Meanwhile, back to the GT3 class and this outstanding race we have seen thus far from Sainteloc Racing’s leading Audi and driver Alban Varutti sharing with Christopher Haase and Gilles Magnus. He has fended off the challenges of both Joel Sturm in second place and third place man Martin Konrad. Audi, Porsche, Mercedes. Three German manufacturers at the top of the shop in GT3 currently. The #82 Ferrari 296 GT3 for AF Corse, has been stuck in gear. Kei Cozzolino looked like he could challenge but the team has had a long road, and they are in catch up mode. Now we move to have a look at the running order in the smallish field of LMP3 cars which is still competitive.
2. #26 Gerbi/Skocdopole/Stefan Bretton Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
3. #20 Fjordbach/Gudmundsson/Lucas High Class Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
4. #17 Bukhantsov/Frost/Winslow Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
5. #65 Ang/Burdon/Khoo Viper Niza Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
Cool Racing appear to be playing a strategy game, getting their two required longer pit stops out of the way and using the pit strategy situation to their advantage. I know of a certain team in another championship that are pit stop strategy experts. That is what you need if you are going to win an endurance sports car race currently. For now, Fabien Lavergne is on a Saturday cruise here in Malaysia. Again, we have a five-car, all Ligier field in LMP3. There are other accepted LMP3 chassis’ available, but the Ligier seems to be preferred here in the Asian Le Mans Series this time around.
Right now, Fabien Lavergne hold the lead over the #26 Bretton Racing Ligier in the hands of debutant Julien Gerbi, reigning champion in Michelin Le Mans Cup, who’s races you read about here on the blog. Gerbi, from Algeria. He shares that car with Dan Skocdopole from the Czech Republic and Mihnea Stefan from Romania. High Class Racing are in third in their Ligier #20 being shared by Dane Anders Fjordbach, Audunn Gundmundsson from Iceland, and American racer Seth Lucas. Gerbi is, French, Algerian, and Spanish, racing under an Algerian license.
Currently, the lead battle in LMP2 is between two cars if you think about it. Duqueine Team car #30 and Proton Competition car #22. Duqueine have now completed 62 laps, 213 and a half miles. So, here are your class leaders.
LMP3: #26 Gerbi/Skocdopole/Stefan Bretton Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT3: #91 Bachler/Malykhin/Sturm Pure Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
The Pure Racing Porsche truly is the erstwhile leader while the Sainteloc Audi has just pitted from the lead of the motor race in GT3. Gilles Magnus has just taken over the Audi. He has replaced Alban Varutti who has just done his full drive time for this race. Only one car is certified as out of the race and after it’s troubles on the opening lap of the race, it is without doubt game over for the #37 Craft Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Jules Gounon, Anthony Liu, and Jayden Ojeda. They are out of today’s race and may be back tomorrow for the second one.
Also, in trouble due to the gearshift dramas they are facing is the #82 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Emmaunel Collar, Kei Cozzolino, and Charles-Henri Samani. Under two hours to go now. We have an hour and 48 minutes left on the board. The lead battle in LMP2 is now between Julien Andlauer of France in the #22 Proton Competition Oreca and the #30 Duqueine Team Oreca now in the hands of Thai driver Carl Benet. Andlauer puts Benet under pressure and poor old Benet gets nudged into a spin. Forgive me. There was no contact between the two cars but if Benet is not careful, he will be buried in the gravel trap.
This is going to cost the Duqueine Team dearly as the cause of a Full Course Yellow will indeed be car #30. Safety Car deployed. Safety Car deployed. No damage to the car but they will drop like a stone from the race lead to the bottom of the pile in LMP2. 65 laps now completed by the new race leader, the #22 Proton Competition entry, 224 miles. In replay, Andlauer was into the turn, and poor old Benet spins the car by trying to make a move that just was not on. Safety Car scramble. No weaving. All cars eligible for the pass around, it is your last chance to do so. Please, everyone, close the gaps. In the meantime, Benet is still indulging in Rallycross trying to get himself back onto the road.
With just over an hour and a half of racing left, an ominous sign in the pit garages. Treaded rain tires can only mean one thing. There is a rainstorm on the way. When it rains here in Malaysia, believe me, it really rains. The 1985 Selangor 800 Kilometers for the World Sports Car Championship under the Group C regulations in the final race of that year’s championship, was a sterling example of the rain absolutely drenching the track. The Shah Alam circuit in Selangor no longer exists. But could we see a similar race outcome here at Sepang? In the meantime, there is a battle afoot for third place between the #99 99 Racing Oreca and the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca in LMP2!
It is Nikita Mazepin vs. Laurents Horr. Horr is not intimidated by Mazepin, finding his way through past a very wide BMW M4 GT3. Mazepin forces him all the way to the wall! Yikes! In the GT3 class right now it is still the #42 Sainteloc Audi leading the way by almost 16 seconds over the #91 Pure Racing Porsche. Sainteloc and their drivers have now run 67 laps, 231 miles. Ollie Milroy gets his elbows out against one of the two Team Project 1 BMW’s. It is difficult to tell from this camera angle if it is the #56 or the #93 car. In LMP2, the #26 Bretton Racing entry leads the way putting 69 laps on the board, 238 miles. It is effectively game over for the #33 Herberth Racing Porsche which has been tremendously delayed throughout the race to this point.
A difficult opening race of the season for the trio of Antares Au, Matteo Cairoli, and Tim Heinemann. A massive brake locks up into the corner, and it is effectively game over for #33. A fraught race today that will be forgotten, and they shall put their best foot forward for race two tomorrow. Herberth Motorsports are previous champions of the GT class here in the Asian Le Mans Series. With an hour and 12 minutes left on the board, we are under Full Course Yellow. Seemingly as quick as it began, it comes to an end. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Full Course Yellow is removed.
78 laps of racing now in the books, 269 miles. Proton Competition has a solid second place currently. But they require another pit stop before the race ends as they run five and a half seconds behind the race leading DKR Engineering automobile. Warning flag for car #4 for constant abuse of track limits. That is the #4 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca shared by George Kurtz, Colin Braun, and Malthe Jakobsen. Ugh! We have a massive accident now with only 52 minutes of racing left! Safety Car deployed. Safety Car deployed. Josh Burdon has pounded the #65 Viper Niza Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan LMP3 car into the barriers!
This was under braking for turn one and he just went straight off into the kitty litter and smashed the wall as we explained. It’s game over for this trio. The whole front of that car is destroyed which leaves me wondering if they will be able to fix it for race two of the weekend and the season, tomorrow, here in Sepang. It is game over for now for Viper Niza Racing. OK. The wreckage is cleaned up now and we are back to racing with only 36 minutes to go. It is twilight, and so, we could see this race finish in the gathering darkness, but I don’t think it will be completely pitch dark before we end and celebrate on the podium tonight. The headlights are on, on all the cars, as they should be. But the reason for a darkening sky isn’t twilight. Rain is on the way. Storm clouds are brewing.
So, the 99 Racing car now with Louis Deletraz, the Swiss driver at the wheel to take it to the flag, went around the outside of the #22 Proton Competition car of Rene Binder, finishing out the race as well. Now in a battle for second, Binder has his hands full with Matthieu Vaxiviere, the Frenchman at the wheel of the #83 Oreca for AF Corse. Perrodo takes over second with rain lights on. Near disaster, too! Charles-Henri Samani in the sister AF Corse car, the #82 Ferrari 296 GT3 in the GT3 class nearly gets walloped by the LMP2 cars! That was a wreck waiting to happen and Thank God disaster was averted! Holy smokes!
99 Racing makes their final pit stop with only 25 minutes left on the board. It is a scramble for the rain tires, the Michelin rain tires. But there’s big, big trouble for one of the two Team Project 1 BMW M4’s! It is three wheels on me wagon for the #93 car! The right rear wheel has parted company with the car. Well, you’ve picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel. Proton Competition, while their rivals pit, assumes the lead, completing 97 laps, 334 miles. Finger trouble changing over to wet weather tires has put a damper (quite literally) on the progress of Dan Harper, the Ulsterman who is a BMW GT3 driver and has been now for the past number of years.
He is making his Asian Le Mans Series debut but has run in such notable championships as the Nurburgring Langstrecken Series and the SRO GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, as well as n the Intelligent Money British GT Championship. So, a rogue wheel and tire for poor old Dan Harper. Game over. 99 Racing and AF Corse exit the pit lane. Race Control will have a Captain Cook at the errant wheel and where it is, as Harper pulls the BMW into a place of safety and into retirement from this motor race. The rogue wheel continued to roll and then it stopped. Teams are monitoring the weather radar here in Malaysia and from this point on in the final half hour, the weather would only get worse.
100 laps now complete with under 20 minutes left on the clock. 344 and a half miles now run. Louis Deletraz and Matthieu Vaxiviere, the Swiss and French rivals still going at it hammer and tongs for second place overall and In LMP2. They are darting around trying to find grip where there is little as the track gets wetter and wetter, more standing water at various points on the circuit. Now, with 18 minutes to go it is a race of survival. Get the car home in one piece. It is starting to look very much like that 1985 World Sports Car event at the Shah Alam circuit in Selangor, Malaysia.
The grip levels are not substantial and the visibility absolutely appalling. Deletraz finding water everywhere and a spin firing Vaxiviere off the circuit, onto the wet gravel. Almost undrivable. Look at the water puddling everywhere. There is no grip anyplace. So, Tom Dillmann, the Frenchman, is now in third place at the wheel of the #3 DKR Engineering Oreca. Louis Deletraz has more breathing room for the time being as Vaxiviere slides the #83 car in the wet, again. 17 minutes to go with conditions getting trickier. Teams will be telling Race Control that the conditions are undrivable with the poor visibility and the standing water all over the place.
Julien Andlauer running ahead of Alessio Rovera who spins off the road and into the gravel trap. The Cool Racing LMP3 car which leads in class is allowing both of the Oreca LMP2’s through. The #20 High Class Racing Oreca in the background is not on the same lap as this battle as AF Corse now run ten and a half seconds behind 99 Racing with DKR Engineering In third, still on the podium, currently. Safety Car deployed with 15 minutes to go. Not a surprise whatsoever. Pit entry is closed. The leader is told to slow down. When it rains here in Malaysia it rains hard. It pours. 99 Racing must slow down to be picked up by the safety car.
The rain on the camera lens makes it hard to see from the cameras. The flags held by the marshals are wet. There are puddles on top of the tire barriers. Will this rain clear up in time to go back to green flag racing? Or will we end the motor race about 14 minutes early? This is going to be the first win for 99 Racing and the first win in sports car racing for an entry under the Jordanian flag. No sign of the teeming rain conditions ending. Will we have a red or checkered flag?
99 Racing, crossing their fingers. Christopher Haase now at the wheel of the #42 Sainteloc Racing Audi might just bring that car home to victory in the GT3 class. A stunning performance from Sainteloc Racing in an Audi 1-2-3. Back home in Germany, the folks at Ingolstadt are hoping the race ends early and they can celebrate. They lead the #66 Attempto Racing Audi of Alex Aka, Dylan Pereira, and Andrey Mukovoz by 12 seconds. This could be a historic result for Audi Sport Customer Racing. Just under 13 minutes to go.
Ben Barker is struggling to get the #86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 under control. Cool Racing lead the LMP3 class by over a minute, on the second-place car for CD Sport. 97 laps complete in LMP3, 335 miles. So, they are just a mere ten miles behind the overall leader. There is just enough control in the wet to allow the #22 Proton Competition LMP2 car to skate over the gravel and rejoin the circuit. Teams communicate to Race Control that this race is undrivable. They are monitoring the conditions as the two EBM Porsche’s come splashing through. Cool Racing have gotten lucky with the safety car scrambles and hence they are in the lead in LMP3.
Marco Mapelli too, has found the puddle in the braking zone at turn 15 and goes off course and back on again. He brings home the Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini. There is zero grip on the road right now. The rain is tipping down and the track conditions are only getting worse. 101 laps completed by the leading 99 Racing LMP2 car, (348 miles), and the gaps are meaningless. Gilles Magnus waiting for this race to end behind the safety car. Race Control listening to the teams and to the safety car driver in the murky gloom here in Malaysia.
Bright sunshine began this race and rain ended it. Ten minutes to go and this race will be red flagged. No surprise, it will end ten minutes early with 3 hours and 50 minutes of racing done and in the record book. All cars proceed to the pit lane per officials’ instructions. A sign of relief among the teams. Sainteloc Racing can celebrate officially! They win the first race of the 2023-2024 Asian Le Mans Series in the GT class here in Malaysia! It is a 1-3 finish.
Jubilation, joy, for Christopher Haase, Gilles Magnus, and Alban Varutti! 99 Racing win the race overall and celebrate! Victory in LMP2 for Nikita Mazepin, Louis Deletraz, and Ahmad Al Harthy! In the LMP3 class, the winners are Cool Racing and the #17 Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Saint Kitts and Nevis domiciled Russian Alexander Bukhantsov, Danial Frost from Singapore in what is a home race, and James Winslow from England! Cars are allowed to be covered with their rain covers but of course, the winners have gone to victory lane. Our GT class winners with the GT3 cars, the #42 Sainteloc Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Christopher Haase, Gilles Magnus, and Alban Varutti.
Overall/LMP2: #99 Al Harthy/Deletraz/Mazepin 99 Racing Oreca 07
LMP3: #17 Bukhantsov/Frost/Winslow Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT: #42 Haase/Magnus/Varutti Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS Evo II.
So, race one in Malaysia is complete. We have the second race of the year tomorrow, hopefully in drier conditions. James Winslow has coached Danial Frost to be a racing driver since age 14. He says he is glad the race was red flagged because the conditions were as bad as he’s ever seen. Cool Racing, CD Sport, and Bretton Racing are top in the LMP3 teams competition while the three drivers, Alexander Bukhantsov, Danial Frost, and James Winslow lead the drivers’ standings after one race, heading into the second race of the season and of the weekend here at Sepang, tomorrow.
In GT3, an all-Audi podium with two cars from Sainteloc Racing as dominant winners, Christopher Haase, Gilles Magnus, and Alban Varutti. Let us credit them again for their victory today. Not much time to celebrate tonight. Rest up, chaps. There will be another four-hour race here at the Sepang circuit tomorrow. Please do join us for that, as the winners spray the champagne. Sainteloc Racing win their first Asian Le Mans Series race! We’ll see you tomorrow, as Sainteloc Racing gets maximum points in the race today. What a fabulous first race. Tomorrow, we have another four hours of racing ahead. Stay tuned for that. We’ll see you tomorrow here in Malaysia. For now, so long everybody. Bye bye.
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