24h Le Mans
The teams involved in the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series got the first two races of the season under their belt at the 4 Hours of Dubai. Algarve Pro Racing and Inter Europol Competition came out on top.
An incident-packed Saturday ended with three-time Asian Le Mans Series champion Algarve Pro Racing winning Race 1 of the 4 Hours of Dubai.
Earlier in the day, qualifying was held up by almost three hours following Philipp Sager’s heavy crash in the #54 Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by Dinamic GT. The #43 Oreca 07-Gibson of Inter Europol Competition took pole position after the two qualifying sessions, with WTM by Rinaldi Racing topping the LMP3 rankings. Walkenhorst Motorsports’ #34 BMW M4 GT3 was fastest GT qualifier.
The #25 Oreca of Algarve Pro Racing, driven by John Falb, James Allen and Kyffin Simpson, started the race in sixth position. Despite spinning after an initial Full Course Yellow, Falb was soon battling for third place with Nielsen Racing’s Rodrigo Sales in the #24 Oreca. Algarve Pro Racing first moved to the front of the pack around the halfway mark, but the lead continued to swap hands. The Portuguese outfit ultimately came out on top, nine seconds ahead of DKR Engineering (#3 Oreca) and 99 Racing’s 98 Oreca whose line-up included Porsche’s 2016 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, Neel Jani.
Race 1 winners in the other classes:
>> 4 Hours of Dubai Race 1 standings <<
Catch up with the highlights from Race 1 below.
Sunday’s Race 2 will be remembered for an amazing fight-back by the #43 Oreca of Inter Europol Competition, driven by Nolan Siegel, Christian Bogle and Charles Crews, to clinch a remarkable victory.
The Polish outfit again started in pole position but a spin on the opening lap saw the #43 car drop down the leaderboard. The team opted for a change of strategy by refuelling after 30 minutes of the race. Following a raft of overtaking manoeuvres, an unbelievable stint by 18-year-old Siegel and an intense head-to-head with the #3 Oreca of DKR Engineering, Inter Europol Competition edged the win. Nielsen Racing’s #24 Oreca rounded out the Race 2 podium.
Race 2 winners in the other classes:
>> 4 Hours of Dubai Race 2 standings <<
You can watch the Race 2 highlights in this video.
The big carrot for Asian Le Mans Series competitors is of course the invitations up for grabs for the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary (10-11 June 2023). At the half-time interval, Algarve Pro Racing in LMP2, MV2S Racing in LMP3 and Walkenhorst Motorsport in GT have made an excellent start in their quest for a golden ticket.
The second half of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series will be played out next weekend with two rounds of the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina Circuit. Enjoy a selection of the best shots from the first weekend of racing in our photo gallery below.
