24h Le Mans
The 2023 Asian Le Mans Series offered the three class winners an invitation to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans Centenary. DKR Engineering, Graff Racing and Walkenhorst Motorsport will be on the grid in June.
By finishing the four races on the podium, DKR Engineering scooped the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series title and an invitation to the forthcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class. The Luxembourg-based outfit won a Le Mans ticket last year also through the Asian Le Mans Series, after claiming the LMP3 title. The #3 Oreca subsequently finished 22nd overall and 18th in LMP2.
In the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series, Salih Yoluç Charlie Eastwood and Ayhancan Güven drove the winning #3 car.
Graff Racing went into the second weekend of racing, lying in second place after the first two rounds. In round four, Fabrice Rossello, Xavier Lloveras and François Heriau drove a perfectly executed race in the #8 Ligier JS P320-Nissan to clinch the win, the title and an invite to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans (in the LMP2 class). “We are still very emotional,” said Team Manager Pascal Rauturier. “It’s difficult to realise what we have achieved today. We will be on the grid of the 100th year of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Thanks to our drivers and the whole team who managed to stay strong until the chequered flag of this incredible race.” Graff Racing has been a 24 Hours of Le Mans regular for a number of years.
Walkenhorst Motorsport’s #34 BMW M4 GT3 emerged victorious from a field comprising Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3s, Mercedes AMG GT3s, Ferrari 488 GT3s and Porsche 911 GT3 Rs. Two wins at the 4 Hours of Dubai gave the German team a solid platform on which to land the GT title which it duly did with a second place in race 4. Walkenhorst Motorsport will have to choose between an Aston Martin Vantage AMR, a Corvette C8.R, a Ferrari 488 GTE Evo and a Porsche 911 RSR-19 for its LMGTE Am entry as GT3s will not enter the fold until 2024. We shall know more when the provisional entry list is published. The #34 BMW was driven in the Asian Le Mans Series by Chandler Hull, Nicky Catsburg and Thomas Merrill. At Le Mans, however, Catsburg will team up with Ben Keating in a Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
