UPDATE: Following the post-session technical checks the stewards have handed the #42 Saintéloc Audi of Alban Varutti second place on the grid in GT back.
No explanation for the change in result has yet been given. After the session, Saintéloc told DSC that Varutti had his flying laps deleted, dropping the car to 22nd on the grid, due to track limit violations. This drops the Pure Rxcing Porsche to the second row on the grid.
The grid is set for the 2024 Asian Le Mans Series 4 Hours of Dubai, after PJ Hyett wrote the headlines in Qualifying with a superb effort in the #55 Proton Competition ORECA 07 Gibson.
The American, who will start just his fourth race in LMP2 tomorrow, set a 1:47.873 to take pole by under a tenth in a dramatic 15 minutes of prototype qualifying action.
Hyett briefly sat atop the times after his first flyer, before Ahmad Al Harthy in the championship-leading 99 Racing ORECA bettered it. However, Hyett was not done and with six minutes left set his best time to retake the top spot.
Al Harthy and TF Sport’s Salih Yoluc pushed hard in the closing minutes, but couldn’t match Hyett and would settle for second and third on the grid respectively.
With two top-five finishes in Sepang, Hyett’s first weekend in LMP2, it is clear that he and his co-drivers Harry Tincknell and Paul Loup Chatin are eager to break into the podium places and fight for victory tomorrow.
“The 1:49 lap I did early in the session was by far the best lap I’d done to that point, but I knew that I’d made mistakes,” Hyett told DSC following his first LMP2 pole.
“So I knew if I could clean it up I could go faster. It gave me the confidence to clean up some of the errors. The 1:48… I’m in disbelief, to be honest with you.”
It was an extremely tight LMP2 session, with the top five cars finishing up within a second of the pole time. The #22 Proton ORECA would take fourth, with John Falb securing fifth in the #30 Duqueine 07 Gibson.
In LMP3, it was the #17 COOL Racing Ligier that would set the best time. Alexander Bukhantsov was quick from the word ‘go’ and would go almost unchallenged for the duration.
Julien Gerbi came closest in the #26 Bretton Racing JS P320, while High Class Racing would take third following a 1:55.806 by Audunn Gudmundsson.
Prior to the 15 minutes of action for the prototypes, the GT qualifying session went down to the wire. Anthony Liu put in a stellar performance to snatch pole in the #7 Almanar Racing by GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.
The Chinese racer made multiple improvements during his run, with his final flying lap with a minute to go a 1:58.280, good enough to leapfrog the #42 Sainteloc Racing Audi to the top of the times.
Initially, it appeared that Alban Varutti’s 1:58.411, set with just under seven minutes to go, would be good enough for pole in the #42 before Liu’s effort at the end.
However, the drama wouldn’t end there as the Sepang standout would lose his best times and drop to the very back of the pack. A 2:09.497 was his only eligible lap after the change. This leaves the #42 crew with a lot of work to do in tomorrow’s race if they are to hold the championship lead heading into the double-header at Yas Marina.
This promoted the #91 Pure Rxcing Porsche, which won Race 2 at Sepang, to the second spot on the front row. Alex Malykhin’s 1:58.828 the only other sub-1:59 time in the session.
“We were happy with the result,” Malykhin said to the Asian Le Mans Series broadcast team after the session. “I feel very I did very well, and put in a clean lap. It’s a good car. Porsche has good pace in the long runs, which will be good for tomorrow.”
The #69 Optimum Motorsport would slot in third, with James Cottingham putting in a strong 1:59.129.
The Triple Eight JMR Mercedes would make it two AMGs in the top four. The Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini would complete the top five.
Next up is the 4 Hours of Dubai itself, which is set to get underway at 13:00 local time.
