UPDATE: The #13 Inter Europol Ligier has been disqualified for finishing the race with its front damper cover missing, breaching Article 1.5 b of the LMP3 Prototype Technical Regulations.
As a result, every classified LMP3 car has moved up a place, and CLX Motorsport’s crew have inherited the class win.
CrowdStrike by APR’s #4 ORECA of George Kurtz, Malthe Jakobsen and Louis Deletraz scored a third straight Asian Le Mans Series victory this evening at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
The trio were faultless in the race, which ran almost entirely green, executing their fuel strategy to the tee, gaining places throughout the second half as other cars hit trouble or made errors, and taking the lead at the final round of stops.
The winning margin for Deletraz, who cruised home, was two seconds over the #20 from Algarve Pro Racing, which had a topsy-turvy race but finished strong, making it a 1-2 for the Portuguese team.
“We are very happy now with a third win in a row, putting us in a strong position for the last race. We need to keep our heads calm and make sure we finish the race tomorrow,” Jakobsen said.
Completing the podium was the #30 RD Limited ORECA, which had to battle hard to remain in contention after serving a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.
James Allen’s efforts helped the team lead into the final hour, though Tristan Vautier was marginal on fuel after an early final stop and dropped to third. Even with fresh tyres, he couldn’t make up enough ground to challenge either APR car ahead in the closing laps.
It could have been a 1-2-3 again for Algarve Pro, but its #25 dropped out of the top three to fifth behind DKR’s car at its final stop when Tom Dillmann was forced to creep into the pit lane, seemingly out of fuel.
Crucially, though, in the title battle, today’s race saw the pendulum swing firmly in the #4 crew’s favour. The Cetilar racing ORECA, which entered the weekend level on points with the #4, finished outside the points in 12th.
After causing a red flag in qualifying, Roberto Lacorte, the team’s Bronze driver, was unable to take the start. Instead, Alpine factory driver Charles Milesi was installed and drove to the front in the opening minutes of the race from last in the LMP2 class before pitting.
Lacorte then climbed in, hoping for a caution period – that never came – to gain back lost track position and time as they ran off sequence. To make matters worse, Lacorte had two offs during his stint, costing the team further time, leaving Milesi and Le Mans winner Antonio Fuoco with a mountain to climb in the second half of the race.
With an 11th-place finish, they head into tomorrow’s race 25 points off the leading crew and in need of a miracle to take the title.
Another trio who had a race to forget were the drivers aboard United Autosports’ pole-sitting #5 ORECA. Giorgio Roda drove a perfect stint from the start of the race, but the car suffered gearbox terminal issues that forced Gregoire Saucy into the garage during the second hour.
In LMP3, Inter Europol Competition’s #13 Ligier crossed the line first but is likely to drop down the order as the team appears likely to be handed a post-race penalty.
Late in the race, the team was ordered to fix the damper cover on the nose of the car, which came off multiple times. The team opted to stay out, though, and take the flag, knowing that an unscheduled stop at the end would cost them heaps of time.
Should the #13 lose places to a time penalty, the #17 CLX Motorsport Ligier that started from pole would inherit the victory and potentially retake the lead in the standings. The #23 23Events example finished third and could be promoted to second.
Meanwhile, in GT, Team WRT took a fine 1-2 finish, battling to the front with its pair of BMW M4 GT3s. The #69 took the win, after Parker Thompson built on Tony McIntosh’s strong start and took the lead in the third hour before Dan Harper brought it home.
The #28 sister car took second, finishing 24 seconds up the road from the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, which had a steady run to third. For the Swiss team and drivers Dustin Scott Blattner, Chris Lulham, and Dennis Marschall, a top-three finish saw them edge even closer to clinching the title with a 22-point lead.
Just off the podium, the #87 Origine Porsche finished fourth. The QMMF By GetSpeed Mercedes completed the top five, and was the only GetSpeed AMG to make the finish after the team’s pole-sitting #9 car suffered an engine issue and retired.
