UPDATE: The final classification is now in, following a raft of penalties post-race. The most significant concerned the top three in GT.
As suspected, JMR’s #66 Corvette has lost second place after receiving a two-lap penalty for two pass-around infringements and exceeding the maximum stint time during the race.
That means that the #10 Manthey Porsche and #21 AF Corse Ferrari have inherited second and third. Remarkably, so many penalties were handed to GT cars that the QMMF by Getspeed Mercedes-AMG has risen from 10th to fourth!
Newly-crowned Daytona 24 Hours LMP2 winner CrowdStrike Racing by APR remained in fine form this afternoon in Dubai, winning the first Asian Le Mans Series race of the weekend after a late charge to the lead from Louis Deletraz.
The Swiss Cadillac Hypercar driver was strapped in for the final stint of the race after strong runs from Malthe Jakobsen and George Kurtz. He used fresh tyres to his advantage to muscle past Nielsen Racing’s Alex Quinn with a bold move up the inside into Turn 1 after a late restart to seal the victory.
It was a result that came after a rollercoaster four hours across all three classes, particularly in LMP2, where the order was shuffled halfway through the race. Multiple front-running cars (including the pole-sitting #5 United, winning #4 CrowdStrike by APR and #43 Inter Europol ORECAs) were forced to enter the closed pit lane to take emergency service during an ill-timed safety car period, and then another full stop, costing them valuable track position.
The caution period, which lasted more than half an hour, was caused by the cleanup effort required following the #11 TF Sport Corvette’s trip backwards into the barriers after Turn 9 while running at the sharp end in GT.
“I’m not 100 per cent sure what happened,” TF driver Blake McDonald admitted to the broadcast. “There was contact in Turn 9, then again with another car that put me into the wall.”
That safety car turned the race on its head in all three classes. It shuffled the order with an hour and 17 minutes remaining, before a third and final neutralisation with 44 minutes to go to recover the #23 23Events Racing Ligier, which took terminal damage in a collision with the #9 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3. The outcome of the two incidents was a sprint finish with 20 minutes remaining.
When the race returned to green, Alex Quinn held the lead after a head-turning run to the front that saw him make a string of overtakes, including a double move on Deletraz and Mikkel Jensen, in the third hour. But it wasn’t meant to be for Nielsen in its 50th LMP2 race, as its ORECA was on old tyres at the end, and the Briton was unable to defend with the field bunched up.
He was first passed by Deletraz, who completed the comeback drive for the team. “It was a great race,” he said. “We got unlucky, then we got lucky, but the car was fast, George was strong, Malthe saved tyres, and then we came from P11.”
Quinn would eventually finish eighth, as Cetilar Racing’s points-leading ORECA ended up second, ahead of the RD Limited ORECA that took a shock third.
It was a crucial result for Cetilar’s Antonio Fuoco, Charles Milesi and Roberto Lacorte, as it ensured they retain the championship lead heading into the fourth race of the season. Romain Dumas’ RD Limited outfit, meanwhile, was delighted with its podium finish, which looked highly unlikely this morning after it was forced to draft in LMP2 rookie James Sweetnam on short notice to stand in for the injured Fred Poordad.
Off the podium, the #20 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA ended up fourth, with the Vector Sport RLR example eventually rounding out the top five.
Mikkel Jensen came home seventh (behind the third Algarve Pro-run car) in the pole-sitting #5 United Autosports ORECA, which led into the second hour but failed to recover from its loss of track position during the first safety car.
LMP3 was won by Inter Europol Competition’s #13 Ligier JS P325 in dramatic fashion after a chaotic, door-banging finale. Henry Cubides sat second when the race went green for a final time and found himself locked into a battle with Forestier Racing by VPS’s Luciano Morano for the win.
The two came together and swapped positions multiple times during the final two laps. It looked settled when Morano retook the lead in traffic on the penultimate lap, and Cubides then went off in avoidance while trying to make a move around the outside at Turn 1 at the start of the final tour. But contact again for Morano seconds from the end with Inter Europol’s LMP2 car – which he mistook for the car he was racing – allowed the #13 back through.
“It was intense,” a delighted Cubides said. “The traffic plays a big role here. The strategy was on point, but we came through. It was tough, and I think I made the team nervous there. I thought it was over, but I didn’t give up, and then at the end.”
Matus Ryba too third for 23Events Racing in its #71 Ligier. Team Virage’s #8 finished just off the podium in fourth, ahead of the #17 CLX Motorsport entry, which started on pole but dropped to fifth.
The action in GT was just as fast and furious. Kessel Racing’s #74 Ferrari 296 took the win in the end, despite losing time to a stop-go for crossing a red light at the pit exit.
Dennis Marschall was in for the final stint, and confusion reigned. “I lost track of the race. I thought we were completely screwed because we had a stop-go penalty before the final pit stop. Then I ended up with new tyres, and I was told I was a couple of cars behind the leader and was told to push,” he said after helping extend his team’s championship lead to 27 points over the #9 Getspeed crew.
Behind at the flag, the #66 JMR Corvette ended second seemingly out of nowhere (the team appears likely to receive at least one post-race penalty). Loek Hartog in the #10 Manthey Porsche fought to third with a late move on Augusto Farfus in the #28 WRT BMW, forcing the Brazilian to settle for fourth.
The #21 AF Corse Ferrari was classified fifth. Remarkably, after Mercedes-AMG GT3s run by Getspeed locked out the front row, their highest-placing car from the ‘three-pointed star’ was the pole-sitting QMMF by Getspeed example down in 10th.
Race 2 tomorrow is set to get underway at 14:10 local time.
Image courtesy of Asian Le Mans Series
