Back for the second round after a two-month break, the teams headed out on the Sepang International Circuit for the first official sessions of Round 2 of the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup today.
Aidan Read dominated both free practice sessions, placing the #94 WINEURASIA Ligier JSP3 firmly at the head of the field, with times of 2:00.201 in the first session, and 2:00.512 in the second. His team mate for this round, Tanart Sathienthirakul was almost as quick, setting a best of 2:00.447 in FP1. They are clearly out to make up for the points lost from last round, following the stewards’ decision to exclude the #94 from both races. Their appeal against Aidan Read’s silver categorisation fell through, meaning that the driver line-up wasn’t conform to the regulations, and so lost their points and the lead in the championship.
DC Racing and PRT Racing follow in the Free Practice results, with the #1 DC Racing Ligier JSP3 driven by Jamie Winslow going 2nd quickest in FP1 with a best of 2:01.042, and going 3rd quickest in FP2. Charlie Robertson set the best times for the #67 PRT Racing Ginetta LMP3, giving them 2nd in FP2 with a time of 2:01.221, after already being 3rd fastest in FP1. Nexus Infinity’s #27 ADESS 03 was 4th quickest in both sessions, with their best time of the day being 2:02.927.
The #68 PS Racing Ligier JS 53, the sole CN entry this weekend, set their quickest time of the day in the second free practice session, 2:04.206, placing them 5th overall. The car will be driven by Neiric Wei and Iroi Kumura this weekend.
In the GTCup class, Team NZ was quickest in class in both sessions, with Graeme Dowsett and John Curran sharing the wheel of the #77 Porsche GT3 Cup, their quickest lap of the day being 2:13.529. The #28 Team Lotus HK Lotus Evora GTC was 2nd fastest in FP1, with a time of 2:16.699, but couldn’t make FP2 due to gear box issues. The #11 Team Lotus HK Lotus Evora GTC was second quickest in FP2, with a time of 2:14.475. The best time set by the #98 Team Lotus HK Lotus Exige Cup R was 2:27.089.
In other news,
* Due to the late arrival of the car from Europe, PS Racing’s second entry this weekend, an ADESS 03 which will be driven by Ringo Chong and Alan Yeo, was only released from customs this morning and will take part in tomorrow’s sessions.
*Team AAI have had to withdraw from the event, as they could not get their ADESS 03 fixed in time. They will be back for the last round.
The teams are looking forward to getting out and racing, with the qualifying sessions tomorrow morning deciding who will be on pole for races 3 and 4 of the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup, the first of which will be tomorrow afternoon at 13:55 local time. See you there!
Categories of Cars.
LMP3
LM P3 cars are coupes with a carbon chassis, metal roll bar, mandatory fin and an opening at the top of each wheel arch will be mandatory. They are 15 cm shorter than the current LMP2 cars, but with the same width. All cars are powered by a single, Nissan NISMO sourced naturally aspirated V8 engine (420 HP) with only one allowed per car per season, with the engine management system developed by Magnetti Marelli and sold by ORECA.
Manufacturers for this category include Ginetta-Juno, Onroak Automotive, Ave-Riley, Norma, Dome and ADESS.
CN
Only Group CN cars with a carbon chassis will be eligible to race in the Asian Le Mans Series. This eligibility will end in 2017.Only cars holding a FIA CN Homologation (chassis) using a carbon survival cell and a Group N 2 Litre engine are eligible and the ACO has established the following list of eligible cars: LIGIER JS 53 EVO; NORMA M20 FC; LOBART LA01; PESCAROLO 02; PROMEC PJ199; TATUUS PY 012; WOLF GB08; ZULLTEC CZ2.
GT Cup
The GT Cup category consists of the various single-make Cup Series in the region such as those from Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup, Ferrari Challenge, Audi R8 LMS Cup and Lotus Cup.
Credits : Photos and content courtesy of Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup
