Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup 2016

The third and final round of the 2016 Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup is taking place this weekend, from the 2nd to the 4th of September, at the Sepang International Circuit, sharing the weekend with the 1000km of Sepang. The teams are rearing to go, ready to give their all for the last two races and claim those valuable points.

Back with us for the final race are our regulars in LMP3 – DC Racing and Eurasia Motorsport with the Ligier JSP3, PRT Racing with the Ginetta, and Nexus Infinity and PS Racing with the ADESS 03. Team AAI have repaired their car and will be bringing the #91 ADESS 03 back for the final round. We will also have a new addition to this round with second Ginetta LMP3, entered by Team Aylezo under the Malaysian flag, bringing the total number of LMP3 cars to 7!

The PS Racing #68 Ligier JS 53 will be back to represent the CN class, and in the GTCup class, Team Lotus HK will bring their 2 Lotus, and Team NZ will be back in the Porsche GT3 Cup, bringing the total number of cars on the grid to 12.

Currently leading the points tables in LMP3 are Charlie Robertson and Ate de Jong, along with the # 67 PRT Ginetta LMP3, with 73 points in the drivers and team tables. This is 9 points ahead of James Winslow and the #1 DC Racing Ligier JSP3. Third are Garnet Patterson and Adrian D’Silva with the #27 Nexus infinity ADESS 03, standing at 51 points.

In the GT Cup class, the points are close, with the #28 Team Lotus HK Lotus Evora GTC in the lead on 81 points, but the Team NZ #77 Porsche GT3 Cup is close behind on 75. If they repeat their performance from last weekend, they can still claim the title.

In CN, the #69 PS Racing Ligier JS 53 has amassed 79 points since the start of the season, already claiming the CN title. However, the points are still open for the driver title, with Neric Way leading in the driver points on 79 and Sebastien Mailleux at 52 points.

With two races left, each with 25 points on offer, and two points for pole positions, there is plenty that could happen in this final event. The title winners in all three classes will get a free entry to the Asian Le Mans Series that starts at the end of October in Zhuhai, and with such a prize on offer, paving the way to the ultimate aim to race at Le Mans, the teams will be going all out.

The weekend format is slightly different for the final event, with qualifying taking place on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning, with race 5 on Saturday and race 6 on Sunday. There will be a prize giving ceremony on Sunday evening to reward the teams hard work after this very promising first season of the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup.

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.