Asian Le Mans Series, Sunday Paddock Notes From Abu Dhabi
The longest fortnight in endurance racing draws to a close today. The 2023 Asian Le Mans Series concludes with the second installment of the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit.
Scheduled start time is 4:00 PM GST (local time), noon GMT, with pre-race coverage beginning 30 minutes prior.
All three championships and automatic invitations to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans will be decided by the end of the race tonight. Here’s a run-down of who can win it and how:
LMP2
Amazingly, eight out of the nine LMP2 teams still have a mathematical chance at the championship heading into today!
The #3 DKR Engineering team of Salih Yoluç, Ayhancan Guven, and Charlie Eastwood take a 12-point lead into tonight’s decider. Despite not winning a race thus far, they’re the only crew that’s been on the podium every round – and a fourth straight podium will be enough for them to clinch the championship no matter what.
Three teams are tied on 39 points, and have all won races – Algarve Pro Racing and the #25, Inter Europol Competition with the #43, and COOL Racing with the #37. All three need a minimum fourth place finish to take the title, accounting for tie-breakers if the #3 retires or is not classified.
Or, put it another way – whichever of these cars finishes highest wins the race, if the #3 finishes outside the top four!
The fifth-ranked Nielsen Racing #24 needs to finish in the top two to have any chance, a win would require the #3 to finish sixth or lower.
99 Racing will get a point today for Ahmad al-Harthy’s pole position, putting them within 20 points of the lead in sixth. They’d need a win, the #3 to finish eighth or lower, and the trio of the #25, #37, and #43 to finish third or lower to win the championship.
And both United Autosports cars are still on the fringe of title contention! The #23 trails by 21 points, needing all of the qualifiers applicable to the 99 Racing team to win the title.
The #22, after its post-race penalty, would need a win, and they would also require a retirement or non-classified result from the #3. If that happens, they’d also need all of the following: The #43 and #25 to finish fifth or lower, the #37 to finish fourth or lower, the #24 to finish third or lower – Simple!
LMP3
Four teams still have a mathematical chance to win the LMP3 championship.
MV2S Racing lead on 58 points. Jerome de Sadeleer, Slava Gutak, and Fabien Lavergne can clinch the championship unconditionally by winning, or finishing second in class today.
The #8 Graff Racing team trail by ten points. They need to finish at least third to have a chance at the title – but with two second-place finishes in hand, if they win the race and MV2S Racing finishes third, they hold the championship tiebreaker.
DKR Engineering’s #5 Duquiene is third in points, 15 points back of first place. They need to win or finish second to have any chance at the title.
Finally, Nielsen Racing’s #4 Ligier is fourth, clinging to title contention after a race 1 victory, 25 points back. Their only path to the championship is a win plus: MV2S Racing retiring or finishing outside the points, Graff Racing’s #8 car finishing fifth or lower, and DKR Engineering finishing third or lower.
GT
Just three teams still have a chance at the GT class championship, and Walkenhorst Motorsport have an overwhelming 18 point advantage going into today’s decider.
Chandler Hull, Nicky Catsburg, and Thomas Merrill clinch the championship with a finish of sixth or better, no matter what. It would then leave the long-time BMW loyalists with just the tough question of, “What car to race with at Le Mans?”
The #7 Haupt Racing Team/Al Manar Racing and #10 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3s would each need to win tonight, from 18 and 22 points back respectively.
Multiple scratches in GT field
The #67 Orange Racing powered by JMH McLaren 720S GT3 crashed in qualifying because of a significant component failure. The impact itself didn’t look so bad, but it caused damage to the tub that forced them out for the remainder of the weekend. They were a DNS in Abu Dhabi Race 1 and their equipment is already out of their garage this morning ahead of Race 2.
The other late scratch before yesterday’s race was the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GT3, which suffered an unspecified technical issue after qualifying. That same issue will keep them out of Race 2 today.
Unsurprisingly, the damage suffered from Johnny Laursen’s crash means that the #60 Formula Racing Ferrari will take no further part. Their space in the AF Corse garage is now vacant, while the #21 AF Corse Ferrari was being re-wrapped this morning after overnight repairs.
After the collision between the #2 CD Sport and #18 360 Racing Ligier JS P320s, the #2 CD Sport car was able to return to the race after over an hour and a half in repairs.
Both cars are able to start today’s race.
And so too, is Bullitt Racing’s #66 Aston Martin Vantage GT3, repaired after Martin Berry was left with nowhere to go in the midst of all the first lap tomfoolery within the GT field!
Barring any complications, this will mean “only” 42 starters for today’s decider.
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