Asian LMS - 42 cars for Sepang opener

The entry list for the opening two races of the 2024/25 Asian Le Mans Series, the 4 Hours of Sepang (6-8 December), will feature 42 cars - 10 LMP2, 7 LMP3 and a mammoth 25 LMGT3s.

 

The grid for the 4 Hours of Sepang is truly international, with 125 drivers and 29 teams representing 36 different nations from all corners of the world.

 

Champions Galore in LMP2

 

Reigning LMP2 Team Champions Algarve Pro Racing return with two cars in the LMP2 category.  Newly crowned European Le Mans Series LMP3 champion Michael Jensen with join fellow Dane and reigning Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 champion Malthe Jakobsen and Italian Valerio Rinicella in the no25 Oreca.

 

2023 ALMS LMP2 Team Champions DKR Engineering also return with a single car entry with multiple LMP3 champions Laurents Horr and Job Van Uitert joining Greek driver Georgios-Periklis Kolovos in the no3 Oreca-Gibson.

 

2022 ALMS LMP2 Champions Nielsen Racing are also entering a single car, with 2022 Driver’s Champion Matt Bell being joined by Nicky Catsburg and Naveen Rao in the no24 entry.

 

Reigning ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am Champions Francois Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera will be looking to add another title to their resume with AF Corse, the Italian team running two cars in LMP2, with platinum rated Olivier Pla being joined by Americans Patrick Byrne and Jeremy Clarke.

 

Daytona 24 and ELMS LMP2 race winners Proton Competition are also fielding a two-car effort in the Asian Le Mans Series, with Jonas Ried, Mathias Beche and Paul Lanchere in the no11 Oreca and Giorgio Roda, Vlad Lomko and Tom Dillmann in the no22 entry.

 

The 4 Hours of Sepang will mark the first LMP2 entry RD Limited, the team owned and run by the former 24 Hours of Le Mans winners and FIA World Champion Romain Dumas. 2023 ELMS LMP2 Champion James Allen will team up with Fred Poordad and Tristan Vautier in the no30 Oreca-Gibson.

 

Reigning ALMS GT Champions Pure Rxcing is moving up to LMP2 this season with the no91 Oreca-Gibson being run by reigning ELMS LMP2 Team Champions TF Sport.  2023/24 ALMS GT Champion and newly crowned FIA WEC LMGT3 Champion Alex Malykhin will be racing this season with British driver Harry King and three-time ELMS LMP2 Champion Louis Deletraz.

 

Seven Strong Entry for LMP3

 

With Inter Europol Competition switching their LMP2 entry to LMP3, the junior Le Mans Prototype class will be hotly contested between seven entries this season. 2023 LMP3 Champions Graff Racing return to the Asian Le Mans Series with a single entry, with reigning ALMS LMP3 Champion Alexander Bukhantsov joined by James Winslow and Danial Frost in the no7 Ligier JS P320-Nissan.

 

Newly crowned ELMS LMP3 Team Champions RLR MSport are also entering a single Ligier, with 2024 ELMS LMP3 Champion Nick Adcock sharing the driving with Mexican Ian Aguilera.

 

Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 race winners Bretton Racing finished the 2023/24 Asian Le Mans Series with a win in Abu Dhabi and will be looking to improve on their third place in last season’s championship standings. The Czech team will run a single Ligier for race winners Dan Skocdopole and Theodor Jensen, with their teammate still to be named.

 

Inter Europol Competition will run two cars in LMP3 this season, with 16-year-old Belgian driver Douwe Dedecker being joined by Daniel Ali and Tim Creswick in the no34 Ligier. French team Ultimate and Danish outfit High Class Racing will run a single car each to bring the LMP3 entry up to seven cars.

 

Six Manufacturers Go Head-To-Head for GT Honours

 

Twenty-five GT3 cars will compete in the two 4 Hour of Sepang races, with Aston-Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche being represented on the grid in Malaysia.

 

There will be no less than eight Porsche 911 GT3 Rs on the track in Sepang with reigning FIA WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans champions Manthey running two 911s.  The no10 Porsche will feature reigning ALMS GT and FIA WEC LMGT3 Champions Klaus Bachler and Joel Sturm, who will be joined by Antares Au for the 2024/25 season.  Multiple 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Richard Lietz will race with ELMS LMGTE Champion Ryan Hardwick and race winner Riccardo Pera in the no92 Manthey EMA entry.

 

Origine Motorsport is one of two Chinese teams, with the no87 Porsche being driven by Bo Yuan and Hongli Ye with German driver Laurin Heinrich. After successful campaigns in the FIA WEC, ELMS and Michelin Le Mans Cup for many years, the Iron Dames will make their ALMS debut this season.  The no85 Porsche 911 GT3 R, which is run by Proton Competition, will see WEC and ELMS race winners Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy joined by MLMC front runner Celia Martin. Proton Competition will run a second car under their own team name, the no60 entry being driven by former ELMS Champions Alessio Picariello and Matteo Cressoni, alongside their Italian teammate Claudio Schiavoni.

 

German team Car Collection will run a two-car effort with a pair of 911s, while San Marino based Tsunami RT will run one car.

 

There will be six Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVOs on track in Malaysia.  Chinese team Climax Racing and German outfit Winward Racing will each run a two-car effort this season. China’s Bihaung Zhou, will race with Finland’s Elias Seppanen and Estian Ralf Aron in the no2 Mercedes-AMG, while Lu Wei, Ling Kang and Lucas Auer will race the no14 entry for the Chinese team.

 

Winward Racing’s drivers are Maro Engel, the winner of 2024 FIA GT World Cup in Macau, alongside Viktor Shaytar and Sergey Solyarov in the no16 Mercedes-AMG, with Jules Gounon joining Gabriele Piana and Rinat Salikhov in the no81 entry for the German team.

 

Bahraini team 2 Seas Motorsport will enter a single Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO with Ben Barnicoat, Anthony Mcintosh and Parker Thompson driving the no96 entry. Getspeed will run the final Mercedes-AMG on the grid, the German team having finished third in the overall ALMS GT standings in 2023.

 

There will also be six Ferrari 296 GT3s in Sepang, three of which will be run by Italian team AF Corse. The no29 AF Corse 296 will feature Ferrari works driver Davide Rigon alongside Manuel Franco and Massimiliano Wiser.  The no51 entry will see 2024 MLMC GT3 Vice Champions Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini, who are joined by Cedric Sbirrazzuoli. The final AF Corse entry is the no81 296 GT3 driven by 2023 FIA WEC LMGTE AM Champion Nicolas Varrone, with ELMS race winner Conrad Laursen and French driver Charles-Henri Samani sharing the driving duties.

 

Swiss team Kessel Racing will run two Ferrari 296 GT3s, one under their own banner and one under the distinctive livery of Car Guy, with Japan’s Yudai Uchida standing in for Takeshi Kimura in Malaysia.  The final Ferrari 296 GT3 will be run by Hong Kong based team Absolute Racing.

 

There will be two Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3s on the grid in Sepang, with New Zealand team EBM running one for former FIA WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans champion Marco Sorensen, Kiwi Brendon Leitch and Indonesian Anderson Tanoto.

 

The second Vantage has been entered by British team Blackthorn, the 2024 Road to Le Mans race winners fielding a driver line up of David McDonald, Claude Bovet and Jason Ambrose.

 

The two McLaren 720S GT3s will both be run by British team Optimum Motorsport.  Benji Goethe, Fran Rueda and Andrew Gilbert will race the no27 720S, with Tom Gamble, Tom Ikin and Morgan Tillbrook in the no77 McLaren.

 

The final entry on the GT grid for the 4 Hours of Sepang is Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO 2 run by New Zealand based team Prime Speed Sport.  The no42 Lamborghini will feature the driving talents of Australian Nicholas Foster and Kiwis Jono Lester and Rene Heremana Malmezac.

 

The 4 Hours of Sepang is Round 1 of the 2024/25 Asian Le Mans Series and will feature two 4-hour races, the first on Saturday 7 December at 14h00 (local) and the second on Sunday 8 December, also starting at 14h00.

 

Full entry list is HERE