Asian Le Mans Series

All To Play For As 2016/17 Asian Le Mans Series Reaches Its Finale At Sepang (20.01.17)

The 2016/17 Asian Le Mans Series reaches a conclusion on January 21 and 22 as 28 cars head for the Sepang International Circuit near Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia.

With prizes of invitations to the 2017 running of the 24 Heures du Mans, competition has been intense this season and, after three races, titles are still in contention in all classes, except CN.

The #35 Jackie Chan DC Racing Nissan-powered Oreca 03R, driven by Ho-Pin Tung, Gustavo Menezes and Thomas Laurent, leads the LMP2 class on 69 points after victories at Zhuhai and Buriram and a second place at Fuji. The #25 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier JS P2, with the driver line-up of Andrea Pizzitola, Andrea Roda and Aidan Read is, however, only 19 points behind after a pair of third places at Zhuhai and Fuji and a second place in the previous round at Buriram. Algarve Pro Racing also occupies third place in the LMP2 standings as its #24 Nissan-powered Ligier JSP2 is only five points behind its sister, Judd-powered, car.

The ultra-competitive LMP3 class goes into the final round with 25 points covering the top five cars.

ARC Bratislava leads the LMP3 standings on 55 points with its #4 Ginetta LMP3 driven by Darren Burke and Konstantins Calko having won last time out at Buriram. Just four points behind, however, is the #26 Tockwith Motorsports Ligier JSP3 with the driver pairing of Nigel Moore and Phil Hanson. Completing the top three in the class is the #1 Jackie Chan DC Racing Ligier JSP3 driven by James Winslow, David Cheng and Hiroki Yoshida. The previous three rounds have seen three different teams on the top step of the podium so the final round, with the ultimate prize of a Le Mans entry, will be highly contested.

Joining the LMP3 field for Sepang will Kent-based driver Devon Modell who will pilot the #99 WINEURASIA Ligier JSP3 alongside Scott Andrews and William Lok. Modell is an experienced endurance racing driver, having driven in the British GT Championship, the 24H SERIES and the Blancpain Endurance Series, the latter in the Oman Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 with Jonny Adam and Ahmad Al Harthy completing the driver line-up.

In the GT class the #5 DH Racing Ferrari F488 GT3, driven by Stephane Laurent, Michele Rugulo and Matthieu Vaxiviere, leads the standings on 52 points, 14 points ahead of the #37 Team BBT Ferrari F488 GT3. The #37 car will be driven by Anthony Liu, Davide Rizzo and Allesandro Pier Guidi.

Qualifying for the fourth and final round of the 2016/17 Asian Le Mans Series begins at 17:15 local time on Saturday January 21 for the GT and GT Cup field with the LMP2, LMP3 and CN grids beginning their 15-minute qualifying session at 17:40 local time.

The lights go out for the start of the four-hour race at 12:15 local time on Sunday January 22. Live timing can be found via the Asian Le Mans Series website and the race will be streamed via the Asian Le Mans Series YouTube channel.