Photo: asianlemansseries.com
Jackie Chan DFC Racing X JOTA enjoyed a highly successful second round of the 2017/18 Asian Le Mans Series when it took first and third in the LMP2 class and won the LMP3 class.
The #8 Nissan-powered ORECA 05, piloted by Thomas Laurent, Stéphane Richelmi and Harrison Newey, crossed the line to take the LMP2 class victory 1:00.354 minutes ahead of the #37 BBT Ligier JS P2 with the driver line-up of Anthony Xu Liu, Pipo Derani and Davide Rizzo.
Taking the final podium position in the LMP2 class was the sister #7 Jackie Chan DC Racing X JOTA entry driven by David Cheng and Jazeman Jaafar.
Jackie Chan DC Racing X JOTA driver Thomas Laurent was delighted at the win.
“My teammates did a really good job at the start of the race,” said the French driver. “I was around 20 or 30 seconds behind the BBT car in front of us. I was able to close the gap and pass him in my first stint and I tried to manage our tyres for the rest of the race while managing my lead. The team did a really good job to maintain the cars as well as possible. A big thank you to my team mates and my team.”
Jackie Chan DC Racing X JOTA also took the victory in the LMP3 class after its #6 Ligier JS P3 piloted by Patrick Byrne and Guy Cosmo crossed the line some four laps ahead of the second-in-class #65 Viper Niza Racing Ligier JS P3 piloted by Douglas Khoo, Dominic Ang and James Winslow. Taking the final podium was a delighted Shinyo Sano in the TKS Ginetta LMP3 driving alongside Yuta Kamimura and Takuya Shirasaka.
“We battled a lot with managing the tyre pressures throughout the race,” said Patrick Byrne, driver of the #6 entry. “But everything worked out well and we went from 5th to 2nd. I got out – Cosmo got in and just demolished it. He went up to first and had a huge time gap so we knew we were comfortable for the pit stops. For me it was an enjoyment to watch, an enjoyment to be with the drew, a great team , great mechanics – we just go out there and drive – they are the ones that are working hard and staying late. And thanks to the Asian Le Mans Series as well – it is a great series.”
In the GT category it was the FIST-Team AAI who scored a 1-2 in class after its #90 Ferrari F488 GT3 driven by Lam Yu, Ollie Millroy and Marco Ciocci took class honours, followed by the sister #91 BMW M6 GT3 piloted by Junsan Chen, Jesse Krohn and Chaz Mostert.
Third in the GT class was the Tianshi Racing Team Audi R8 LMS driven by Peng Liu, Weian Chen and Massimilano Wiser.
Round Three of the 2017/18 Asian Le Mans Series takes place on January 11 – 13 with the 4 Hours of Buriram.
