Race 2 of the Abu Dhabi Asan Le Mans Series double-header was won by the #83 AF Corse Oreca driven by Francois Perrodo, Mathieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera, Vaxiviere taking the chequered flag 14.143 seconds ahead of Nicky Catsburg in the #24 Nielsen Racing entry he shared with Naveen Rao and Matt Bell. The final podium place went to the #30 RD Limited Oreca, Tristan Vautier driving the final stint.
The #25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, driven by Michael Jensen, Malthe Jakobsen and Valerio Rinicella, finished 4th, ensuring that the Anglo- Portuguese team secured the LMP2 ALMS title and the coveted entry into the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Victory in the LMP3 class went to the #49 High Class Racing Ligier piloted by Mark Patterson, Anders Fjordbach and Thomas Kiefer with the #15 RLR M Sport entry, in the hands of Ian Aquilera, finished just under 7.5 seconds behind. Third place went to the #26 Bretton Racing entry driven by Jens Moeller, Griffen Peebles and Theodor Jensen, securing the LMP3 tile for the Czech team.
In another closely fought GT contest, the #10 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R took the win, Joel Sturm bringing the car home he shared with Antares Au and Klaus Bachler home 6.434 seconds ahead of the #89 EBM Aston Martin Vantage AM GT3 in the hands of Jamie Day. The final podium finish went to the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 piloted by Dustin Blattner, Dennis Marschall and Ben Tuck, Marschall bringing the car home just under nine seconds behind Day. The victory for Manthey, their first of the 2024/25 ALMS season, secured the title for the Meuspath-based team.
The four-hour contest got underway with Georgio Roda, at the wheel of the #22 Proton Competition Oreca, leading the 45-car field away from the grid. There was drama almost immediately with contact between the #83 AD Corse car driven by Francois Perrodo and the #25 Algarve Pro car. Worse was to follow when the #42 Prime Speed Sport Lamborghini with Rene Malmezac behind the wheel went off on drivers left to make heavy contact with the barrier. Malmezac was unhurt and walked away from the car but a red flag was required for barrier repairs.
After the 30-minute stoppage, the race restarted with time added to ensure a full four-hour contest. A virtual safety car, followed by a Safety Car, was required after 15 minutes when the #96 2 Seas Motorsport-AMG GT3 was involved in an incident.
At just past the halfway mark, Alessio Rovera led the race in the #83 AF Corse Oreca, just under two seconds ahead of Matt Bell in the #24 Nielsen Racing entry. James Allen was now behind the wheel of the #30 RD Limited entry and was pushing hard from third place. Nick Adcock in the #15 RLR M Sport Liger was at the lead of the LMP3 field, closely followed by Thomas Kiefer in the #49 High Class Racing entry.
In the GT field, Mattia Drudi in the #89 EBM Aston Martin held a lead of 2.734 seconds over Klaus Bachler in the #10 Manthey Porsche with Alfred Renauer in the #99 Herberth Motorsport Porsche in third.
As the race moved into the final hour, Vautier in the #30 RD Limited car was battling hard with Vaxiviere in the #83 AF Corse entry with Malte Jakobsen in the #25 car moving through the field. The Dane was fully aware that he only needed to finish 9th to secure the drivers title.
With the clock ticking down, Catsburg in the #24 car was leading Vaxiviere but with the Nielsen Racing entry needing to fuel save, Vaxiviere passed for the win, the first for Nielsen Racing in the 2024/25 ALMS season.
