DKR Engineering Win the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabiand the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series!

Asian Le Mans Series – Race 4 Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates 17 – 19 February 2023

Race Winners: LMP2: #3 DKR Engineering Oreca 07 Gibson Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Ayhancan Guven LMP3: #8 Graff Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan Fabrice Rossello, Xavier Lloveras and Francois Heriau GT: #7 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3 Al Faisal Al Zubair, Luca Stolz and Martin Konrad

2023 Asian le Mans Series Championship Winners: LMP2: #3 DKR Engineering Oreca 07 Gibson Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Ayhancan Guven LMP3: #8 Graff Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan Fabrice Rossello, Xavier Lloveras and Francois Heriau GT: #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Chandler Hull, Nicky Catsburg and Thomas Merrill

A smooth and controlled 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi by the #3 DKR Engineering has seen Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Ayhancan Guven take the chequered flag and the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series.

The Luxembourg outfit finished each race of the season on the podium, sealing them the LMP2 championship and an invite to the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Neel Jani crossed the finish line in second place for the #98 99 Racing Oreca 07 Gibson shared with Nikita Mazepin and Ahmad Al Hathy. After a drive through penalty for contact and a stop and go penalty for a pit stop timing infringement, the #37 COOL Racing of Oreca 07 Gibson of Alexandre Coigny and Mathe Jakobsen were able to hold on for third.

Heartbreak ensued once again for Race 2 winners, #43 Inter Europol Competition, who were in the lead until a suspected gearbox failure saw them fall from through the pack and back into their garage for repairs in the final ten minutes of the race.

In the LMP3 class Fabrice Rossello, Xavier Lloveras and Francois Heriau took victory at Yas Marina Circuit to seal the LMP3 championship and an invite to the 100th anniversary running of Le Mans in the final moments of the race.

A late race pass by Marcos Siebert in the #17 Cool Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan gave him, Cedric Oltramare, and Adrien Chila second place. This, combined with a late race pit stop for the #29 MV2S Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan to allow Jerome De Sadeleer back in to complete one final minute of drive time, saw GRAFF Racing snatch Championship victory from Sadaleer, Viacheslav Gutak and Fabien Lavergne.

A run of bad luck saw four-time LMP3 pole sitters, #11 WTM by Rinaldi Racing, out of the race on the opening lap after rear contact caused irreparable damage.

Back-to-back wins in Abu Dhabi for the #7 Haupt Racing Team Mercedes AMG GT3 of Al Faisal Al Zubair, Luca Stolz and Martin Konrad saw them finish just short of Championship glory in the class.

Two victories and two pole positions in Dubai, and a second place at the final 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi saw Chandler Hull, Nicky Catsburg and Thomas Merrill take the GT championship win in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3. The #10 GetSpeed Mercedes AMG GT3 of Raffaele Marciello, Fabian Schiller and Florian Scholze finished third, their third podium finish of the season.

Information and photo source : The Asian Le Mans Series