Asian LMS Finale Red-Flagged After Jensen, Gidley Crash

The Asian Le Mans Series title-deciding 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi was interrupted by red flags during the first hour following a heavy accident involving Michael Jensen and Memo Gidley.

Fortunately, both drivers exited the car under their own power after Jensen’s No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07 Gibson clipped the front of Gidley’s Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3, sending both cars hard into the barriers.

The accident occurred 40 minutes into the race at the right-hand kink of Turn 8 as Jensen, chasing Alexander Mattschull’s DKR Engineering Oreca for sixth place in LMP2, passed Gidley to the American’s right-hand side.

The reigning Asian LMS champion then changed his line and attempted to cut to the left-hand side of the road to clear a pair of LMP3 cars approaching the Turn 9 left-hander.

The contact fired both cars sharply left, resulting in extensive damage to both chassis and the armco barriers, which were breached by components.

Red flags were immediately called by race control to allow for damage to the barriers to be rectified and the extensive debris cleared.

After a delay of over an hour, race control stated that the race will resume at 6:20 p.m. local time (9:20 a.m. ET).

Speaking to TV crews after the accident, Gidley said: “There were a couple LMP3s in front of me and I wasn’t racing those guys,
I was letting them pass me and just giving them all room.

“At least from my standpoint, the LMP2 was trying to go into a spot where there wasn’t any room, and that’s obviously the fastest car out there. And he didn’t get quite around me, and then pulled back over like he was trying to make another move. And there’s just no room at that point, you know?

“I wasn’t racing anybody. I was just trying to put some consistent laps in.”

The 55-year-old added that the crash “looked worse for me than it was” and lamented that his campaign alongside fellow American Dylan Medler and Alessandro Balzan had ended in a hefty accident.

“I just feel disappointed because everybody puts in so much work,” he said. “It’s just a shame to end it this way.”

Polesitter Giorgio Roda’s No. 5 United Autosports Oreca was leading the race at the time, from the No. 20 APR machine of John Falb and Giorgios Kolovos in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca.

An early virtual safety car for debris afforded Cetilar Racing an opportunity to pit Charles Milesi, again required to start after Roberto Lacorte caused a red flag in qualifying, and relay the Italian gentleman driver without losing too much time. However, the AF Corse-run team faces an uphill task to win the race, its only hope of denying Saturday race winners Crowdstrike Racing by APR the title.

The LMP3 class was headed by the No. 26 Bretton Racing Ligier JS P325 Toyota of Jacek Zielonka, the only car not to take advantage of the early yellow and top up with fuel, while GT polesitter Steve Jans continued to lead the way in his No. 9 GetSpeed Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo.