26 Cars Confirmed for Season Ahead of Shanghai Opener

Photo: MPS Agency

A total of 26 cars spread across four classes have been confirmed on the full-season entry list for the Asian Le Mans Series ahead of next weekend’s season-opening 4 Hours of Shanghai.

Seven cars will compete for overall honors in the LMP2 class, including four Ligier JS P217 Gibsons, two Oreca 07 Gibsons (one badged as Aurus) and a Dallara P217 Gibson.

Inter Europol Competition and Eurasia Motorsport will both field two-car entries, along with single-car programs from G-Drive Racing by Algarve, Thunderhead Carlin Racing and K2 Uchino Racing.

The latter two teams are brand-new to the championship while G-Drive will be represented for the first time but run by long-time Asian LMS entrant Algarve Pro Racing.

Four previous-gen LMP2 cars will also be present competing in the LMP2 Am class reserved for Bronze and Silver-rated drivers.

Rick Ware Racing has entered a pair of Ligier JS P2 Nissans alongside ARC Bratislava’s Ligier and a single Oreca 05 Nissan for RLR MSport.

Oreca and Norma will be represented in LMP3 with three cars each including one for reigning champion Inter Europol and series returnees Nielsen Racing and Viper Niza. 

Graff Racing and ACE1 Villorba Corse will both make their championship debuts, while Nielsen and Graff’s cars constitute the first ever Norma M30 Nissans in Asian LMS.

The largest class, at nine cars, is GT, where four manufacturers – Ferrari, BMW, Aston Martin and Lamborghini – will compete.

2018-19 champion CarGuy returns with a Ferrari 488 GT3 while Spirit of Race and 2017-18 champion FIST – Team AAI also come back. 

Astro Veloce Motorsports makes the move from the Chinese Endurance Series with a pair of BMW M6 GT3s while current Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli regular HubAuto Corsa also joins.

T2 Motorsports, D’Station Racing and JLOC will also enter as new teams.

GT drivers of note include BMW-affiliated Jens Klingmann (Astro Veloce) and Joel Eriksson (Team AAI), Aston Martin factory driver Ross Gunn (D’Station), Ferrari works driver Davide Rigon (HubAuto) and Rio Haryanto (T2).

Shanghai will host the season opener next weekend (Nov. 22-24) before rounds at The Bend (Jan. 10-12), Sepang (Feb. 14-15) and Buriram (Feb. 21-23).

The champions in each class will gain an invitation to the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.