Buriram Weekend Notebook

Photo: Vision Sport Agency

***Twenty-six cars are set for the third and penultimate round of the 2016-17 Asian Le Mans Series season, with a few entry list changes since the original list was released a couple of weeks prior to the race.

***Michael Munemann is in for Jonathan Hirschi in the No. 24 Algarve Pro Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd, alongside Tacksung Kim and Mark Patterson. Munemann moves from the No. 25 car and so has been replaced by Matt McMurry in the team’s Nissan-engined Ligier, joining Andrea Roda and Andrea Pizzitola.

***Tockwith Motorsports had a unexpected start to the weekend, with a heavy crash during a private testing session on Wednesday. The team quickly organised for a new Ligier JS P3 Nissan chassis to be shipped in from the UK, but they had to miss Friday’s practice session while waiting for the car. Nevertheless, Nigel Moore scored the class pole position in the new car on Saturday.

***PS Racing has decided not to run its ADESS 03 at Buriram, but the Finnish team is still present with the field’s sole CN entry, a Ligier JS 53 driven by local drivers Tira Sosothikul and Medhapan Sundaradeja, replacing previously listed drivers Kenji Abe, Akihiro Asai and Qin Tianqi.

***G-Print by Triple 1 Racing has brought in Japanese driver Ryuichirou Ohtsuka to take its Ligier JS P3 Nissan to a three-driver entry, joining Hanss Lin and Shaun Thong.

***With Andrea Caldarelli at the Roar Before the 24 test in Daytona this weekend, he has been replaced by his brother-in-law Vitantonio Liuzzi at FFF Racing by ACM, who joins Matt Bell and Hiroshi Hamaguchi in the team’s No. 10 Lamborghini Huracan GT3.

***Liam Talbot has taken Phillippe Descombes’ place in the McLaren 650S GT3 run by OD Racing Best Leader Team. The Australian driver now joins Fairuz Fauzy and Jono Lester in that car. Talbot is likely to focus his efforts on the Australian GT Championship for the remainder of the season, but has not ruled out a Total 24 Hours of Spa entry.

***The final entry list change is Jesse Krohn replacing Lam Yu in the No. 90 Team AAI BMW M6 GT3. The AAI cars performed strongly in the Free Practice sessions, taking second and third on Friday followed by first and second in class on Saturday.

***Clearwater Racing announced on Saturday it will move up to the FIA World Endurance Championship for the full 2017 season, with a GTE-Am effort, using the same three drivers: Keita Sawa, Mok Weng Sun and Matt Griffin in a Ferrari 488 GTE.

***KCMG is present this weekend with an Audi R8 LMS, and rumors that Paul Ip’s team will make a comeback to the FIA WEC persist, with the Dallara LMP2 chassis most likely.

***Team NZ, the sole GT Cup entry, is now backed by Nexus Infinity for its Asian Le Mans Series program. Graeme Dowsett, John Curran and Paul Kanjanapas are behind the wheel of the team’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup this weekend.

***The Four Hours of Buriram is set for 12:15 p.m. local time on Sunday, and can be streamed live on the series’ YouTube channel.

Laurent Mercier contributed to this report

Jake Kilshaw

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