First Asian LMS Entries Confirmed for 2017/18 Season

Three months before the start of the 2017/18 Asian Le Mans Series season, the first four entries – three in LMP2 and the first in the GT class – have already been received.

Reigning LMP2 champions Algarve Pro Racing were among the first of a flurry of teams to confirm their entries in the new season.

The Portuguese-based team has confirmed they will be returning to the LMP2 class with a Ligier that will be driven by Dutch driver Ate de Jong and Korean driver Tack Sung Kim.

As a result of winning last season’s championship, the team received an invitation to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – an invitation they took up in June this year.

Joining them in the LMP2 class will be ARC Bratislava, which sees the Slovak team step up to the series’ top class after finishing second in the LMP3 championship last season with a Ginetta LMP3.

The team will race a Ligier JS P2 that was previously owned by Krohn Racing, with team boss Miro Konopka set to be joined by two other to-be-announced drivers.

Team BBT, and driver Anthony Liu, have confirmed they will make the step up from GT racing into prototype racing.

After spending seven years racing in the GT class, Team BBT will run a Ligier JS P2 in the LMP2 class and will again receive support from AF Corse. They will run with a yet to be confirmed pro driver racing alongside Liu.

The team finished 3rd in the GT Class in the 2016/17 Asian Le Mans Series, racing a Ferrari 488 GT3.

Spirit of Race, meanwhile,  was the first GT team to get its entry in for the next season, with Nasrat Muzayyin and FIA Gold-rated driver Rui Aguas once again joining forces in a Ferrari.

More than 30 entries are expected for the 2017/18 season, which kicks off in Zhuhai in October.