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Asian Le Mans Series

Pierson, Di Resta Sweep Abu Dhabi; Nielsen Racing Wins Title

United Autosports wins Race 2 in Abu Dhabi; Nielsen Racing crowned LMP2 champions…

Photo: United Autosports

United Autosports’ Josh Pierson and Paul di Resta continued their winning ways on Sunday at Yas Marina Circuit, claiming another commanding victory, which saw Nielsen Racing crowned as Asian Le Mans Series champions.

CD Sport and Inception Racing, meanwhile, picked up the LMP3 and GT class titles and auto invites to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Pierson drove United’s No. 23 Oreca 07 Gibson to a one-lap victory over Ben Hanley’s No. 4 Nielsen Oreca, which swept the opening weekend of the season at the Dubai Autodrome.

However, with the United car running invisible in the championship, Hanley and co-drivers Matt Bell and Rodrigo Sales had effectively locked up the LMP2 title following Saturday’s race.

The trio again finished second on Sunday but ended the season with maximum points in all four races.

In a near carbon-copy from Saturday, 16-year-old Pierson led the field away in Sunday’s 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi, stretching out into a 90-second lead until the race’s first Full Course Yellow due to debris from the LMP3 class-leading No. 2 DKR Engineering Duqueine D08 Nissan.

While handing over to di Resta just prior to halfway, the American teenager got back in the car for the final hour of the race.

The No. 39 Graff Racing Oreca of David Droux, Eric Trouillet and Sebastien Page picked up another LMP2 Am class victory with a third place overall finish, ahead of the No. 44 ARC Bratislava Ligier JS P217 Gibson, which suffered multiple late-race penalties.

High Class Racing’s Oreca was delayed after contact between Dennis Andersen and Sebastian Alvarez’s No. 2 DKR Duqueine in the second hour followed by an issue from co-driver Kevin Weeda.

The No. 26 G-Drive Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Fabrice Rossello, Xavier Lloveras and Viacheslav Gutak claimed LMP3 class honors, rebounding from a race-ending fire for the Graff Racing-run entry on Saturday.

Lloveras crossed the line 10 seconds ahead of the No. 27 CD Sport Ligier of Steven Palette, who along with Christophe Cresp and Antoine Doquin won the class championship.

Renauer Sweeps Abu Dhabi Weekend; Inception Wins GT Title

Robert and Alfred Renauer and Ralf Bohn again took class victory in their No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R, while a sixth place result in class was good enough for Inception to claim the GT title.

Robert Renauer led home a 1-2 class finish for the German squad with the No. 33 Porsche of Klaus Bachler finishing just 0.616 seconds behind the team co-principal at the checkered flag.

The No. 88 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3 of Alexander West, Frank Bird and Marvin Kirchhofer completed the GT podium in Sunday’s race.

The championship-winning Inception McLaren was shared by Brendon Iribe, Ollie Millroy and Ben Barnicoat, which claimed only one victory on the season but two additional podium finishes.

In addition to the three class champions that earned Le Mans auto-invites, Graff (LMP2 Am) and SPS Automotive Performance (GT Am) were declared title winners in the four-round, two-weekend season in the United Arab Emirates. 

RESULTS: 4H Abu Dhabi (Race 2)

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

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