Porsches Handed Further Weight Increase for Abu Dhabi

The Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in the Asian Le Mans Series have been made 15 kg heavier in a Balance of Performance update ahead of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi season finale event.

According to the latest BoP bulletin, the Porsches will be required to have a minimum weight of 1290 kg for the first of two four-hour races at Yas Marina Circuit, marking a 15 kg increase from last weekend’s second race at Dubai Autodrome.

It means the Porsches are now 35 kg heavier than they were for the opening race of the 2021 Asian LMS season, which took place in Dubai last Saturday.

The 911 GT3 R contingent started the four-race campaign at 1255 kg, before an additional 20 kg was applied in a BoP adjustment between the Dubai races.

Porsche entries won both of the Dubai contests, with Precote Herberth Motorsport’s Robert Renauer, Alfred Renauer and Ralf Bohn claiming top GT honors in race one.

GPX Racing, which was on course to win the season-opener until a spin in the closing stages, then won race two with Julien Andlauer, Axcil Jefferies and Alain Ferte driving.

The Porsche is the second-lightest GT3 car in Asian LMS following its weight increase.

The heaviest vehicle is the Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo at 1325 kg, while the lightest is the McLaren 720S GT3 at 1275 kg.

The  Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 has also been affected by the latest BoP update, in the form of a slight turbo boost increase. A total of seven entries are running the Ferrari.

Qualifying Format Adjusted for Abu Dhabi

The Asian LMS qualifying procedure has been revised since the Dubai round, with the sessions for each class now split into separate parts for each of the Abu Dhabi races.

For all classes, a 15-minute session will determine the grid for race one, followed by a short five-minute turnaround before another 15-minute qualifying session for race two.

Teams are allowed to perform a driver change between the session segments, however the same set of tires must be used.

In Dubai, the grids for both four-hour races were decided by the fastest and second-fastest lap times of each driver during a single 15-minute run.

Friday’s qualifying procedure opens with the GT category sessions starting at 9:40 a.m. local time (12:40 a.m. ET, 5:40 a.m. GMT). The races take place on Friday and Saturday.

Two practice sessions were held on Thursday, with G-Drive Racing’s Ferdinand Habsburg and Yifei Ye leading the way in the top LMP2 category. 36 cars are on the entry list.