17 at Sepang is somewhat better for the AsLMS

The expectations about increase of grid sizes in the Asian Le Mans Series are in fact a reality, although the car counts just goes from 13 to 17 entries to the second round of the championship, to be held at the Sepang circuit in Malysia.

Good to know about this first entry list is that almost all classes received new participants, with only the LMP3 and the GT classes staying with their original numbers. Also, for the first time since the 2013 season the AsLMS grid will have cars from all eligible categories in the season.

The LMP2 class stays with the same entries from Fuji, as Race Performance stays in the competition with its original driver lineup, while the Portuguese outfit Algarve Pro Racing joins the party, with Michael Munemann alongside Dean Koutsoumidis and LMP2 ace James Winslow as the drivers for their Ligier JS P2. Eurasia Motorsport will have Richard Bradley as one of the drivers replacing Tristan Gommendy.

While the LMP3 class has the same contenders, some lineup changes are visible. Team AAI welcomes back Alex Kapadia, who races with Yu Lam and Tatsuya Tanigawa. The DC Racing Ligier JS P3 will have the debut of the 17-year old Frenchman Thomas Laurent alongside Ho-Pin Tung and team owner David Cheng.

The CN class debut this season with a pair of Wolf GB08 models, to be used by Avelon Formula, with Ivan Bellarosa, Denis Lian and Giorgio Maggi as the drivers. Atlantic Racing Team will have Zen Low and John Meisner at the wheel of their machine.

In the GT class, the ARC Bratislava Audi R8 LMS ultra will have Fairuz Fauzy in place of Pierre Kaffer to join Miro Konopka in the party. Team AAI will have Ollie Hancock with Ollie Millroy and an unnamed third driver.

The GT-Am class will feature the same Porsche Cup car from KCMG, still with the lineup that won at Fuji, while Absolute Racing joins as competitor with a cup version of the Audi R8 LMS ultra, still with unnamed drivers.

The 3 Hours of Sepang will have its green flag on November 8th. While the race doesn't come, take a look at the provisional entry list (driver names may differ):

PHOTOS: Asian Le Mans Series