Now
that the 2015/2016 season of the Asian Le Mans Series
is over, all the teams related with the competition need to do
something during the current season until the time of the 24
Hours of Le Mans
arrives, as well the 2016/2017 Asian LMS season.
The
LMP2, LMP3 and GT champions had their slots locked in the French
endurance classic, so what will the Asian representatives bring for
the remainder of the season?
LMP2
champions – Race Performance
The
Switzerland-based team now rejoins the European Le Mans Series after
a year out, still with the Asian LMS title winner ORECA 03R, one of
the few of the whole LMP2 field that still uses JUDD power to
compete. Niki Leutwiler will return, but it's still unknown which
will be his partners for the ELMS and for Le Mans. The full time
drivers from the latest Race Performance effort were Franck Mailleux
and team principal Michel Frey, so there's possibility to see at
least one of them to go back.
LMP3
champions – DC Racing
The
Chinese team owned by the driver David
Cheng
got important backing from the actor Jackie Chan, so their step up to
the LMP2
class wouldn't be only a mandated thing, but also part of their plans
from the moment the team was formed.
To
improve the scenario for them, a partnership was formed with Alpine
to bring them not only to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but also to the
whole FIA
World Endurance Championship
season with the name of Baxi
DC Racing Alpine,
racing with an Alpine A460, which is in fact a rebranded ORECA 05,
which fills the void left by KCMG as the single Asian team in the
class. A second Alpine team was a long time wish for the French
brand, which may help the chances of the former ELMS champions
against two-car teams like Tequila Patrón ESM and SMP Racing, as
well against strong and traditional teams like Strakka Racing.
Drivers
at the moment are Cheng himself with his long-time partner Ho-Pin
Tung, but the third slot would possibly see the youngster Thomas
Laurent, who raced with them in the Asian LMS return to the team.
GT
champions – Clearwater Racing
The
traditional team from Singapore will be in a Le Mans-only journey
until the start of the new Asian Le Mans Series season, where they
will change from their McLaren 650S GT3 to a Ferrari 458 Italia GTE
model. In fact, Clearwater Racing races with the GT3 version of the
Ferrari 458 for a couple of years, being used even at some rounds of
previous Asian LMS seasons with success.
It
would be a good chance to see how the duo formed by Keita
Sawa
and Mok
Weng Sun
will fare against European competition since Clearwater Racing
normally roams between Asian events, and with Rob Bell still in the
house they have a good pro driver to rely on.
Special
mention – Eurasia Motorsport
After
years competing with ORECA 03 models, they switched to a brand new
ORECA 05 for the full European Le Mans Series season and Le Mans,
which may improve their odds against the European contenders. The
addition of former Thiriet by TDS Racing driver Tristan
Gommendy
will be specially welcome to help Pu Jun Jin and Nick de Bruijn to
improve their form.
Special
mention - AAI Motorsports
The
Taiwanese squad returning to Le Mans isn't in fact surprising after
their participation in 2015. What surprises the most is the car
selection from the team according the teams presentation made by ACO
and
FIA,
as the nominated machine was the Corvette C6-ZR1 GTE, a model which
isn't seen at Le Mans since 2013, when Larbre Competition and
Corvette Racing used them before the transition process to the
current C7R model used by these two teams. AAI has also a second
Corvette in the reserve list, but as this second car is in the tenth
and last slot, only a massive wave of withdraws would bring it to the
60-car grid.
Last
year they fielded along with ProSpeed
Competition
two Porsche 911s in the LMGTE-Am class, being a 997-spec car and a
991-spec, and although both cars started from the back of the grid,
it was pleasing that the 991-spec Porsche finished in 35th
overall (6th
in class) while the 997-spec car finished 37th
(8th
in class).
It's
certain that they will rely on their lineups of the LMP3 and GT
classes in the Asian LMS, so they have guys like Alex Kapadia,
Masataka Yanagida and Ollie Hancock to rely on. Another scenario
would see the Chen brothers ally with any free pro driver in their
first Corvette, which is the expected thing to happen.
Some
of these teams are sure bets for frontrunner spots in the FIA WEC,
ELMS and at Le Mans this year, while others are dark horses somehow.
Most of the questions about what the Asian representatives can do in
2016 will be answered once the season is on.
PHOTOS: Asian Le Mans Series, Clearwater Racing, ProSpeed Competition, DC Racing
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