Asian Le Mans Series: Two 100% Ligier JS P320 podiums in the first two races in Dubai!
12 & 13 February 2022 - The Ligier JS P320 kicked off the Asian Le Mans Series in the best possible style by scooping the podiums in the first two races! On Saturday, the #3 CD Sport Ligier JS P320 won the opening round followed by its sister car #27 and #26 run by G-Drive Racing. Sunday saw a repeat performance with a second 100% Ligier podium. And this time it was the #8 Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 that clinched victory from #27 and #3 entered by CD Sport. The #26 Ligier JS P320 set the two fastest laps in the races over the weekend and improved its time by almost a second in the second round (1:55.173s on Saturday and 1:54.401s on Sunday).
The Asian Le Mans Series got off to a flying start under the Dubai palm trees. There were five Ligier JS P320s among the nine entrants in LMP3, as well as a Ligier JS P217 among the four LMP2s.
CD Sport and G-Drive Racing on the podium in race 1
The start of race 1 was given on Saturday 12th February. The #3 CD Sport Ligier JS P320 driven by Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock and Edouard Cauhaupe, which qualified in fourth place, was lying second three hours after the start before snatching the lead. It took the chequered flag in first place in the LMP3 category followed by its sister car #27 crewed by Christophe Cresp, Antoine Doquin and Steven Palette. The #26 G-Drive Racing Ligier JS P320 of Fabrice Rossello, Xavier Lloveras and Vyaceslav Gutak clinched third place on the podium, the same as the one in which it started and also set the fastest lap of the race in 1:55.173s with Lloveras at the wheel. He was making his debut in sports prototypes in his first outing in the Ligier JS P320 after racing in GT4.
After fighting at the front in the first two hours of the race, the #13 Ligier JS P320 entered by Inter Europol Compétition driven by James Dayson, Nicolas Pino and Guilherme Moura De Oliveira came home in fifth place. Lady Luck didn't smile on the #8 Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 in the hands of Tony Wells and Colin Noble, which was delayed by a mechanical problem and could do no better than seventh at the finish.
Nielsen Racing clinches victory in race 2
The second round was held the next day, Sunday 13th February. The #8 Nielsen Racing Ligier JS P320 that started in third spot took its revenge on the previous day's race. It was lying second two hours after the start and went into the lead in its category in the hour that followed. Wells and Noble came home victorious with more than a minute in hand over their rivals despite a 10-second stop & go penalty for insufficient pit stop time. For the second time during the weekend #27 run by CD Sport came home second while the team's second car #3 finished third.
The #13 Inter Europol Compétition Ligier JS P320 crossed the line in fifth place followed by G-Drive Racing's #26 which, with Xavier Lloveras at the wheel, was again the quickest car in the P3 category with a fastest lap in 1:54.401s. CD Sport's #3's time of 1:54.497s made them the two quickest cars in the LMP3 field and the only ones to lap in the 1m 54s bracket!
The Asian Le Mans Series competitors will meet up again on 19th and 20th February in Abu Dhabi for the third and fourth rounds of the championship.
For the results of race 1, CLICK HERE.
For the results of race 2, CLICK HERE.
Photo credit: Sergey Savrasov