Nielsen, CD, Inception get Le Mans spots
ASIAN LE MANS SERIES YAS MARINA (ARE) 19-20 FEBRUARY ROUND 2/2
British teams Nielsen Racing and Inception Racing plus French squad CD Sport earned the three automatic Le Mans 24 Hours entries for ALMS class titles last weekend.
Nielsen’s ORECA 07 ended the four races with a maximum points haul, but this time its trio of Ben Hanley, Matt Bell and amateur Rodrigo Sales had to play second fiddle in the LMP2 ranks to United Autosports pair Paul di Resta and Josh Pierson. American Pierson only became eligible to race on the Monday when he celebrated his 16th birthday, but the team decided to maximise Pierson’s experience by undertaking some additional testing not allowed by the regulati0ns, therefore running hors concours.
Pierson started both races and did the bulk of driving before United unleashed di Resta in its ORECA, the Scot taking the flag by over a lap each time. A pair of third places – plus the Am title – went to Graff’s trio led by talented LMP3 graduate David Droux.
DKR Engineering broke its LMP3 jinx on Saturday, when Laurents Horr, Sebastian Alvarez and Mathieu de Barbuat drove its Duqueine to victory. A fire struck the G-drive Ligier, led by Xavi Lloveras, before an all-nighter allowed the team to bounce back and win on Sunday. Nielsen missed out on adding the LMP3 crown to its P2 glory when overheating caused by damage sidelined Colin Noble and Tony Wells. It then boiled down to a title duel between CD’S pair of Ligiers, with Steven Palette, Antoine Doquin and Christophe Crespo bagging it despite not winning a race.
Twin brothers Robert and Alfred Renauer, with Ralf Bohn, won GT on both days in their Herberth Motorsport Porsche. A runner-up spot on Saturday for the Optimum-run Inception Mclaren of Ben Barnicoat, Ollie Millroy and Brendan Iribe put them in the box seat for the title, which they secured with fifth on Sunday. The challenge of the AF Corse and Rinaldi Racing Ferraris faded, and both were beaten to the series runner-up spot by the Herberth trio.