16/02/2022 News
Nielsen Racing produces masterful display at Asian Le Mans Series curtain-raiser in Dubai!
DUBAÏ, United Arab Emirates, February 16th 2022 - Involved in all levels of Endurance racing throughout the world, where its efficient and durable products are highly sought after, TotalEnergies was naturally enough in Dubai at the weekend for the start of the 2022 Asian Le Mans Series.
The multi-energy group is the sole fuel supplier for the series, with Excellium Endurance, which once again showed its qualities during the two four-hour races contested during the opening weekend.
Both races were won comfortably by the British team, Nielsen Racing with their No.4 Oreca 07 prototype, driven by Rodrigo Sales, Ben Hanley and Matt Bell, producing a masterful, dominant display at the meeting. In the opening race, they were joined on the podium by Graff Racing’s David Droux, Éric Trouillet and Sébastien Page, who also claimed top honours in the LMP2 Pro Am class, and High Class Racing’s Dennis Andersen, Anders Fjordbach and Kevin Weeda, whilst the podium for the second race saw High Class Racing and Graff Racing swap positions. This time, High Class Racing (Dennis Andersen, Anders Fjordbach and Kevin Weeda) finished as runners-up, winning the LMP2 Pro Am class to boot, whilst Graff Racing (David Droux, Éric Trouillet and Sébastien Page) had to settle for third place.
The LMP3 class was also eventful: a late retirement in race one for DKR Engineering handed a one-two finish to CD Sport, the No. 3 Ligier’s crew – Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock and French driver Édouard Cauhaupé – finishing ahead of the No. 27 car driven by Christophe Cresp, Antoine Doquin and Steven Palette. In the second race, Nielsen Racing added to its overall domination with a win in LMP3 for its crew of Tony Wells and Colin Noble, despite being handed a ten-second stop and go penalty in the closing stages of the race due to insufficient pit time in the final hour. CD Sport claimed second and third positions in race two.
It was however the GT class that was most closely contested, with very small gaps separating the main protagonists right to the chequered flag in both races. Honours went to Inception Racing’s McLaren 720S GT3 (Brendan Iribe, Ollie Millroy and Ben Barnicoat) in race one, then to Rinaldi Racing’s Ferrari 488 GT3 (Rino Mastronardi, David Perel and Davide Rigon) in the second race. The second and final round of the Asian Le Mans Series is due to be held on 19-20 February in Abu Dhabi, with another two four-hour races.
