Unfortunately, Air France doesn't serve KL (Kuala Lumpur) in winter so we had to fly via Amsterdam Schiphol with partner airline KLM. In Malaysia, we were met with a humid 33°C and violent, unpredictable storms.

For this second round of the Asian Le Mans Series, the line-up will count sixteen cars, including a third LM P2 car and two new GTs – or even three if we bear in mind that Taiwanese team AAI will be swapping its second LM P3 for a Mercedes GT3. Their LM P3 performed very well during private free practice sessions but ran into driveshaft issues at Fuji last month.

Coincidentally, four miles north of here, in Putrajaya, the federal administrative centre of Malaysia, the Formula E ePrix race (for all-electric single-seaters) will also be taking place this weekend on the city’s street circuit.

Today is Friday which means scrutineering, briefing and the first practice sessions. It will be interesting to see how the LM P3 cars perform on this fast surface. The GTs will come under close scrutiny too, because their balance of performance has been revised since the first round and events at Fuji, another fast track. Two CN cars will also be joining the action at Sepang. They didn’t race at Fuji but they made an appearance here last year. These small but reliable prototypes will have their work cut out if they want to rival with the faster GTs. Although they have proven they can hold their own at the Inje circuit in Korea, renowned for its challenging corners. As for LM P3, there are rumours that Ligier has now received 25 potential or confirmed orders, while ADESS has five. Meanwhile the Japanese, who have only recently decided on a manufacturer, are just at the start of the certification process.

Hervé Guyomard / ACO  |  Translated from French by Clair Pickworth

Photo: OYAMA (JAPAN), FUJI INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY, 2 HOURS OF FUJI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2015. A week after competing in the 6 Hours of Shanghai with Alex Brundle in a Morgan LM P3, David Cheng and Ho-Pin Tung are back in their Ligier JS P3 (LM P3 class) in the Asian Le Mans Series.