24h Le Mans
With more than 20,000 spectators the day of the race, the 4 Hours of Zhuhai, kick-off of the 2016/2017 Asian Le Mans Series season this past weekend, was a stunning success with a packed starting grid.
Nearly 30 cars took the start of the opening round of the Asian season with clear domination on the part of Jackie Chan DC Racing. Reigning champion in the LM P3 class, the Chinese team did a perfect race and won in LM P2, despite its aging Oreca 03R, thanks to Gustavo Menezes, winner in the LM P2 class at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans with Signatech Alpine, and Ho-Pin Tung, who shared the wheel of the second Alpine entered in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) with David Cheng. Cheng won in LM P3 with the Ligier JS P3 along with James Winslow, back with the team for a second season, and Jun Jin "Kevin" Pu, winner in the 2016 European Le Mans Series.
Starting from the pole scored by Andrea Pizzitola, the #25 Ligier JS P2 entered by Algarve Pro Racing, which made its debut this year at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, had to settle for a third place finish behind the #24 sister car, penalized with a drive-through penalty after Nick Catsburg caused a collision with the fourth car entered in LM P2, Race Performance's Oreca 03R.
The polemen were unable to prevail in the LM P3 class despite a great performance by Richard Bradley, winner in the LM P2 class at the 24 Hours in 2015. Wineurasia's Ligier JS P3 finished sixth while Jackie Chan DC Racing sailed toward victory despite resistance put up by Tockwith Motorsports' Ligier JS P3, second.
For the pole drivers, Spirit of Race's #38 Ferrari 488 GT3 saved the day in the hands of Marco Cioci, Rui Aguas and Nasrat Muzayyin. Italy clearly dominated in GT with two Ferrari 488s and one Lamborghini Huracan in the top three spots.
The next round of the Asian Le Mans Series will take place at the Japanese circuit in Fuji December 2-4, 2016.
Photo (copyright Lionel Ng / Asian LMS): Start of the 2016 race at Zhuhai.
