Spirit of Race dominated this weekend at the Agile 4 Hours of Shanghai in China with both pole position yesterday and the win today. But it wasn't exactly smooth sailing, with the #8 Ligier JS P2 driven by Côme Ledogar, Pipo Derani and Alexander West making contact in the first turn with ALMS rookie United Autsports' #22 Ligier JS P2 shared by Phil Hanson and Paul Di Resta that ended up finishing second. The podium was rounded out by the American team's second car, the #23 of Guy Cosmo, Patrick Byrne and Salih Yoluc pole-sitter in the LMGTE Am class.

Algarve Pro Racing's #24 Ligier JS P2 suffered engine troubles during 2018 European Le Mans Series champion Andrea Pizzitola's stint. Another ALMS rookie, Panis-Barthez Compétition, and its driver line-up François Heriau, Matthieu Lahaye and Jean-Baptiste Lahaye, sharing the #35 Ligier JS P2 finished sixth. The only ORECA 05 on the track, fielded by defending champion Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Sport, was forced to retire after losing a wheel.

In the LMP3 class, the #13 Ligier JS P3 entered by Inter Europol Competition claimed the top step on the class podium thanks to Martin Hippe and Jakub Smiechowski, ahead of United Autosports' #2 Ligier JS P3 and Eurasia Motorsport's #36 Ligier JS P3. The only all-female driver line-up - comprised of Sarah Bovy, Stephanie Kox and Marie Iwaoka - finished eighth with the R24 team's #50 Ligier JS P3.

The Car Guy team's #11 Ferrari 488 GT3 shared by 2017 GT world champion James Calado, Takeshi Kimura and Kei Cozzolino won the GT class ahead of the #51 Ferrari fielded by Spirit of Race and TF Sport's #5 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3. The GT Cup was fully dominated by Modena Motorsports' #16 Porsche 991 Cup (Benny Simonsen and Philippe Descombes)

Official Race Classification

The next round is set to take place at the Fuji circuit in two weeks!

 

PHOTO (Copyright - Asian Le Mans Series): Spirit of Race's #8 Ligier JS P2 is looking like a serious contender for the championship title!