Next weekend (January 30th and 31st) will take place the 54th edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, opening round of the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The race holds special interest since it will serve as the Ford GT's first foray into competition, more than seven months after the official announcement - the day before the 83rd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans - of the marque's return.

WTSCC

The Italian team won the first two Asian Le Mans Series races this weekend at the 4 Hours of Sepang. Both LMP3 and GT classes lived up to expectations, offering excitement and suspense right up to the chequered flag.

The two 4 Hours of Sepang races were the ideal Asian Le Mans Series season opener. Rain, race strategy and track tactics provided excellent spectator entertainment as the LMP2, LMP3 and GT pecking order was established. Cetilar Racing outshone the rest of the field by winning both races. CLX Motorsport took the lead in LMP3, and Kessel Racing tops the GT table. 
Competitors meet again on 31 January and 1 February for two more races at the 4 Hours of Dubai.

<h2>race 1: Cetilar Racing clinches the win after a nail-biting finish</h2>

A Malaysian rain shower in the first hour shook up many a team&rsquo;s race strategy on Saturday. Four Safety Cars and two Full Course Yellows (FCY) reduced gaps to a hair&rsquo;s breadth, making the race a close-run affair across the board.

In LMP2, Inter Europol Competition, United Autosports and Algarve Pro Racing wrangled for the top spot until the #47 Cetilar Racing Oreca 07-Gibson closed in. With FIA WEC Ferrari-AF Corse driver Antonio Fuoco at the wheel, the Italian car stormed ahead despite a five-second penalty incurred during a FCY. Fuoco sustained impressive pace, carving a sufficient gap to take the penalty on the last pit stop and still retain the lead. He fended off pressure from Tom Dillmann (Algarve Pro Racing) in the #25 to take first place. CrowdStrike Racing by APR claimed third.

A spectacular crash on the second turn affected half of the LMP3 field. Inter Europol Competition clawed back from the bottom to claim victory by a whisker for Henry Cubides, with High Class Racing a mere 0.218 seconds behind. Hampered by a technical issue, CLX Motorsport had to be content with the third step.

Things were just as close-run in the GT class. A post-race penalty for the #10 Porsche Manthey due to contact on the last turn handed victory to the Getspeed #9 Mercedes-AMG. Manthey and Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn emerged second and third from a hard-fought battle.

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&nbsp;

<h2>Race 2: more rain and another Cetilar win</h2>

On Sunday, rain played a bigger part, dictating the pace of the race and causing a red flag 15 minutes before the end due to a flooded track.

Cetilar Racing confirmed its expertise in the adverse conditions. Roberto Lacorte, Charles Milesi and Antonio Fuoco managed the hold-ups, switching tactics with ease to claim a second win in LMP2, with Algarve Pro Racing and CrowdStrike Racing by APR in second and third place in a repeat result of the previous day.

In LMP3, CLX Motorsport&rsquo;s risk-taking paid off. The Swiss team took advantage of a Virtual Safety Car period to slip in the two obligatory 100-second stops, which opened up a path to victory over 23Events Racing and Forestier Racing by VPS.

Kessel Racing clinched the podium in GT, making a superb comeback from 15th place. The Swiss-run Ferrari&rsquo;s fine-tuned tyre choices proved a winning strategy, putting it ahead of the Team WRT #69 BMW M4 GT3, resuscitated after an engine change, and the Porsche Origine Motorsport, thanks to a slick performance by Bo Yuan.

<div><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_0sWvoFH6xg?si=W-mQG1NQrfQT7cR1" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

&nbsp;

The leaders&rsquo; table as it stands:

<h4>LMP2&nbsp;</h4>

<ol>
	<li>Cetilar Racing &ndash; 50 points</li>
	<li>Algarve Pro Racing &ndash; 36 points</li>
	<li>Crowdstrike Racing by APR &ndash; 30 points</li>
</ol>

<h4>LMP3</h4>

<ol>
	<li>CLX Motorsport &ndash; 42 points</li>
	<li>Inter Europol Competition &ndash; 37 points</li>
	<li>Forestier Racing by VPS &ndash; 25 points</li>
</ol>

<h4>GT</h4>

<ol>
	<li>Kessel Racing &ndash; 35 points</li>
	<li>GetSpeed &ndash; 33 points</li>
	<li>Origine Motorsport &ndash; 23 points</li>
</ol>

Cetilar Racing leaves Malaysia the uncontested leader having won both races. The next stage in the Asian Le Mans Series is the 4 Hours of Dubai on 31 January and 1 February. The two races promise to be equally exciting!

Asian Le Mans Series: Cetilar Racing’s perfect weekend at Sepang

With victory at the Rolex 6 Hours of São Paulo and Hyperpole at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA left its mark on the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship season. For the 2026 campaign, the Cadillac V-Series.R will be back sharper and hungrier than ever, and nursing the ambition of writing its own legend at the French endurance classic.

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA&nbsp;sent out several strong signals during the 2025 season. Three Hyperpoles, including the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans, victory at the Rolex 6 Hours of S&atilde;o Paulo, and a regular place in the top five. The US outfit has confirmed that it is a force to be reckoned with in the FIA WEC field and, while a 24 Hours of Le Mans win has so far proved elusive, it does have impetus on its side. For the second year of the Cadillac-JOTA partnership in 2026, adjustments will be made to the American hypercar&rsquo;s aerodynamic set-up. The quest for Le Mans success has begun!

<h2>Bridging the gap</h2>

There were occasions during the 2025 season that caused the heart to beat a little faster. There was that unforgettable Thursday evening in June when the <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-cadillac-v-series-r-under-the-microscope-ready-to-roar-for-america-at-le-mans-59659" target="_blank">Cadillac V-Series.R</a>, driven by Alex Lynn, scooped a historic Hyperpole&nbsp;at the 93rd 24 Hours of Le Mans. There was that shot of the two American hypercars starting side-by-side on the front row of the grid in front of the packed grandstands. But the race itself did not quite pan out as planned. Lacking grip, the track was not best suited to the two V-Series.R that nonetheless fought valiantly to the chequered flag. The #12 finished in fourth place (on the same lap as the winning Ferrari) while the #38 took seventh place, one lap behind the leading group.

JOTA Sport director&nbsp;Sam Hignett&nbsp;found signs of hope and encouragement in the disappointing outcome:&nbsp;&ldquo;It&rsquo;s easy to think about what could have been right now but we need to take a moment to focus on how far we&rsquo;ve come in the few short months since we&rsquo;ve formally been working together with Cadillac. (...) The whole team has worked phenomenally hard to get to this point and whilst we know we still have a way to go we have 365 days to prepare for this one next year. Obviously, we want to be on the podium, we want to win but this is a really solid start to a long-term project.&rdquo;

S&eacute;bastien Bourdais, the clear-headed driver of the #38 Cadillac, added:&nbsp;&quot;We&rsquo;ve got some work to do; we made some mistakes.&nbsp; We got a bit unlucky at times. But, overall, we need to be stronger to win a WEC race right now. We are showing some good things and just need to build on the strengths and fill the gap for the weaknesses.&quot;

So, what was achieved in the 2025 season? A one-two in S&atilde;o Paulo, three Hyperpoles, and a fourth place in the FIA Hypercar World Endurance Manufacturers&rsquo; Championship behind Ferrari, Toyota and Porsche.

<h2>A more finely honed hypercar for 2026</h2>

Cadillac has decided to tweak its hypercar in an attempt to bridge the gap. In&nbsp;2026, <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/cadillac-improves-v-series-r-hypercar-aero-for-2026-60108" target="_blank">the aero package of the V-Series.R will be upgraded</a>&nbsp;to achieve a faster peak speed. A necessary ingredient to tame Le Mans&rsquo; long, unforgiving straights.

As for the drivers, continuity will be the watchword. The wheel of the #12 Cadillac will be shared by the same solid trio of&nbsp;Alex Lynn,&nbsp;Norman Nato&nbsp;and Will Stevens. This line-up scored points in every race of 2025. A newcomer will bring a breath of fresh air to the Bamber-Bourdais&nbsp;pairing in the #38 car:&nbsp;Jack Aitken. This season, the pure speed, consistency and maturity of the 30-year-old British racer caught the eye. Both line-ups certainly have winning credentials.

In 2026, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA ought to shed its outsider tag and become a regular winner. The 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans (10-14 June 2026)&nbsp;could be the one where the V-Series.R finally steps up and makes the grade.

Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA – all sights trained on Le Mans

The 2025-2026 Asian Le Mans Series begins this weekend with two four-hour races at Sepang (Malaysia). An outstanding international grid, invitations for the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans, live streaming of the races on YouTube – all the ingredients are on the table for a tasty campaign!

The new Asian Le Mans Series season opens this weekend at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia with the 4 Hours of Sepang. The first round will be held on Saturday 13 December, to be followed by a second race 24 hours later. 
A bumper 48-car field comprising 16 LMP2 and 10 LMP3 prototypes and 28 LMGT3 sportscars will line up for the event. With 144 drivers and 35 teams representing 35 nationalities, the grid reflects the growing international dimension and increased competitiveness of the Asian Le Mans Series.

<h2>LMP2&nbsp;&ndash; Championship heavyweights ready to wage battle</h2>

In LMP2, current titleholder Algarve Pro Racing is entering two Oreca 07-Gibsons plus a third car for Crowdstrike Racing by APR, the 2023-2024 championship-winning team. The #25 Oreca driven by Michael Jensen, Enzo Trulli and Tom Dillmann should be among the frontrunners. Dillmann, of course, won the same category at the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans with Inter Europol Competition. The Polish outfit is in fact running an LMP2 entry itself, as well as an LMP3 prototype. United Autosports will be back with a two-car challenge and other former champions, such as DKR Engineering and Nielsen Racing, will also line up. Ferrari fans will want to keep an eye on 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Antonio Fuoco. He will share the wheel of the #47 Oreca entered by Cetilar Racing with Roberto Lacorte and Charles Milesi.

<h2>Latest-generation LMP3s in action</h2>

The LMP3 field will now feature third-generation prototypes powered by 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 Toyota V35A engines. Titleholder Bretton Racing will be back with a Ligier JS P325 while CLX Motorsport (formerly COOL Racing), the 2023-24 champion, will be keen to transfer its ELMS domination to the Asian scene.

<h2>Seven manufacturers represented in LMGT3</h2>

The LMGT3 class is set for a titanic tussle between seven manufacturers: Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. Manthey will defend its crown with its pair of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs (#10 and #92), driven by international racers of the calibre of Antares Au, Klaus Bachler, Loek Hartog, Richard Lietz and Fran&ccedil;ois H&eacute;riau. Spectators will be curious to see how the two JMR Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs driven by Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim fare, while TF Sport and Racing Team Turkey will run two additional cars with Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Tom Van Rompuy at the helm.

Race 1 will start at 05:00 UTC on Saturday 13 December, with Race 2 scheduled to get underway 24 hours later. 
You can follow the qualifying session and both races on the Asian Le Mans Series website and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@AsianLeMansSeries/streams" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>. &nbsp;

Check out the provisional entry list for the 2025 4 Hours of Sepang&nbsp;<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jd1jkK74rF5jARAQZTqwDQLG4e5jENa6/view?pli=1" target="_blank">here</a>.

The championship stakes are high. The LMP2 and GT title-winning teams will each be rewarded with an invitation to the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans (10-14 June 2026). What extra motivation could the teams and drivers need as they prepare to wage battle in the 4 Hours of Sepang? Following the two rounds in Malaysia, the competitors will have a short break before tackling two more sets of double-headers at the 4 Hours of Dubai (31 January and 1 February 2026) and the 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi (7 and 8 February 2026).

Asian Le Mans Series: Sepang set to kick off the 2025-2026 season

The BMW M Hybrid V8 continued its upward trajectory in 2025 without ever managing to convert its potential into victories. After a season marked by podium promises and frustration, best illustrated at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Bavarian brand is introducing a new aero package as it seeks to step up a gear in 2026.

BMW M Team WRT&rsquo;s 2025 campaign marked a key step in the manufacturer&rsquo;s Hypercar project. For the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-bmw-m-hybrid-v8-under-the-microscope-a-return-to-winning-ways-at-le-mans-59713" target="_blank">BMW M Hybrid V8</a>&rsquo;s second year in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the firm once again finished in fifth place in the Hypercar manufacturers&rsquo; standings but with a clearly more competitive car that showed on numerous occasions that it was capable of taking on the frontrunners.

<h2>Solid progress</h2>

At the start of the season, the Head of&nbsp; BMW M Motorsport, Andreas Roos, clearly set out the roadmap for the forthcoming campaign:&nbsp;&ldquo;We aim to build on the clear upward trend from the second half of the 2024 season and be in a position to consistently compete for podium places with our BMW M Hybrid V8. This applies to the entire season, but especially for the major highlight at Le Mans.&rdquo;&nbsp;Despite failing to chalk up a maiden FIA WEC victory, the BMW M Hybrid V8 did record two remarkable results. The #15 car driven by Dries Vanthoor, Raffaele Marciello and Kevin Magnussen finished fourth at the Qatar 1812 km. Then, Rene Rast, Robin Frijns and Sheldon Van Der Linde achieved second place at the 6 Hours of Imola in the #20 car.

Two solid races to set out the intentions for the season, but which were followed by some&nbsp;missed opportunities.&nbsp;&ldquo;We will now carefully analyse everything and come back stronger next year,&rdquo; Roos promises.

<h2>An encouraging showing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans&hellip; until the gremlins struck</h2>

Onlookers remarked how much quicker the BMWs were than in 2024, as illustrated by their presence in the Le Mans Hyperpole. In terms of pure pace, the German hypercar rivalled with Porsche, Cadillac and Toyota. But the French endurance classic is an unforgiving race. In the final hours, the #20 was held up by a cooling issue on its hybrid system while the #15 encountered engine trouble. The #20 finished the race in P17, while the #15 was relegated to P31.

Vincent Vosse, Team WRT Team Principal, said:&nbsp;&quot;It&rsquo;s a disappointing end to the weekend. It looked quite good. I&rsquo;m feeling very sorry for all the guys who have put so much effort in the preparation for this race in the last twelve months. But this is what motorsport is made of. That&rsquo;s why we like it.&quot;

<h2>Aero improvements for 2026</h2>

To boost the BMW M Hybrid V8 for the 2026 season, <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/the-bmw-m-hybrid-v8s-new-aerodynamics-for-2026-59907" target="_blank">the manufacturer has overhauled the car&rsquo;s aero package</a>. The most visible changes concern the front end which will feature a smaller grille, a revised splitter and redesigned headlamps to improve the air flow and optimise cooling. It is hoped that the car&rsquo;s performance will be more consistent across all circuits as a result. Roos is optimistic:&nbsp;&ldquo;After optimising the brakes for the current [2025] season, it is now time for an aerodynamically improved version of the car. With these updates, we are responding to the insights gained from our previous race outings. Following the tests we&rsquo;ve already conducted, we are confident that the changes to the BMW M Hybrid V8 will allow us to compete more consistently at the front on all types of tracks, taking another step toward the top.&rdquo;

The driver&nbsp;lineups, on the other hand, will remain unchanged.&nbsp;&ldquo;We are very happy with their performances and there is no reason to make any major changes,&rdquo; Roos continued. &ldquo;At each race, our drivers gain valuable experience with the BMW M Hybrid V8, which is essential for the continued progress of our programme.&rdquo;

With two seasons of FIA WEC experience under its belt, a better understanding of the Hypercar, methodical work on its weaker points and improved aerodynamics, BMW M Team WRT is clearly a serious outsider for 2026.

The performance now just needs to match the potential. An elusive maiden FIA WEC victory is surely just a matter of time while a 24 Hours of Le Mans podium remains a realistic target.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

BMW M Team WRT – a new aero package to boost 2026 campaign

Rolex 24 at Daytona 2016

For the occasion, excellent line-ups with drivers honed in endurance racing have been formed. Joey Hand and Dirk M&uuml;ller will share the No. 66 Ford GT and will be joined by S&eacute;bastien Bourdais in Florida. Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe will drive the No. 67 along with Stefan M&uuml;cke who will race the same model in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) the rest of the year. 
	 
	The two Ford GTs were entered by Ford Chip Ganassi Racing for the year in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and two others will do the same in the WEC for Olivier Pla, Stefan M&uuml;cke, Marino Franchitti and Andy Priaulx. 
	&nbsp;

	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vwblEUWTqpA?feature=oembed" width="480"></iframe>

	David Bristol / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

	Video: YouTube &ndash; Ford Performance 
	&nbsp;

24H LE MANS

IMSA - The Ford GT finally ready for its debut in competition (video)

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Asian Le Mans Series: Sepang set to kick off the 2025-2026 season

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