Dubai Round Attracts Bumper 47-Car Field

Photo: Asian Le Mans Series

The second round of the Asian Le Mans Series season at Dubai Autodrome has attracted a bumper 47-car entry, with an additional five GT cars entered compared to last month’s curtain-raiser at Sepang.

While the number of LMP2 and LMP3 entries remain identical to the opening double-header in Malaysia, at ten and seven respectively, the GT field has swelled to 30 cars for the double-header 4 Hours of Dubai weekend on Feb. 7-9.

Dragon Racing is entering a pair of Ferrari 296 GT3s for its home event, with the No. 8 car to be shared by Todd Coleman, ex-IndyCar racer Benjamin Pedersen and Lexus IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship regular Aaron Telitz.

Marco Pulcini, Nicola Marinangeli and Giacomo Altoe meanwhile team up to form an all-Italian crew in the sister No. 88 Ferrari.

Also with a two-car entry is Herberth Motorsport, which will field two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, the No. 99 car for brothers Alfred and Robert Renauer and Ralf Bohn and the No. 46 car for Qatari trio Ibrahim Al-Abdulghani, Abdulla Al-Khelaifi and Ghanim Al-Ali.

Blackthorn has expanded to a second Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, signing up Giacomo Petrobelli, Jonathan Adams and Charles Bateman for its No. 90 car.

In LMP2, the only change from Sepang is Julien Andlauer stepping in for Louis Deletraz aboard the No. 91 Pure Rxcing Oreca 07 Gibson alongside Alex Malykhin and Harry King.

The Bronze-rated driver for the No. 11 Proton Oreca also remains unconfirmed; Alexander Mattschull filled the role in Sepang alongside Mathias Beche and Jonas Ried.

There are several lineup changes in LMP3, most notably at Ultimate, where double Sepang winner Matteo Quintarelli is joined by two new teammates in the No. 35 Ligier JS P320 Nissan in the form of Louis Stern and Leonardo Colavita.

Seth Lucas is also absent from the No. 49 High Class Racing car, leaving Anders Fjordbach and Mark Patterson to compete as a duo.

In GT, the No. 57 CarGuy Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 has a refreshed driver trio with team owner Takeshi Kimura returning to the team after skipping Sepang to join Casper Stevenson and Daniel Serra, with Stevenson replacing Esteban Masson.

Elsewhere, Marvin Kirchhoefer has replaced Tom Gamble in the lineup for the No. 77 Optimum Motorsport McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, and Luca Stolz takes over from fellow Mercedes-AMG factory driver Jules Gounon in the No. 81 Winward Racing car.

EBM’s No. 89 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo meanwhile has an entirely new driver trio comprising Mattia Drudi, Jamie Day and Gabriel Rindone.