The Asian Le Mans Series will kick off in Japan on 31st October 2009. Well before the closing date for entries (5th September), the presence of 23 cars has already been confirmed. All the big endurance names will be there!
Lola-Aston Martin, Pescarolo-Judd, ORECA-AIM and Audi R10 – it’s a great start! The 2 races on the Okayama circuit on Saturday 31st October and Sunday 1st November, each lasting 3 hours, will launch the Asian Le Mans Series, and will be the theatre of a no-holds-barred battle between the main protagonists in both prototype and GT endurance racing. The Aston Martin Racing team has entered a works Lola-Aston Martin for Jan Charouz, Stefan Mücke and Tomas Enge, the current LMS leaders. In LM P1, they will be up against 2 Pescarolo-Judds, the ORECA O1-AIM and the two Team Kolles Audi R10s. Paul Drayson Racing will make its debut in this category with a brand-new Lola coupe powered by a Judd engine. There is also a 100% Japanese team, as Professor Yoshimsa Hayashi and his students’ Tokai University squad have entered the Courage-Oreca LC70-YGK seen at Le Mans in 2008.
“We’re very happy to welcome several Asian teams”, says Rémy Brouard, the ACO General Manager. “The Asian Le Mans Series will be a key element in the Intercontinental Trophy project we’re determined to set up in 2011, which will include a selection of between five and seven races from all the Le Mans Series: LMS, ALMS and Asian LMS”.
There will be several Asian teams competing including two in GT1, the Team Nova Aston Martin and the 2 JLOC Lamborghinis, whose main rival will be the French-entered Saleen of Larbre Competition. Another Aston Martin DBR9 is expected in GT1. Japanese teams are also present in LM GT2 with the Hankook KTR Porsche 997 RSR and the Team Daisin Ferrari F430 GT, while an Aston Martin DBR9 will come from Hong Kong.
The big news in GT2 is the arrival of one of the works BMW E 92 M3s racing in this year’s ALMS entered by RLR (Rahal Letterman Racing), which have just scored a double at Road Atlanta. At present there are 8 entries in the LM GT2 category rounded off by the 2 Felbermayr-Proton team Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs, the Hankook Farnbacher team’s Ferrari F430 GTs, and Robertson Racing with one of the new generation Ford Doran GT MK 7s (with both Robertsons among its drivers). Japan will be its only race outside the USA this season.
For the moment, there are 3 entries in LM P2: the Italian team Racing Box with its Lola-Judd coupe, the OAK Racing Pescarolo-Mazda and the Navi Team Goh Porsche RS spyder. The ACO and ORECA wanted to invite the first 2 teams in the Formula Le Mans Cup Championship to Okayama. Unfortunately, it proved impossible as the launch of the Asian Le Mans Series clashes with the start of the new Formula Le Mans Winter Cup. With 4 days to go to the closing date for entries, the field is made up of 12 different marques representing 6 nations.
4 automatic selections for the 2010 LE MANS 24 HOURS The winners (both races combined) in all 4 categories, LM P1, LM P2, LM GT1 and LM GT2, will be automatically selected for the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours.
An influx of Japanese drivers? Numerous Japanese drivers are currently in discussion with LM P1 and LM P2 teams for a seat, so Takuma Sato, Hideki Noda, Seiji Ara, Shinji Nakano and Sakon Yamamoto may be part of the best teams.
Source : www.asian-lemans-series.com