SEANGP.com (Jakarta) - A huge entry of 48 cars has been gathered for the opening round of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series at the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia next month.
16 LMP2s, 10 LMP3s and 22 GT3s from 35 teams, featuring 142 drivers representing 35 different nations, create a truly international field which is nearly 15% larger than last year’s season opener.
LMP2
16 cars will compete for overall honours this season, following the largest LMP2 entry in the history of the Asian Le Mans Series. As well as challenging to become the 2025/26 champions, the teams will also be chasing the coveted automatic invitation to the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Reigning LMP2 champion Algarve Pro Racing has entered two ORECA 07-Gibsons, as well as a third car under the CrowdStrike Racing by APR banner, in their quest for a record-extending sixth title.
2024/25 LMP2 Drivers’ champion Michael Jensen is joined in the #25 ORECA by 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 winner Tom Dillmann and LMP2 rookie Enzo Trulli, with the sister #20 entry featuring John Falb, Matthias Kaiser and Sami Meguetounif.
In the #04 CrowdStrike ORECA, 2023/24 Drivers’ champion George Kurtz rejoins the ALMS grid and will be partnered by double Asian Le Mans champion Malthe Jakobsen and four-time European Le Mans Series champion Louis Delétraz.
United Autosports is making its return to the Asian Le Mans Series, with the Anglo-American team running two cars in LMP2. Qualifying ace Giorgio Roda will be joined by Gregoire Saucy and Mikkel Jensen in the #5 ORECA, while Phil Fayer, Ben Hanley and Paul Di Resta will race the #6 car.
2023 LMP2 champion DKR Engineering has entered a single car with Australian Griffin Peebles moving up to LMP2 alongside Alexander Mattschull and the highly experienced Mathias Beche.
2022 champion Nielsen Racing will also run a single ORECA, with Turkish driver Cem Bolukbasi competing alongside Kriton Lentoudis and Alex Quinn.
Proton Competition has entered a pair of ORECAs, with Jonas Ried and Felipe Laser the only drivers named to the #22 car so far. The #88 entry, meanwhile, will be driven by father and son duo Horst Felbermayr Jr and Horst Felix Felbermayr, as well as Spanish driver Lorenzo Fluxa.
Reigning LMP3 drivers’ champions Jens Reno Moller and Theo Jensen move up to LMP2 with High Class Racing, with American Gustavo Menezes filling the third spot in the #49 ORECA.
Cetilar Racing has entered a single car with Roberto Lacorte racing alongside 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Ferrari factory driver Antonio Fuoco and reigning ELMS LMP2 Champion Charles Milesi.
Ponos Racing is the first Asian team to enter LMP2 since the 2019/20 season, with its #45 ORECA for the all-Japanese line-up of Tsujiko, Kei Cozzolino and Marino Sato.
2024/25 runner-up RD Limited returns its sophomore Asian Le Mans Series campaign, with its#30 ORECA-Gibson again featuring Fred Poordad, James Allen and Tristan Vautier, who won in Sepang last year.
Nick Cassidy, Nolan Siegel and Georgios Kolovos will pilot the #43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA, with Daniel Schneider, Vladislav Lomko and Jacob Abel competing for series debutant Vector Sport RLR.
The LMP2 field is completed by the #44 ARC Bratislava ORECA of Miro Konopka, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Yann Ehrlacher, with the Slovak team returning to the Asian Le Mans Series after a season away.
LMP3
10 cars are entered for the first Asian Le Mans Series round of LMP3’s third generation formula, with nine Ligier JS P325 – Toyotas and one Duqueine D09.
Reigning champion Bretton Racing is back to defend the title they won in Abu Dhabi last February, with the Czech team running a Ligier for Jacek Zielonka, Lenny Ried and Lucas Fluxa.
2023/24 champion COOL Racing has rebranded to CLX Motorsport this year and arrive in Sepang on the back of a dominant season in the ELMS. The Swiss team are running a single car for Alexander Jacoby, Kevin Rabin and reigning ELMS LMP3 Drivers’ Champion Paul Lanchere.
Team Virage is running a pair of Ligiers, with the #1 car sure to attract a lot of attention as Tamil Cinema superstar Ajith Kumar races a Le Mans Prototype for the first time alongside former Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan. Yohann Segala and Danny Buntschu will feature in the sister #8 entry.
Inter Europol Competition is running an LMP3 car alongside their LMP2 entry, with 2023/24 LMP3 Champion Alex Bukhantsov being joined by Jimmy Chou and Henry Olarte. High Class Racing is also present in both prototype classes, with Tim Whale, Philip Lindberg and Callum Voisin featuring in its #94 Ligier.
Reigning Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 Champion R-ace GP enters the Asian Le Mans Series with a single Duqueine D09-Toyota, with MLMC Drivers’ Champion Hugo Schwarze racing alongside race winners Fabien Michal and Pierre-Alexandre Provost.
French team 23Events Racing has entered a pair of Ligiers for its Asian Le Mans Series debut, with MLMC race winner Terrence Woodward, Matus Ryba and Ibrahim Badawy in the #71 entry and Louis Stern, Isaac Barashi and Road To Le Mans winner Matteo Quintarelli in the #23 car.
Forestier Racing by VPS completes the grid with its #29 Ligier for Luciano Morano, Lucas Fecury and Nick Adcock.
GT
The 22-strong GT grid features seven different manufacturers with Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche all represented this season. As is the case in LMP2, the champion here will also receive an automatic invitation to the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Reigning champion Manthey returns to defend its title, with reigning drivers’ champions Antares Au and Klaus Bachler joined by Dutch driver Loek Hartog in the #10 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). The #92 Manthey Porsche will be driven by Richard Lietz, 2023 LMP3 Champion François Hériau and Riccardo Pera.
Local interest in Sepang will be focused on the two JMR Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, with their Royal Highnesses Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim returning to the ALMS grid. Yasser Shahin and Alexander Sims join Prince Jefri in the #66 Corvette, with Jordan Love and Ben Green featuring alongside Prince Abu Bakar in the #99 entry.
Newly crowned ELMS LMGT3 Champion TF Sport has also entered a pair of Corvettes. The #11 car will run under TF Sport colours in the hands of Blake McDonald, Matt Bell and James Roe, whilst the #34 car will race under the Racing Team Turkey banner, with 2023 LMP2 champions Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood, and Tom Van Rompuy.
Thailand is represented on the grid with the Amerasian Fragrance by AF Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 entered for Carl Wattana Bennett, Gregory Slatin Bennett and Tommaso Mosca, whilst Kessel Racing will field a pair of Ferraris. Memo Gidley, Alessandro Balzan and Dylan Medler feature in the #15 entry, with Dustin Scott Blattner, Chris Lulham and Dennis Marschall set to drive the #74 296 GT3.
AF Corse will field the #21 Ferrari for Simon Mann, Darren Leung and Alessio Rovera, the #51 Ferrari for Sean Galael, Charly Samani and Davide Rigon and the Vista-branded #54 Ferrari for Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and newly crowned FIA World Endurance Champion Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Two Chinese teams are present on the GT grid, both fielding Porsches, with Andrea Anatra, Simon Birch and Dorian Boccolacci featuring for Phantom Global Racing and Bo Yuan, Hongli Ye and Laurin Heinrich competing for Origine Motorsport.
GetSpeed will run a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVOs, with the #9 entry forAnthony Bartone, Fabian Schiller and Shigekazu Wakisaka competing in GetSpeed colours, while the #37 car will be under the QMMF by GetSpeed banner, with Qatari drivers Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi and Ghanim Salah Al-Maadheed being joined by Lucas Auer.
Team WRT has entered a pair of BMW M4 GT3s, with the Belgian team fielding the #69 BMW for Anthony McIntosh, Parker Thompson and Daniel Harper, and the #28 UNX Racing by Team WRT entry for Fabian Deffieux, Mathieu Detry andAugusto Farfus.
United Autosports has entered the only McLaren GT3 Evo on the grid, with Wayne Boyd the only driver named so far.
Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn and EBM will each run a single Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, with Jonny Adam, Kobe Pauwels and Giacomo Petrobelli competing for the British outfit, whilst Marco Sorensen, Jamie Day and an unconfirmed Bronze-rated driver will pilot EBM’s #89 Vantage.
And the field is completed by Proton Competition’s #77 Porsche for Japanese duo Bankcy and Kiyoto Fujinami, and Harry King.
The 4 Hours of Sepang is Round 1 of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series and will feature two 4-hour races, the first on Saturday 13 December at 13h00 (local) and the second on Sunday 14 December, also starting at 13h00. (arl/wto/dailysportscar)
