Australian James Allen has claimed victory in the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series opener at the Dubai Autodrome.
Allen sealed victory in Race 1 of the 4 Hours of Dubai fixture with Algarve Pro Racing team-mates John Falb and Kyffin Simpson in the #25 Oreca 07 Gibson.
It follows his LMP2 class victory in the #55 Proton Competition Oreca at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The Portuguese outfit were made to work for the win after starting sixth, with Falb making his way to fourth by Turn 1.
Following the first Full Course Yellow, Falb attempted a pass on the #24 Nielsen Racing of Rodrigo Sales, Ben Hanley and Mathias Beche, resulting in a spin for the #25, promptly mounting a recovery to third.
Falb handed over to Simpson in P3, who improved to second by the two-hour mark.
He gained 15s on the leaders in the pits during the second Full Course Yellow, before handing over to Allen who proceeded to take the race lead.
Following another Full Course Yellow, the #3 DKR Engineering entry of Charlie Eastwood, Salih Yoluc and Ayhancan Guven managed to take the lead, before a late pit-stop proved crucial in the #25 claiming victory
After 118 laps, the #25 took the chequered flag 9.054s ahead of the #3, as former Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin finished third in the #98 99 Racing Oreca 07 alongside Neel Jani and Goncalo Gomes in his return to motorsport.
The #24 of Sales, Hanley and Beche finished fourth ahead of the #22 United Autosports entry of former Formula 1 driver Paul di Resta, Philip Hanson and James McGuire.
The sister #23 United Autosports entry of Australians Garnet Patterson, Yasser Shahin and Brit Oliver Jarvis were next across the line in sixth, ahead of the #44 Autoracing Club Bratislava entry of Nicolas Pino, Miro Konopka and Lazlo Toth.
Cool Racing’s Nicolas Lapierre, Malthe Jakobsen, Alexandre Coigny finished eighth ahead of the LMP3-class winning #29 MV2S Racing Ligier JS P320 Nissan of Jerome De Sadeleer, Viacheslav Gutak and Fabien Lavergne, while Graff Racing’s Xavier Lloveras, Francois Heriau and Fabrice Rossello rounded out the top 10.
In the GT class, Chandler Hull, Nicky Catsburg and Thomas Merrill secured victory in the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.
Race 2 of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series will also take place at the Dubai Autodrome today at 15:00 local time/22:00 AEDT.
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