Inter Europol Competition claimed victory in Race 2 of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series, as Australian James Allen’s squad finished fourth after threatening the podium.
Starting from pole in the second four-hour race at the Dubai Autodrome, the #43 Oreca 07 – Gibson of Nolan Siegel, Christian Bogle and Charles Crews recovered from a spin on the opening lap to take victory ahead of the #3 DKR Engineering entry of Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Ayhancan Guven, with the #24 Nielsen Racing of Rodrigo Sales, Ben Hanley and Mathias Beche completing the podium.
The spin on the opening lap saw Australian Garnet Patterson in the #23 United Autosports entry he is sharing with Yasser Shahin and Oliver Jarvis, take the race lead.
However, trouble would strike the #23 would drop to seventh by the end of the first hour, with the sister United Autosports entry of former Formula 1 driver Paul di Resta, Philip Hanson and James McGuire taking the race lead, ahead of the #43 of Siegel, Bogle and Crews, as the Polish outfit mounted a comeback after a change in pit stop strategy, with the Race 1-winning #25 Algarve Pro Racing of James Allen, John Falb and Kyffin Simpson in third.
By the end of the second hour, the #37 Cool Racing of Alexandre Coigny, Mathe Jakobsen and Nicolas Lapierre held the lead ahead of Yoluc, Eastwood and Guven, with Siegel, Bogle and Crews dropping to third.
The #3 DKR Engineering entry held the race lead at the end of the third hour, ahead of the #43 Inter Europol Competition squad, as the #25 Algarve Pro Racing entry bounced back to third.
A late pass by Siegel on the #3 would seal first place for the Polish outfit after 115 laps, with the #3 17-seconds adrift, with the #24 Nielsen Racing entry a further 1.955s in arrears.
Allen, Falb and Simpson crossed the line ahead of the #37 Cool Racing entry, with the 99 Racing entry of ex-Haas Formula 1 driver Nikita Mazepin, Neel Jani and Goncalo Gomes finishing sixth.
The leading United Autosports entry of Di Resta, Hanson and McGuire finished ahead of the sister car of Patterson, Shahin and Jarvis, that endured a troublesome race in finishing eighth.
The #44 Autoracing Club Bratislava entry of Nicolas Pino, Miro Konopka and Lazlo Toth came home ninth ahead of the LMP3 class-winning #5 DKR Engineering Duqueine M30 D08 Nissan of Tom Van Rompuy and Valentino Catalano.
In the GT Class, the #34 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Chandler Hull, Nicky Catsburg and Thomas Merrill claimed a second consecutive victory.
The Asian Le Mans Series continues next weekend with a double-header at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on February 17 – 19.
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