Asian Le Mans News: Crowdstrike Racing By Apr Win 4-Hour of Dubai Race 1
It was a dramatic end to the first four-hour Asian Le Mans race of the weekend in Dubai after three Safety Car periods mixed up the order, with a 21-minute dash to the checkered flag at the end of the race.
After winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona last weekend, the #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR team finished of a superb week, with Louis Deletraz powering to the front of the field in the final quarter hour to take the checkered flag and stand on the podium with teammates George Kurtz and Malthe Jakobsen.
The LMP3 victory was secured on the last lap by the #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier. Henry Cubides was having a door-to-door battle with Luciano Moreno in the #29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier, with the lead changing several times on the final couple of laps, but it was Cubides that took the lead to take the checkered flag.
It was also the second win of the season for the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, to extend the Swiss teams championship lead after Dennis Marschall took the lead by passing the #66 JMR Corvette of Alex Sims at the restart at the end of the final Safety Car period.
The race started under blue skies and a warm 23 degree air temperature. The majority of the 46-car field made it safely round Turn 1. However, the #69 Team WRT BMW of Tony McIntosh went over the kerbs at T1, with the car losing grip and colliding with the #87 Origine Motorsport Porsche of Bo Yuan.
The BMW suffered damage to the front left of the car, with McIntosh bringing the car back to the pits and into the garage for a long repair. The Porsche was able to continue, with the Stewards later issuing a penalty to the #69 BMW for causing the incident.
Giorgio Roda led the way in the #5 United Autosports Oreca from John Falb in the #20 Algarve Pro Racing and the #49 High Class Racing of Jens Reno Moller. The battle for the top three places continued for several laps with Roda able to pull out a two second lead.
Paul Lanchere was leading LMP3 in the pole sitting #17 CLX Motorsport, from Alex Bukhantsov in the #13 Inter Europol Competition and Tim Whale in the #94 High Class Racing.
The #37 QMMF by Getspeed Mercedes-AMG of Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi led the GT field but his Getspeed teammate Steve Jans was soon challenging for the lead in the #9 Mercedes-AMG, with Jans taking the lead on lap 7. Al-Khelaifi dropped to third when Dustin Scott Blattner moved ahead of the Qatari driver in the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, but the two swapped places again a few laps later.
Fourth placed Blake McDonald in the #11 TF Sport Corvette was holding off the determined challenge from the #56 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage of Giacomo Petrobelli and Bo Yuan in the recovering #87 Porsche. The #28 Team WRT BMW of Sergey Stolyarov joined the battle and moved past the Porsche and the Aston Martin and was then overtook the Corvette a few laps later.
The first pitstops saw the order in LMP2 change, with Jens Moller #w leading from Giorgio Roda and John Falb, with George Kurtz just a second behind in the #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR.
The #6 United Autosports Oreca of Phil Fayer went off at T5 and became stranded with two punctured tyres. The race director neutralized the race with a Virtual Safety Car, meaning most of the field could come in for a pitstop.
The VSC became a Safety Car and with the stranded car recovered on a truck, the race went green again. Roda was back in the lead, ahead of Mathias Kaiser in the #20 APR and Gustavo Menezes in the #49 High Class Racing.
Malthe Jakobsen was in fourth in the #4 Crowdstrike Oreca and at the restart the Dane caught and passed Menezes for third at the first corner. Jakobsen then passed Kaiser for second in a copycat move at T1 on the next lap and set off to close the gap to Giorgio Roda. After several laps Jakobsen took the lead at T12 at the halfway point of the race.
At the restart the #13 Inter Europol Ligier swept into the lead with Alex Bukhantsov moving ahead of Paul Lanchere’s #17 CLX Motorsport and then quickly opening up a two second lead.
Blake McDonald was leading GT in the #11 Corvette but Steve Jans in the #9 Mercedes-AMG was closing the gap and took the lead at T14 after a fierce battle with the American. However, McDonald’s run came to an abrupt end when he was clipped into a spin and into the wall, severely damaging the rear of the Corvette. McDonald was able to get the car back to the pits but dropped oil and debris on the track, bringing out the Safety Car for the second time.
The Safety Car period lasted 40-minutes with several cars having to take emergency fuel stops in the first couple of laps. The two leading cars in GT, the #9 Getspeed and #74 Kessel Racing were penalised for ignoring the red light at the end of the pitlane, which they later had to serve a Stop and Go penalty.
When the race went green again, the order had been mixed up, with James Allen in the #30 RD Limited Oreca leading the race, after being handed the car in a great position by his new teammate James Sweetnam, who was making his LMP2 debut after being a last minute replacement for Fred Poordad, who couldn’t race due to a medical condition.
The #45 Ponos Racing of Kai Cozzolino was running second. The car on the move was the #64 Nielsen Racing Oreca of Alex Quinn, the British driver quickly moving up the field from 8th at the start to second place in just 10-minutes.
The LMP3 field was #w led by the #29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier of Lucas Fecury, with Chun Ting Chou in second place 13 seconds behind in the #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier.
The #30 RD Limited Oreca had to pit earlier than the rest of the field and this handed the lead to Alex Quinn, with Antonio Fuoco in the #47 Cetilar Racing and Louis Deletraz in the #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR moving into second and third respectively with less than an hour of the race remaining. Deletraz caught and passed Fuoco for second a couple of laps later.
The #66 JRM Corvette was leading the GT field with Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim holding an 80 second lead over the #21 AF Corse Ferrari of Simon Mann and the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Chris Lulham. The Corvette had to pit and rejoined in second place behind the #74 Ferrari after Lulham had passed the AF Corse Ferrari.
Lulham had to pit to serve the Stop and Goo penalty for the earlier Red Light infringement and he rejoined 4 seconds behind the #66 JRM Corvette with Alex Sims #w at the wheel.
The Virtual Safety Car was declared with 43-minutes of the race remaining when the #23 23Events Racing Ligier of Matteo Quintarelli went off and stopped on track after contact with the #9 Mercedes-AMG. The race was neutralised for 20-minutes and when it restarted there was going to be a 20-minute sprint to the checkered flag.
All of the cars had pitted for the final time but some had taken fresh tires, and this was beginning to show in the pace.
Louis Deletraz was on fresh Michelins and was soon moving up the field from third, passing the #20 APR Oreca for second and then passing the #64 Nielsen Racing Oreca into T1 on the next lap to take the lead.
Dennis Marschall in the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari also swept past Alex Sims in the #66 JRM Corvette to take the GT lead.
Antonio Fuoco in the #47 Cetilar Racing Oreca was also on fresh rubber and swiftly moved from 6th to 2nd as his rivals struggled for grip. However, the Italian couldn’t close the 8-second gap to the leading Louis Deletraz before the checkered flag. Tristan Vautier in the #30 RD Limited Oreca was also on fresh Michelins and also moved up the order to take the final podium position.
The LMP3 lead battle was between Luciano Moreno in the #29 Forestier Racing by VPS and Henry Cubides in the #13 Inter Europol Competition. The two cars were circulating #se to tail for several laps with Cubides taking the lead at T10 in the final few minutes, only to see Moreno regain the lead a couple of corners later.
There was contact between the cars on several occasions, with Cubides being forced to take to the escape road at T2.
It looked as if Moreno had this win, but a mistake on the final lap thinking the LMP2 Inter Europol Competition car was Cubides, the Italian collided with the P2 car and this allowed Henry Cubides to take the LMP3 victory in Dubai, just 0.4 seconds ahead of Moreno. The #71 23Events Racing Liger secured the final podium position, just 2.1 seconds behind the leading car at the chequered flag.
Dennis Marschall crossed the line in the #74 Ferrari, 4.4 seconds ahead of the #66 Corvette and 5.7 seconds ahead of the #10 Manthey Porsche in third place.
However, the #66 JMR Corvette was given two post-race penalties that dropped the Malaysian team off the podium and promoted the #10 Manthey Porsche into second place and the #21 AF Corse Ferrari into third.
The first penalty for the #66 Corvette (Stewards Decision #45) was a two lap penalty for participating in the pass-around at the end of the Safety Car period at 16h22 when they shouldn’t have. The second penalty (Stewards Decision #48) was a stop and go penalty for exceeding the maximum stint time of 65 minutes. The Stop and Go was converted to a 30 second time penalty.
CLICK HERE for the final result of the Asian Le Mans 4 Hours of Dubai Race 1
Asian Le Mans Dubai Race 1 Quotes
George Kurtz – #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca 07-Gibson: “It’s been a great two weeks, two weekends, I couldn’t be more excited.”
“I thought it was a good stint, we gained a spot, and we just kept it in fourth place. We were close at the end when everybody pitted, so we did everything that we needed to do, to giving the car in great shape to Malthe and he did the rest with Louis. The team did a great job.”
“Hopefully we get a good race tomorrow. We’re #t in the best starting position, but hopefully we make up some spots and, like anything else, with a little luck on your side, anything can happen.”
Malthe Jakobsen – #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca 07-Gibson: “The car was very well dialled in today. I think George showed as well it had very good potential and he managed to give it to me in fourth. From there, I just had to move forward. I had a bit of a battle with the United car number five. We made our way through.
“Then obviously that safety car hurt us massively when I was in the car before Louis jumped in. I think I handed over and 12th, or something like that; so very far back. He did an amazing job from there and brought it back to the front.”
Louis Deletraz – #4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR Oreca 07-Gibson: “Initially I was on bad tires against people on good and then it swapped around. So, when it swapped around, I had a big smile; it was nice to move forward. Overall, the whole Crowdstrike Racing by APR team did a great job today. We made the calls on strategy, and, in the end, we’re here on top and some good points for the championship.”
Chun Ting Chou – #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P325-Toyota: “This is a great result, even when Henry was giving me heart attack at the end! It was a very good race. Alex, at beginning, did a very good job, pulled out a big gap, but got caught up under the safety car a little bit.
“For me, I finished my stint in second or third place. Then Henry did a mega job at the end and we scored very good points for the championship.”
Henry Cubides – #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P325-Toyota: “The last few laps were stressful. If I was nervous, I can’t imagine what my team were going through. It was a rough couple of laps, especially with the traffic, which was a big factor. But the pace was there in the car.
“Alex did a mega job; Jimmy as well. We were always in front. Even with the car on high fuel, I think we were managing the tyres very well. I think we have a strong package for tomorrow as well. We start a little far back, but we can come back.”
Dustin Scott Blattner – #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: “There was a little bit of chaos in the beginning. The Mercedes were super quick in this race, and I think it was just a matter of trying to stay as close as possible, even though they were super quick. Ultimately, I think we just had a lot of luck, as well as stellar strategy as well.
“The Safety Cars actually helped quite a bit, because obviously the Mercedes was pulling quite a gap, and so helping bringing the field back together, helped us quite a bit to evolve our strategy.”
Chris Lulham – #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: “It was a bit of a roller coaster. The positions were at the front, then to the back, and then in my relatively short run, went back again to the front, but then we had to serve the pit infringement penalty. Then, finally, the luck went back our way and pushed us towards the front again. Dennis made the move for the win in the end. It took a big effort from all of the team, everyone had to perform at the right time to bring a result like this.”
Dennis Marschall – #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3: “After Sepang, I would have been happy with maybe just a podium, to say a third or top five. But, actually, to have another win it’s quite nice for the championship. At least we have a little bit of a buffer for tomorrow. But as we saw today, it can go so quickly from hero to zero to hero again and again, zero.”