> Provisional full-season entry list
36 entries – 23 of them in the GT class – will contest the 2023/24 Asian Le Mans Series.
That number is set to be the largest ever to race at Sepang, which stages this season’s opening rounds on December 2-3. The former Malaysian GP venue is the first in Southeast Asia to host the Asian Le Mans Series since 2020.
Full-season entries have been capped due to Sepang’s pit and paddock space, but far more are expected to compete at the following events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi which attracted some 48 cars last year.
The provisional 36-strong full-season list issued today includes teams and cars. Drivers will be added in the build-up to Sepang, but it’s already clear that a far greater proportion will hail from Southeast Asia than the most recent post-pandemic campaigns.
Among the seven Asia-Pacific outfits are several names familiar to Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS fans.
Craft-Bamboo and Triple Eight JMR are currently vying for the teams’ and drivers’ championships, and both will also be on the grid for Asian Le Mans Series’ return to Sepang where they’ll be joined by fellow Fanatec GT Asia race winners EBM and D’station Racing.
They are just four of 23 full-season entries vying for a coveted 2024 Le Mans 24 Hours invitation.
Elsewhere, the grid also features seven former Asian Le Mans Series champions:
• 2023 LMP2 champions DKR Engineering return to defend their title.
• 2022 LMP2 and 2019/2020 LMP3 champions, Nielsen Racing, are back with one full-season LMP2 entry.
• Algarve Pro Racing will also return with one full-season entry. The team were champions in 2016/2017, and supported G-Drive Racing in their back-to-back 2019/2020 and 2021 title wins.
• ARC Bratislava (2018/2019 LMP2 Am Champions) will return with a single entry in LMP2.
• 2022 LMP3 Champions, CD Sport, return for their fourth season in the Asian Le Mans Series.
• The first non-Asian team to win the Asian Le Mans Series’ GT class, Herberth Motorsport, returns with their Porsche 911 GT3 R and will be supporting the Pure Rxcing entry.
• Optimum, who supported 2022 GT champions Inception Racing, return with two McLaren 720S GT3s.
Fanatec GT Asia’s 2023 campaign concludes at Sepang next weekend. Its Asian Le Mans Series teams will then keep their cars and equipment in Malaysia until the six-race season begins in early December.
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: “The Asian Le Mans Series goes from strength to strength. Next season's grid is the perfect illustration, with no less than 10 LMP2s on the starting grid. In the GT class the array of constructors knows no bounds: eight in all! Such a healthy field sets the scene for another spectacular season, beginning in Sepang on the 2nd of December. We are looking forward to returning to Southeast Asia.”
Frédéric Lequien, ALMEM and LMEM CEO: “The Asian Le Mans Series continues to be a very attractive programme with another big grid of existing and new teams! The return to Southeast Asia, and the expansion to five races were both important steps in the growth of the Series. The strong number of LMP2 and GT entries especially shows the popularity of the Series.”
Stéphane Ratel, SRO Motorsports Group Founder & CEO: “I must congratulate the ACO, Colin Ong and his team for compiling such a strong entry for the 2023/2024 Asian Le Mans Series. The return to Southeast Asia is an important milestone in the championship's post-pandemic development but also one that teams and drivers from the region have clearly embraced. SRO's more recent hands-on experience across the continent has and will continue to play a role within the series' organisation, but we are also eager to build on the current momentum beyond the upcoming campaign.”
2023/24 Asian Le Mans Series Calendar
Race 1: Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia - 2 December 2023
Race 2: Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia - 3 December 2023
Race 3: Dubai Autodrome, Dubai - 4 February 2024
Race 4: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi - 10 February 2024
Race 5: Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi - 11 February 2024
