Asian Le Mans Series: AF Corse Dominates at Circuit Paul Ricard
Circuit Paul Ricard, France – AF Corse secured a commanding victory in the second four-hour race of the Asian Le Mans Series, with the #90 Ferrari 499P driven by Luis Perez Companc, Ye Yifei, and Nicklas Nielsen completing a clean sweep of the season opener.
The Hypercar race’s fate was largely determined at the first corner when Roberto Lacorte’s #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari spun after colliding with Giorgio Roda’s #22 United Autosports ORECA 07-Gibson. Lacorte’s car sustained damage but returned to the race after repairs, ultimately finishing several laps down. Despite multiple opportunities, Cetilar Racing could not close the gap to AF Corse, which won by a decisive 1:49.952.
“It’s incredible!” exclaimed Perez Companc. “It was tricky conditions when I started on slick tyres, but we managed not to make any mistakes.” Nielsen added, “I’m not going to take credit; Luis and Yifei did a great job.”
With this victory, Perez Companc, Ye, and Nielsen lead the Hypercar Drivers’ standings by 14 points, and Ye has now become the first driver to win multiple races in an Asian Le Mans double-header format.
In LMP2, Proton Competition achieved its first series victory with the #11 ORECA piloted by Georgios Kolovos, Victor Martins, and Charles Milesi. The team initially fell to fifth but demonstrated a strong recovery. Martins took the lead with just over 90 minutes remaining, and Milesi extended the advantage to win by 27.820 seconds.
“It was not easy with degradation,” Milesi said, reflecting on a strategic race. “We did a good strategy, and it’s a good recovery compared to yesterday.”
Closmenil’s #37 CLX Motorsport ORECA secured second place, maintaining early championship momentum, while the #22 United Autosports ORECA completed the podium in third after overcoming a drive-through penalty.
In GT3, the #58 Garage 59 McLaren GT3 Evo triumphed, driven by Dustin Blattner, Dennis Marschall, and Tom Fleming. Despite multiple penalties, the team executed a solid race strategy, with Blattner holding off competitors to secure the lead once more.
“We learned from our mistakes and executed nicely,” Marschall stated.
The #50 AF Corse Ferrari finished second, with the Heart of Racing Team’s Aston Martin Vantage promoted to third due to time penalties inflicted on others.
Following this event, Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi and teammates retained the GT3 Drivers’ Championship lead, heading to Jerez on January 15-17, 2027, where another pair of four-hour races are scheduled.
Provisional Results:
- Hypercar: 1. AF Corse #90 2. Cetilar Racing #47 3. Proton Competition #11
- LMP2: 1. Proton Competition #11 2. CLX Motorsport #37 3. United Autosports #22
- GT3: 1. Garage 59 #58 2. AF Corse #50 3. Heart of Racing #27
Next Races: Jerez, Spain, January 15-17, 2027.
