The 2013 Asian Le Mans Series was the second season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Asian Le Mans Series endurance auto racing championship. The series was initially launched in 2009 at the 1000 km of Okayama, but did not resume the following year. The project was reinitialized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) in 2012, with the Chinese S2M Group serving as the series promoter and TS Motorsport serving as organizer. It is the fourth 24 Hours of Le Mans-based series created by the ACO, following the American Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series, and FIA World Endurance Championship. The four event season began in Inje, South Korea on 4 August and ended in Selangor, Malaysia on 8 December 2013.
Regulations edit
The Asian Le Mans Series follows much of the format utilized by the American and European Le Mans Series. Four categories of cars are eligible for the series: Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC), GT Challenge (GTC), and GT Challenge Amateur (GTC Am). The GTC category is open to FIA GT3 category cars, cars from one-make series, and unique to the Asian series, JAF-GT, a road-derived variant car taking part in the GT300 category of the Japanese Super GT series. All four categories require at least one amateur driver and one professional driver in each car, although teams are allowed a maximum of three drivers per car. In order to boost Asian participation in the series, all cars must also have at least one driver of Asian nationality.[1] An LMGTE category, identical to that used at Le Mans, was considered but later dropped for the 2013 season. For the 3 Hours of Fuji, an SGT class is added into the race, which is an optional point-scoring round of the GT300 class of the 2013 Super GT season. Entrants must keep their original driver lineup in order to be eligible for the race.[2]
The team champions in the LMP2 will each automatic invitations in their category to the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, while the top two GTC class teams will earn invitations in the LMGTE Amateur category at Le Mans.[1]
Calendar edit
An initial six race 2013 calendar was revealed during the 2012 6 Hours of Shanghai, although several circuits had previously announced contracts with the series. The first half of the season was exclusively in China, with the Zhuhai International Circuit, Shanghai International Circuit, and Ordos International Circuit playing host. Following an agreement between the teams and organisers to delay and compress the 2013 season, the Shanghai and Ordos rounds were cancelled,[3] and the season now begins in South Korea at the new Inje Speedium which was completed early in 2013.[4] Fuji Speedway in Japan hosts the second round a month before the 6 Hours of Fuji World Endurance Championship event. Zhuhai, the sole remaining Chinese round, is moved back to October for the third race of the year. The Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia will serve as the finale for the season, replacing the initially scheduled Sentul International Circuit of Indonesia.[5]
All events on the calendar will have practice sessions held on Friday, qualifying on Saturday, and the three-hour race on Sunday.[5] Unlike the American and European Le Mans Series, the Asian Le Mans Series will not share any race weekends with the FIA World Endurance Championship.
| Rnd | Race | Circuit | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 Hours of Inje |  Inje Speedium, Inje, South Korea
|
4 August |
| 2 | 3 Hours of Fuji |  Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Japan
|
22 September |
| 3 | 3 Hours of Zhuhai |  Zhuhai International Circuit, Zhuhai, China
|
13 October |
| 4 | 3 Hours of Sepang |  Sepang International Circuit, Selangor, Malaysia
|
8 December |
Teams and Drivers edit
LMP2 edit
All entries use Michelin tyres.
| Team | Car | Engine | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 KCMG[6]
|
Morgan LMP2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 18 |  James Winslow
|
1–2, 4 |
| Akash Nandy
|
1 | ||||
 Gary Thompson
|
1 | ||||
| Richard Bradley
|
2 | ||||
| Hiroshi Koizumi
|
2 | ||||
| Tsugio Matsuda
|
4 | ||||
| Oreca 03 |  Jordan Oon
|
3 | |||
| Gary Thompson
|
3 | ||||
| James Winslow
|
3 | ||||
 OAK Racing[6]
|
Morgan LMP2 | Judd HK 3.6 L V8 | 24 | David Cheng
|
All |
 Jeffrey Lee
|
1–2 | ||||
| Ho-Pin Tung
|
1, 3–4 | ||||
| Congfu Cheng
|
2 | ||||
| Shaun Thong
|
3 | ||||
| Craft Racing
|
Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 27 | Richard Bradley
|
4 |
| Pu Jun Jin
|
4 | ||||
| Dan Polley
|
4 |
LMGTE edit
All entries use Michelin tyres.
| Team | Car | Engine | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAI-Rstrada
|
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 35 | Han-Chen Chen
|
4 |
| Ryohei Sakaguchi
|
4 | ||||
 Marco Seefried
|
4 | ||||
| Team Taisan Ken Endless[6]
|
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 | 70 | Naoki Yokomizo
|
1, 3–4 |
| Kamui Kobayashi
|
1 | ||||
| Akira Iida
|
2–4 | ||||
| Shogo Mitsuyama
|
2–4 | ||||
| Shinji Nakano
|
2 |
GTC edit
All entries use Michelin tyres.
GTC Am edit
All entries use Michelin tyres.
| Team | Car | Engine | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gama Racing
|
Lamborghini Gallardo | Lamborghini 5.2L V10 | 36 | Michael Huang
|
4 |
| Han Lin
|
4 | ||||
| Hanss Lin
|
4 | ||||
| Team Primemantle Aylezo
|
Lamborghini Gallardo | Lamborghini 5.2L V10 | 69 | Zen Low
|
4 |
 Dilantha Malagamuwa
|
4 | ||||
 Giorgio Sanna
|
4 | ||||
| Mike Racing
|
Lamborghini Gallardo | Lamborghini 5.2L V10 | 96 | Michael Chua Khian Keng
|
4 |
| Rick Cheang Wan Chin
|
4 | ||||
| Joseph Chua Thian Song
|
4 |
SGT edit
| Team | Make | Car | No. | Drivers | Tyre | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
Porsche | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 0 | Kyosuke Mineo
|
Y | 2 |
| Naoki Yokomizo
|
2 | |||||
| Cars Tokai Dream28
|
McLaren | McLaren MP4-12C GT3 | 2 | Hiroki Katoh
|
Y | 2 |
| Kazuho Takahashi
|
2 | |||||
| Team Mach
|
Nissan | Nissan GT-R GT3 | 5 | Tetsuji Tamanaka
|
Y | 2 |
| Naoya Yamano
|
2 | |||||
| Gainer
|
Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | 11 | Katsuyuki Hiranaka
|
D | 2 |
 Björn Wirdheim
|
2 | |||||
| Team Mugen
|
Honda | Honda CR-Z | 16 | Hideki Mutoh
|
B | 2 |
| Yuhki Nakayama
|
2 | |||||
| apr
|
Nissan | Nissan GT-R GT3 | 30 | Yuki Iwasaki
|
Y | 2 |
| Kenji Kobayashi
|
2 | |||||
 Igor Sushko
|
2 | |||||
| OKINAWA-IMP RACING with SHIFT
|
Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | 52 | Hironori Takeuchi
|
Y | 2 |
| Takeshi Tsuchiya
|
2 | |||||
| Motoyoshi Yoshida
|
2 | |||||
| Autobacs Racing Team Aguri
|
Honda | Honda CR-Z | 55 | Takashi Kobayashi
|
B | 2 |
| Tomoki Nojiri
|
2 | |||||
| Shinichi Takagi
|
2 | |||||
| R&D Sport
|
Subaru | Subaru BRZ | 61 | Kota Sasaki
|
M | 2 |
| Tetsuya Yamano
|
2 | |||||
| Leon Racing
|
Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 | 62 | Haruki Kurosawa
|
Y | 2 |
| Tsubasa Kurosawa
|
2 |
Season results edit
| Rnd. | Circuit | LMP2 Winning Team | LMGTE Winning Team | GTC Winning Team | GTC Am Winning Team | SGT Winning Team | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMP2 Winning Drivers | LMGTE Winning Drivers | GTC Winning Drivers | GTC Am Winning Drivers | SGT Winning Drivers | |||
| 1 | Inje | No. 18 KCMG
|
No. 70 Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
No. 77 AF Corse
|
No entries | Did not participate | Report |
| Akash Nandy Gary Thompson James Winslow
|
Kamui Kobayashi Naoki Yokomizo
|
Andrea Bertolini Michele Rugolo Steve Wyatt
| |||||
| 2 | Fuji | No. 18 KCMG
|
No. 70 Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
No. 007 Craft Racing
|
No. 16 Team Mugen
|
Report | |
| Richard Bradley Hiroshi Koizumi James Winslow
|
Akira Iida Shogo Mitsuyama Shinji Nakano
|
Richard Lyons Frank Yu
|
Hideki Mutoh Yuhki Nakayama
| ||||
| 3 | Zhuhai | No. 24 OAK Racing
|
No. 70 Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
No. 77 AF Corse
|
Did not participate | Report | |
| David Cheng Shaun Thong Ho-Pin Tung
|
Akira Iida Shogo Mitsuyama Naoki Yokomizo
|
Andrea Bertolini Michele Rugolo Steve Wyatt
| |||||
| 4 | Sepang | No. 24 OAK Racing
|
No. 70 Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
 No. 33 Clearwater Racing
|
No. 69 Team Primemantle Aylezo |
Report | |
| David Cheng Ho-Pin Tung
|
Akira Iida Shogo Mitsuyama Naoki Yokomizo
|
Weng Sun Mok Toni Vilander
|
Zen Low Dilantha Malagamuwa Giorgio Sanna
|
Championship Standings edit
- Scoring system
| Points System | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Pole Position | |||||||||||||
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | |||||
| 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
Teams Championships edit
The winners of the LMP2 championship and the top two finishers in the GTC championship earn automatic entry to the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans.
LMP2 Standings edit
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | INJ | FUJ | ZHU | SEP | Total | Private
Manufacturers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OAK Racing
|
Morgan LMP2 | Judd HK 3.6 L V8 | 19 | 19 | 26 | 25 | 89 | Morgan158 Points |
| 2 | KCMG
|
Morgan LMP2 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 25 | 25 | 19 | 87 | Oreca
33 Points | |
| Oreca 03 | 18 | ||||||||
| 3 | Craft Racing
|
Oreca 03 | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | 15 | 15 |
GTE Standings edit
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | INJ | FUJ | ZHU | SEP | Total | Manufacturers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 104 | Ferrari
104 Points |
| 2 | Team AAI Rstrada
|
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 18 | 18 | Porsche
18 Points |
GTC Standings edit
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | INJ | FUJ | ZHU | SEP | Total | Manufacturers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AF Corse
|
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 | 25 | 18 | 26 | 18 | 87 | Ferrari113 Points |
| 2 | #007 Craft Racing
|
Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 | 1 | 26 | 15 | 57 | Aston Martin52 Points | |
| Ford GT GT3 | Ford 5.0 L V8 | 15 | Mclaren50 Points | ||||||
| 3 | #91 Team AAI Rstrada
|
McLaren MP4-12C GT3 | McLaren 3.8L V8 | 12 | 10 | 18 | 48 | Porsche45 Points | |
| BMW Z4 GT3 | BMW 4.4 L V8 | 8 | Lamborghini39 Points | ||||||
| 4 | BBT Racing
|
Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 | Lamborghini 5.2L V10 | 15 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 39 | Ford15 Points |
| 5 | Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
Porsche 996 GT3-RS | Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6 | 18 | 12 | 30 | BMW8 Points | ||
| 6 | Clearwater Racing
|
Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 | Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 | 26 | 26 | ||||
| 7 | Pacific Direction Racing
|
Porsche 911 GT3-R | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | 15 | 15 | ||||
| 8 | #92 Team AAI Rstrada
|
McLaren MP4-12C GT3 | McLaren 3.8L V8 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | ||
| 9 | #009 Craft Racing
|
Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 | Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 | 10 | 10 |
Drivers Championships edit
LMP2 Standings edit
| Pos | Driver | Team | INJ | FUJ | ZHU | SEP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Cheng
|
OAK Racing
|
19 | 19 | 26 | 25 | 89 |
| 2 | James Winslow
|
KCMG
|
25 | 25 | 18 | 19 | 87 |
| 3 | Ho-Pin Tung
|
OAK Racing
|
19 | 26 | 25 | 70 | |
| 4 | Gary Thompson
|
KCMG
|
25 | 18 | 43 | ||
| 5 | Richard Bradley
|
KCMG
|
25 | 40 | |||
| Craft Racing
|
15 | ||||||
| 6 | Jeffrey Lee
|
OAK Racing
|
19 | 19 | 38 | ||
| 7 | Shaun Thong
|
OAK Racing
|
26 | 26 | |||
| 8 | Akash Nandy
|
KCMG
|
25 | 25 | |||
| Hiroshi Koizumi
|
KCMG
|
25 | 25 | ||||
| 9 | Cong Fu Cheng
|
OAK Racing
|
19 | 19 | |||
| Tsugio Matsuda
|
KCMG
|
19 | 19 | ||||
| 10 | Jordan Oon
|
KCMG
|
18 | 18 | |||
| 11 | Jun Jin Pu
|
Craft Racing
|
15 | 15 | |||
| Dan Polley
|
Craft Racing
|
15 | 15 |
GTE Standings edit
| Pos | Driver | Team | INJ | FUJ | ZHU | SEP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naoki Yokomizo
|
Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
26 | 26 | 26 | 78 | |
| Akira Iida
|
Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
26 | 26 | 26 | 78 | ||
| Shogo Mitsuyama
|
Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
26 | 26 | 26 | 78 | ||
| 2 | Kamui Kobayashi
|
Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
26 | 26 | |||
| Shinji Nakano
|
Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
26 | 26 | ||||
| 3 | Morris Chen
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
18 | 18 | |||
| Ryohei Sakaguchi
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
18 | 18 | ||||
| Marco Seefried
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
18 | 18 |
GTC Standings edit
| Pos | Driver | Team | INJ | FUJ | ZHU | SEP | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrea Bertolini
|
AF Corse
|
25 | 18 | 26 | 18 | 87 |
| Michele Rugolo
|
AF Corse
|
25 | 18 | 26 | 18 | 87 | |
| Steve Wyatt
|
AF Corse
|
25 | 18 | 26 | 18 | 87 | |
| 2 | Frank Yu
|
Craft Racing
|
1 | 26 | 15 | 10 | 52 |
| 3 | Jun San Chen
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
12 | 10 | 18 | 8 | 48 |
| 4 | Anthony Liu
|
BBT Racing
|
15 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 39 |
| Davide Rizzo
|
BBT Racing
|
15 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 39 | |
| 5 | Tatsuya Tanigawa
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
10 | 18 | 8 | 36 | |
| 6 | Keita Sawa
|
Craft Racing
|
1 | 15 | 15 | 31 | |
| 7 | Massimilliano Wiser
|
BBT Racing
|
15 | 0 | 12 | 27 | |
| 8 | Richard Lyons
|
Craft Racing
|
26 | 26 | |||
| Takeshi Tsuchiya
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
18 | 8 | 26 | |||
| Weng Sun Mok
|
Clearwater Racing
|
26 | 26 | ||||
| Toni Vilander
|
Clearwater Racing
|
26 | 26 | ||||
| 9 | Darryl O'Young
|
Craft Racing
|
15 | 10 | 25 | ||
| 10 | Marco Seefried
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
10 | 10 | 20 | ||
| 11 | Kyosuke Mineo
|
Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
18 | 18 | |||
| Yukinori Taniguchi
|
Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
18 | 18 | ||||
| 12 | Stefan Mücke
|
Craft Racing
|
1 | 15 | 16 | ||
| 13 | Akira Mizutani
|
Pacific Direction Racing
|
15 | 15 | |||
| Yuya Sakamoto
|
Pacific Direction Racing
|
15 | 15 | ||||
| You Yokomaku
|
Pacific Direction Racing
|
15 | 15 | ||||
| 14 | Akihiro Asai
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
0 | 12 | |||
| Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
12 | ||||||
| Naoya Gamou
|
Team Taisan Ken Endless
|
12 | 12 | ||||
| Akira Iida
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
12 | 12 | ||||
| Fabio Babini
|
BBT Racing
|
12 | 12 | ||||
| 15 | Morris Chen
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | |
| Yasushi Kikuchi
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
0 | 10 | 10 | |||
| Tomonobu Fujii
|
Craft Racing
|
10 | 10 | ||||
 Somchai Saksirivatekul
|
Team AAI Rstrada
|
0 | 0 |
References edit
- ^ a b Dagys, John (27 October 2012). "LE MANS: 2013 Asian LMS Calendar Revealed". SpeedTV.com. Speed Channel. Archived from the original on 2012-11-27. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
- ^ "GT300s to take part in Asian Le Mans Series Fuji Speedway race". Asian Le Mans Series. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "2013 Asian Le Mans Series streamlines on advice of teams". Asian Le Mans Series. 2 April 2013. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
- ^ "Asian Le Mans Series – Korea becomes part of the 2013 calendar". lemans.org. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 2 October 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
- ^ a b "Asian Le Mans Series launches inaugural calendar for 2013". lemans.org. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 27 October 2012. Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f "Inje : Un plateau de 11 autos pour le coup d'envoi". endurance-info.com. 31 July 2013. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ "Inje : Keita Sawa renforce l'Aston Martin/Craft AMR". endurance-info.com. 31 July 2013. Archived from the original on 30 September 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ a b "Inje : Quelques brèves avant le début du meeting". endurance-info.com. 1 August 2013. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013.