2013 Asian Le Mans Series

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.

2013 Asian Le Mans launch event at Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club on 5 March 2013.

Regulations

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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

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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

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LMP2

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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

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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

All entries use Michelin tyres.

Team Car Engine No. Drivers Rounds
  Craft Racing[6] Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 007   Frank Yu 1–2
  Stefan Mücke 1, 4
  Keita Sawa[7] 1, 4
  Richard Lyons 2
Ford GT GT3 Ford 5.0 L V8   Darryl O'Young 3
  Keita Sawa 3
  Frank Yu 3
Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 009   Tomonobu Fujii 4
  Darryl O'Young 4
  Frank Yu 4
  Pacific Direction Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 9   Akira Mizutani 2
  Yuya Sakamoto 2
  You Yokomaku 2
  Team Taisan Ken Endless[6] Porsche 996 GT3-RS Porsche 3.6 L Flat-6 26   Kyosuke Mineo 1
  Yukinori Taniguchi 1
  Akihiro Asai 2
  Naoya Gamou 2
  Clearwater Racing Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 33   Weng Sun Mok 4
  Toni Vilander 4
  BBT Racing[8] Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 Lamborghini 5.2L V10 37   Anthony Liu All
  Davide Rizzo All
  Max Wiser 1–3
  Fabio Babini 4
  AF Corse[6] Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 Ferrari F142 4.5 L V8 77   Andrea Bertolini All
  Michele Rugolo All
  Steve Wyatt All
  AAI-Rstrada[8] McLaren MP4-12C GT3 McLaren 3.8L V8 91   Jun-San Chen 1–3
  Akira Iida 1
  Tatsuya Tanigawa 2–3
  Marco Seefried 2
  Takeshi Tsuchiya 3
92   Han-Chen Chen 1–3
  Akihiro Asai 1
  Somchai Saksirivatekul 1
  Yasushi Kikuchi 2–3
  Marco Seefried 3
BMW Z4 GT3 BMW 4.4 L V8 91   Jun-San Chen 4
  Tatsuya Tanigawa 4
  Takeshi Tsuchiya 4

GTC Am

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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
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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LMP2 Standings

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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

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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

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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

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "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]
  3. ^ "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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ 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.
  7. ^ "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.
  8. ^ 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.
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