Photo : Hervé GUYOMARD - ACO

 

When the track was released to the Asian Le Mans Series, a cumulative delay of eight minutes weighed down the clock. By subtle track management, Daniel Poissenot, Race Director, managed to give the start at the scheduled time, in good weather conditions on top of that. Immediately, OAK Racing's LM P2 Morgan took the lead and never gave it up. AAI RSTRADA's Mercedes made a last stand ahead of the second LM P2, Eurasia Motorsport's Oreca. Then the two CN prototypes and, obviously, the three other GTs. The first passes came in after 20 minutes and Oreca slipped into second position. After 30 minutes of racing, the two CNs were sixth and seventh ahead of the Ferrari. After 45 minutes, the CNs  rolled in concert, the Eurasia Motorsport was already refueling, then th first BMW Z4, the Ferrari, Craft Bamboo Racing's Ligier, the other BMW Z4, then OAK Racing. At the end of the first hour, the latter team was ahead of Eurasia's Oreca in LM P2, then the Mercedes GT, Avelon Racing's Wolf CN, the Ferrari climbed quickly, a BMW, the other CN and the second BMW. The Mercedes refueled after one hour seven minutes of racing, the second CN 16 minutes later.

At mid-race, OAK Racing and its drivers Ho-pin Tung-David Cheng dominated ahead of Eurasia Motorsport and unexpectedly, Ferrari, the three AAI RSTRADA GTs followed ahead of the two CN prototypes. After an hour and 43 minutes of racing, Eurasia Motorsport's Oreca stopped again while Bamboo Racing's Ligier CN floundered, requiring help to go in for inspection. After an hour and 58 minutes, the Ferrari stopped to refuel again. After two hours of racing, the LM P2s of OAK Racing and Eurasia Motorsport lead ahead of the AAI BMW Z4, the Ferrari, the Mercedes, the other AAI BMW Z4 and the two CNs were two laps behind. At 5:25 p.m., Avelon Racing's CN stopped, had to be pushed to restart, which earned it a four-minute stop-and-go, the race ending 15 minutes early for the two CNs, deprived of sufficient lighting to roll safely. An incident at dusk around 5:50 p.m., the two CNs back in the garage, former Formula 1 World Champion Mika Häkkinen lowered the checkered flag at 6:33 p.m. to the relief of all staff, a bit tense with the final laps completed in a half-light and daylight disappearing quickly. A happy podium under the spotlights for this third round which went off without a hitch.

Hervé Guyomard / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO

Photo: SHANGHAI (CHINA), SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT, 3 HOURS OF SHANGHAI, FIRDAY OCTOBER 10 2014, QUALIFYING. The AAI RSTRADA team once again reached the overall podium, at the third round of the 2014 Asian Le Mans Series.