The qualifying for this weekend’s Asian Le Mans Series at Chang International Circuit in Buriram in Thailand was run today, Friday.
First out was the five GT cars, for their 15 minutes of qualifying.
After all cars had posted their first flying laps, we had Spirit Of Race Ferrari #51 fastest ahead of the two Tianshi Racing Team Audi’s #88 and #66.
It was a bit of a slow start for Championship leader James Calado in the Car Guy Ferrari #11, but he initially got the bright yellow Ferrari F488 GTE up to speed up, and jumped to third.
It was his FIA WEC teammate Alessandro Pier Guidi who ran away with Pole Pole in the the Spirit Of Race Ferrari #51 ahead of Car Guy #11, Tianshi Racing Team Audi #88 and #66 while TF Sport Aston Martin #5 finished fifth.
Photo Asian Le Mans Series
We were one car down in the LMP3 cars for the qualifying, since the Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen #7 with Christian Stubbe Olsen and Nick Adcock had an off in FP2 earlier in the day. Adcock was behind the wheel, and made heavy contact with the barrier. The impact was so hard that it took more than an hour to repair the damaged Armco. Adcock was thankfully alright, but the mechanics have quite a bit of work to do before the race tomorrow.
Anders Fjordbach was the first man to post a fast lap in the LMP2 category, in the Algarve Pro Racing #25. He had been the fastest overall in FP2, so the rapid Dane once again proved his worth.
Harrison Newey in the sister car #24 wasn’t hanging about and topped the quali time shortly after.
Nigel Moore in the Viper Niza Racing #65 was the first to post a fast time in LMP3. A few minutes later we had Matt Bell in United Autosports #3 going fastest amongst the smaller prototypes.
Darren Burke in the ARC Bratislava #4 jumped between the two Algarve Pro Racing cars – but we were only halfway through the qualifying.
Newey in #24 kept going faster, and pulled further and further away from the competition.
Photo Asian Le Mans Series
Colin Noble was the next to take P1 in the LMP3 category with his Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen #79.
Phil Hanson found a lot of time in the United Autosports #22, and started pushing Newey for P1.
United Autosports #2 driver Wayne Boyd wanted to be P1 in the LMP3 too, and posted a time marginally faster than #79.
The battles continued all the way to the chequered flag, and nothing was decided until the final car had crossed the line for the final time.
Wayne Boyd t0ok Pole Position for United Autosports #2 in the LMP3 category, ahead of Viper Niza Racing #65 and Inter Europol Competition #13. Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen #79 was P4 ahead of United Autosports #3, Eurasia Motorsport #36 and R24 #50. Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen #7 never made it out on the track.
Harrison Newey in the Algarve Pro Racing #24 kept Pole Position in LMP2 category, ahead of United Autosports #22, ARC Bratislava #4 and United Autosports #23.
Photo Asian Le Mans Series
Anders Fjordbach unfortunately dropped to P5 in the Algarve Pro Racing #25, but still beat Panis Barthez Competition #35. It could appear that the team might have missed the tire pressure, since Fjordbach was the only man to post his personal fastest lap on the very first flying lap – all others did it on lap 7-10. What a shame for him, after being so fast in FP2.
But another super exciting qualifying in the Asian Le Mans Series, which hints at some interesting racing tomorrow.
The race starts Saturday morning at 5.45 CET, and can be watched on YouTube, where the live stream starts 30 minutes prior.
