Two tickets to participate in the 2024 edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours were awarded on Sunday after an exciting conclusion to the 2023/2024 Asian Le Mans Series season in Abu Dhabi.
For Algarve Pro Racing, a team based in Portugal and managed by a British crew, it was a historic weekend. Their No. 4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA, driven by former IMSA GTP driver Colin Braun, reserve driver Malthe Jakobsen from Peugeot Sport Hypercar, and George Kurtz, secured the LMP2 titles in a dramatic fashion. A bold strategic decision led to a surprising victory in the first race on Saturday, followed by a seventh-place finish in the finale on Sunday evening, sealing the championship.
As a result, the team has earned an invitation to compete in the LMP2 class at the Le Mans 24 Hours. This invitation adds to their previous invite earned by winning the 2023 European Le Mans Series LMP2 Championship.
It is worth noting that Kurtz has his own personal invitation to race at Le Mans after winning IMSA’s Jim Trueman award in 2023, also with Crowdstrike APR.
In another success story, Lithuanian Porsche customer team Pure Rxcing continued their fairytale journey with their 911 GT3 R 992, driven by Alex Malykhin, Klaus Bachler, and Joel Sturm, winning the highly competitive GT title. This victory grants them an invitation to enter the 24 Hours, in addition to their invite earned by winning the World Challenge Europe Bronze Cup title and their full-season WEC entry with Manthey in LMGT3, which automatically secures them a spot on the grid. This means that the team could potentially have three cars participating in their debut at the event.
It remains uncertain whether the Manthey-supported team will utilize their Asian Le Mans invite at La Sarthe. The primary purpose of competing in the Asian Le Mans Series, according to team owner Edgar Kochanovskij, was to practice, stay in shape, and work with Manthey during the winter.
“The team’s philosophy is focused on pure, genuine racing,” said Kochanovskij when asked about utilizing the invite. “If I can find a driver lineup that meets my standards, then yes, but I don’t believe it will be easy to find talented, passionate, hard-working, and motivated Bronze drivers to fill the entry.”
COOL Racing, a Swiss team, secured the LMP3 title in the final race. However, there is no invitation for the winner of the LMP3 class title this season. Instead, the team will receive priority when entering the 2024 Le Mans Cup Road To Le Mans support races, which are held during the Le Mans race week and feature LMP3 and GT3 cars.
The two invitations awarded on Sunday add to the nine invitations already granted before the start of the Asian Le Mans Series season in December. (All entries are subject to final decisions from the ACO Selection Committee.)
This year’s Asian Le Mans Series season featured a grid of 42 cars, and the return to Sepang for the first time since the pandemic was well-received by the teams. The title battles in all three classes went down to the wire.
Before the series concluded at the Yas Marina circuit, the Jordanian-flagged 99 Racing ORECA LMP2 squad, run by TF Sport and featuring former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin, seemed to be in control. Mazepin, along with Ahmad Al Harthy and WTRAndretti GTP driver Louis Deletraz, won two out of three races at Sepang and Dubai leading up to the final event. They held a 20-point lead in the standings.
However, the team’s title hopes were shattered this weekend due to a series of misfortunes and dramatic incidents that gave Crowdstrike Racing a lifeline, which they took advantage of.
In the first race, after starting on pole with a different driver lineup due to Mazepin’s illness, Al Harthy was spun out on the first lap, dropping him to last place. The car then retired in the third hour due to a bizarre incident under safety car conditions. Al Harthy collided with the GT title-winning Pure Rxcing Porsche while both cars were avoiding a sudden braking car in the queue. Controversially, Al Harthy was penalized for his role in the incident. The No. 99 car suffered severe damage and required a complete rebuild overnight by the mechanics from AF Corse before Sunday’s four-hour race.
Despite the efforts of the mechanics, the car struggled with shifting issues throughout the race, lost time due to an emergency service stop under the safety car, and had to serve a stop-go penalty for the incident in the first race. Ultimately, they finished 11th overall, handing the title to Crowdstrike Racing by APR.
According to the Source racer.com