Porsche Customer Teams lock out front row in GT at Dubai
Porsche customer teams Herberth Motorsport and GPX Racing will start up front in the GT class for the opening race of the Asian Le Mans Series in Dubai. GT pole positions were shared among the Precote Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Rs. Robert Renauer who set a time of 1:55.552 in the number 99 entry, with team-mate Klaus Bachler setting a time of 1:55.866 for the number 93 to start Race 2 from pole. For Race 1, the number 40 GPX Racing Julien Andlauer will start second, ahead of Bachler to give Porsche the top three starting positions of the year.
After three days of testing at Dubai, teams finally got down to business of qualifying for the long week ahead that will see for the first time ever the Asian Le Mans Series held, in its entirety in the United Arab Emirates in what is a very compact schedule with all four races will be held in just over a week. Thursday mornings free practice session was cancelled due to heavy fog that had engulfed the Dubai circuit leaving only the two hour dusk to night practice season later that day for the teams to finalise set ups. The Porsche 911 GT3 R teams have certainly laid down the gauntlet to the strong 19 car GT field. Robert Renauer in the number 99 Porsche / Precote Herberth Motorsport topped the GT times crossing the line in 1: 55.552. Julien Andlauer placed the 911 GT3 R / GPX Racing on the 1st row just 14 thousandths of a second behind Renauer. On the second row we will find the last of the only three Porsche’s entered, that of Klaus Bachler (Precote Herberth Motorsport) and the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 / TF Sport of Charlie Eastwood, Raffaele Marciello in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 / HubAuto Racing will take up the fifth spot.
A Porsche 911 GT3 R will also start from pole for race 2, with the best time this time going to Klaus Bachler (Precote Herberth Motorsport). The Porsche / GPX Racing will also start in the 1st row of Race 2.
The season will start with two races held at the Dubai Autodrome on the 13th and 14th of February, with the final two races to be held in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina Circuit on the 19th and 20th of February. Once again, the Asian Le Mans Series will be live streamed across all its platforms including on its website, YouTube channel and Facebook page