Precote Herbeth Motorsport wins Asian Le Mans Series GT Title at final race
Precote Herberth Motorsport have won the Asian Le mans GT Class Title after a dramatic final race in Abu Dhabi. It was Porsche team GPX Racing who where favourites for taking the tile prior to start of the race who had a advance off 8 points over there Porsche rivals Precote Herberth Motorsport but contact at the start of the race which broke the left mirror forced Axcil Jefferies to return to the pits to change the door.
The title was there for the taking heading into the final round for GPX, the winning team of the Total 24 Hours of Spa 2019 had already secured there invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2021 after there domination of the open three rounds. With 62 points, the team led by Pierre-Brice Mena lead the championship by 8 points against the closest competition Precote Herberth Motorsport. With 19 GTs competing in the Asian Le Mans Series allows for four GTE invitations to be awarded for the classic Le Mans, like the other Asian Le Mans Series teams invited to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, GPX Racing must validate its invitation by Tuesday. The timing is therefore tight knowing that there is no question of going to Sarthoise with the 911 GT3 R. Pierre-Brice Mena and GPX Racing are working hard in the allotted time to confirm the invitation, which would then be a first for the team that quickly made a name for itself in the Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge Europe.
It was sheer bad luck for GPX Racing after contact at the start of the race resulted in a broken left mirror that forced Axcil Jefferies to return to the pits so the crew could change the door. It was a quick well executed stop by the GPX crew but then the team was awarded a penalty for cutting the white line at the pit exit. The GPC drivers Axcil Jefferies, Julien Andlauer and Alain Ferté could only look on has the title moved away from them in favour of another Porsche crew, the number 99 Precote Herberth Motorsport piloted by Ralf Bohn, Alfred and Robert Renauer who also had to deal with the shame issue of a broken mirror.
The Ferraris were not at the party in this final race with four of the seven 488 GT3s who suffered with technical problems at the start of the race forcing them to retire from the race. However, it was a Ferrari 488 GT3 that took the overall win, that of Côme Ledogar, Mikkel Jensen and Takeshi Kimura. The strategy put in place by Kessel Racing Ferrari by Car Guy worked perfectly. Second place was contested right up until the chequered flag, Ben Barnicoat crossed the finish line in 2nd place in the McLaren 720S GT3 / Inception Racing the Ferrari 488 GT3 / Rinaldi Racing of Davide Rigon, David Perel and Rino Mastronardi took 3rd place, ahead of the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 / Oman Racing with TF Sport who took 4th place. a 5th place finish for the number 99 Precote Herberth Motorsport was enough for the team to take the GT title ahead of GPX Racing who crossed the line in way down in 13th place. The second car of Precote Herberth Motorsport the number 93 finished in 12th place.
Le mans 24 Hour Invitations awarded following the Asian Le Mans Series season:
G-Drive Racing : LMP2 title (LMP2 invitation)
United Autosports : LMP3 title (LMP2 invitation)
Precote Herberth Motorsport : GT title (invitation in GTE-Am)
GPX Racing : 2nd in GT (invitation in GTE-Am)
Rinaldi Racing : 3rd in GT (invitation in GTE-Am)
Inception Racing : 4th in GT (invitation in GTE-Am)