Podium and victory for Rinaldi Racing in Dubai

The first weekend of the Asian Le Mans Series season ended well for Rinaldi Racing, with a second-place for Rigon-Perel-Mastronardi and a second win in two races for Hook-Lauck-Kujala in the Am class. Despite an unfavourable Balance of Performance, the Ferraris improved on their showing in the first 4 Hours on Saturday.

Podium. In a race marked by two Full Course Yellows, the Ferraris put in a solid performance, especially the 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Rinaldi Racing and Kessel Racing by Car Guy, which even led for a few laps. As in race one, the first stint saw Giancarlo Fisichella and David Perel make great comebacks. Indeed, the South African put teammate Rino Mastronardi in an ideal position to drive his stint in the top three. The Michelin Le Mans Cup champion then handed over to Davide Rigon who took the Ferrari to second place, one lap down on the race-winning Porsche of GPX Racing. Eighth-place for Kimura-Ledogar-Jensen didn't do justice to their excellent performance, as Ledogar's laps in the lead testify. Fisichella-Flohr-Castellacci secured twelfth with the Roman driver in third during his initial stint after another great start. The other Ferraris completed the 4 Hours from 14th to 17th. 

Double. Christian Hook, Manuel Lauck and Patrick Kujala left Dubai with two first places in two races where they didn't give their rivals much of a look-in. They also attacked the higher class crews, especially Kujala, who is exceptionally comfortable on this track. The Kessel Racing crew had a better day, with Zollo-Roda-Kohmann second across the line.

Dates. The Asian Le Mans Series will go to Yas Marina next weekend for the two races that will decide the titles and, with them, an automatic invitation to the next 24 Hours of Le Mans.