After three previous rounds, and hard-fought set of Free Practice sessions and Qualifying, the 3 Hours of Sepang took place today at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, and lived up to the billing as the grand finale for the 2014 Asian Le Mans Series
Only 0.104 seconds separated the LM P2 teams in qualifying, and OAK RACING TEAM TOTAL #1 Morgan Judd were able to get off to a good initial lead with David CHENG setting the pace. CHENG opened up a 25 seconds gap between Eurasia’s #27 LM P2 ORECA NISSAN during the opening stint. After the driver changed to John HARTSHORNE, Eurasia still were not able to close the gap. However, after OAK’s Ho-Pin TUNG took over at the 1 hour 45 mins, he produced some very steady lap times to bring his team home to the checkered flag in 1st place, and giving OAK RACING TEAM TOTAL their 4th victory of the season, the LM P2 Team Championship and an invitation to 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans. David CHENG and Ho-Pin TUNG also finished top of the 2014 Drivers Championship.
Craft-Bamboo Racing #77 qualified first, in the CN class, however a lead can disappear in an instant as Frank Yu was overtaken by Denis LIAN from Team Avelon Formula during the early stages of the race. However, on Lap 33, their #21 WOLF GB08 incurred a lengthy time in the pits, and Craft-Bamboo Racing had the chance to take the lead back. After Kevin TSE’s steady stint he handed over to Jonathan VENTER who drove very well and all the way to the finish with Craft-Bamboo Racing taking the win and with it the 2014 Team and Driver Championship.
In the GT Category Clearwater Racing’s # 33 FERRARI 458 GT3, who started last on the grid turned their luck around during the race to claim P1. #33 Hiroshi HAMAGUCHI started aggressively and was able to pass all the Team AAI cars, to take the lead in early stage of the race after which the result was never in doubt and Clearwater romped home to 1st place. Team AAI #91 BMW Z4, who started second on the grid, led the Team AAI cars and won the second place in GT Category. However AAI’s #91 still held on to take the 2014 GT Team and Driver Championship as well as an invitation to 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans..
The race finished with a torrential downpour in the last 20 minutes with the cars completing the race under a safety car and was finally red flagged with 5 minute remaining. However all the cars managed to finish the 3 hours race safely.
A big thank you and congratulations to all of our teams, drivers, sponsors, partners, and supporters for making this weekend a historical conclusion to our second season, as well as all our friends and partners across Asia and the globe. We look forward to being with you again in 2015!
