Asian Le Mans Series Paul Ricard: AF Corse Ferrari makes it two from two in Race 2

Luis Pérez Companc, Yifei Ye and Nicklas Nielsen completed a weekend double for AF Corse in Race 2 of the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, leading every lap from pole in the #90 Ferrari 499P. In LMP2, Proton Competition won from pole, while Garage 59 took the GT3 victory with its McLaren after post-race penalties reshuffled the podium.

Hypercar: Cetilar fights back

After Saturday’s rain, Race 2 ran on a mostly dry but damp track, with never more than a few sprinkles. The start was chaotic, with several cars spinning in the scramble for Turn 1. Giorgio Roda’s #22 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson brushed the back of Roberto Lacorte’s #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 499P. The contact was hardly noticeable, but it was enough to send the Ferrari spinning off the track. Alex Demirdjian then ran wide through the opening corner in the #55 AF Corse Oreca to avoid the chaos, found the Ferrari in his way and hit it hard. The debris led to the first of two cautions in the opening hour, but after that the race ran green for the final three hours.

Despite significant damage, Lacorte brought the Ferrari back to the pits. The Cetilar crew had it back out after 4 minutes 20 seconds, and Roberto Lacorte, Nicola Lacorte and Antonio Fuoco began their race back through the field. The #47 Ferrari was 39th overall after the first hour and back up to second by the third.

Up front, Pérez Companc, Ye and Nielsen had a calm run to their second victory of the weekend, with traffic being their biggest challenger. Nielsen brought the #90 AF Corse Ferrari 499P home 1m49.952sec ahead of the recovering Cetilar Ferrari.

LMP2: Proton converts pole

The LMP2 lead changed hands repeatedly in the first half of the race, with Inter Europol Competition, DKR Engineering and CLX Motorsport embroiled in a fierce battle. In the end, Georgios Kolovos, Victor Martins and Charles Milesi fought it out with United Autosports. The #11 Proton Competition Oreca 07-Gibson took the lead for good on lap 100, and Milesi took the chequered flag 5.3 seconds ahead of Matthieu Vaxivière in the #37 CLX Motorsport Oreca he shares with Louis Stern and Adrien Closmenil. Despite the opening-lap contact, Roda, Ian Aguilera and Sting Ray Robb finished third in the #22 United Autosports Oreca.

GT3: Garage 59 wins, penalties shake up the podium

Dustin Blattner, Thomas Fleming and Dennis Marschall led the most laps in the #58 Garage 59 McLaren 720S GT3, and a different pit strategy sealed the win. Every car had to make three pit stops of at least 105 seconds, and several teams used the early cautions to get some of them done. As a result, the GT3 leaders ended up on different strategies. Only 26 minutes after its fourth stop, Garage 59 brought Fleming in again for a short top-up, which dropped the McLaren behind the #87 Winward Racing and #62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG GT3s. Neither Mercedes could reach the finish without stopping for more fuel, though. Maxime Martin pitted the #62 for a splash-and-dash with 12 minutes left, and Gabriele Piana did the same in the #87 Winward Mercedes eight minutes from the end. That handed Fleming the lead, and he took the chequered flag 4.257 seconds ahead of David Perel in the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 he shares with Peter Dempsey and Rafa Duran.

Even after its late stop, the #87 Winward Mercedes crossed the line third. After the race, however, it received a 10-second and a 5-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, 15 seconds in total. The #62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes, winner on Saturday, crossed the line fourth but also picked up 15 seconds of penalties for overtaking off track. As a result, Ian James, Zacharie Robichon and Mattia Drudi moved up from fifth to third in the #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, with Winward fourth and Team Qatar fifth.

Next up: Jerez

The Asian Le Mans Series continues its European season with Round 2, the 4 Hours of Jerez, from 15 to 17 January 2027. Once again, the weekend has two races, and AF Corse will head to Spain looking to extend its perfect start in Hypercar.