Asian Le Mans Series

[Mike E]

There wasn't much competition but young Josh Pierson looked very confident in the race yesterday.

[S griffin]

It's hard to tell how good the quality is in this series, but I too am impressed by Pierson, hope he has a great future

[J Jay]

With only Nielsen Racing as direct competitors, there's a fair bit of big fish, small pond as far as assessing Pierson's performances so far goes. However, he's been very close to Di Resta's times, closer than I expected for basically his first serious outing in the Oreca.

Rather like Hanson, it's going to be a case of how well Pierson can handle more sustained traffic/pressure. United could have a very solid core duo of drivers in their stable.

[Mike E]

And he is only just 16.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Mike E

And he is only just 16.

Not as of this post he isn't, his birthday isn't until tomorrow!

It wasn't exactly a pressurised situation, but when he had to navigate traffic or keep the Nielsen LMP2 behind Pierson did it all well. UA's faith (and giving up a good shot at the AsLMS title) seems to be well on the way to being repaid.

[Mike E]

They said the reason he only did rounds 3 & 4 was that he was 15 for rounds 1 & 2 but his birthday was between the two meetings?

Anyway, regardless of the light competition, I still think it was a mature performance for a kid on a busy track with a high proportion of Am traffic to work through.

Let's see how he gets on at Sebring. That will be a different test...

[Racing Harz]

He was born on the 14th February 2006.

[J Jay]

My mistake, I misheard the commentary.

Sebring will be a tougher test on multiple fronts, but doing the Abu Dhabi double-header is as good a preparation as he could have.

[S griffin]

It’s hard to judge him at this stage. Sebring will be very tough. He needs as much as running as possible before then in order not to get caught out

[Simmi]

Okay Asian Le Mans Series, you have regained my attention.

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2022/...-car-grid.html

[Graham Goodwin]

Not bad eh!

[Coach Ep]

What are the LM24 auto invite allocations please?

[Graham Goodwin]

One per class

[Coach Ep]

Thx.

[Hawkwood]

AsLMS 2023 entry list.
Some intriguing and surprising line ups, not least Nikita Mazepin and Neel Jani in LMP2!
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/0...ver-named.html

[Coach Ep]

2nd year in a row (if I'm correct), the Asian LMS is outscoring the ELMS for total number of entries.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

2nd year in a row (if I'm correct), the Asian LMS is outscoring the ELMS for total number of entries.

Due to the very short schedule I assume.

[Coach Ep]

One the main factors for sure. It was just an interesting stat - but not an insignificant one!

[Mike E]

Dubai race 1 stream. https://www.youtube.com/live/UeFKLFGsOO8?feature=share

Race 2. https://www.youtube.com/live/Gti0l-IoyEM?feature=share

[Simmi]

This is wild - https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/...ification.html

I mean, he's not a bronze is he. But equally that's super unprofessional from the FIA and their rankings bods to a) get it wrong and b) then not rectify it until the very last minute.

[Mike E]

Yeah, pretty shabby

[Hawkwood]

I'm not sure I quite understand the gradings, but how can someone like Christina Nielsen be a bronze last year despite being a multiple IMSA champion, yet Porteiro is a silver despite being a decade older and not having really raced since 2012?


I'm not saying Nielsen shouldn't be a bronze necessarily, but how is Porteiro not a bronze? The guy's 40 and hasn't raced for 10 years.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

I'm not sure I quite understand the gradings, but how can someone like Christina Nielsen be a bronze last year despite being a multiple IMSA champion, yet Porteiro is a silver despite being a decade older and not having really raced since 2012?


I'm not saying Nielsen shouldn't be a bronze necessarily, but how is Porteiro not a bronze? The guy's 40 and hasn't raced for 10 years.

I think it boils down to a couple of factors. For him to be a bronze now, you'd imagine when he was racing regularly he'd need to have been a silver, in theory. You could argue he'd be on gold level back in 2012 but I'm not an expert in his career.

Then I think you look at the amateur aspect of bronzes. He's been a racing driver (GP2, WTCC) - he runs a driving school now. He's been involved with teams on the grid. I believe he's also had some recent P2 seat time so he's not a bronze IMO. Being 40 this year also isn't exactly a barrier when you consider there's a guy older than him in F1.

[Mike E]

Another odd rule change or clarification or correction or whatever it is.

For 2 driver crews, Platinum drive time changed from 1.5h min to 1.25h max. Not a small change.

https://en.endurance-info.com/auto/a...ub-auto-racing

[Simmi]

Race start delayed by 1h45 due to a qualifying crash. I believe that's a 12.45pm start (UK time). So a decent chunk of it will be in the dark now which is a shame from a viewing perspective.