Cetilar Racing Bounces Back to Victory in Sepang After Penalty Controversy
Photo: Cetilar Racing
Cetilar Racing clinched victory on its return to LMP2 competition in the Asian Le Mans Series opener at Sepang, despite a five-second penalty. The No. 47 Oreca 07 Gibson, driven by Roberto Lacorte, Charlie Milesi, and Antonio Fuoco, finished 2.730 seconds ahead of the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca after a four-hour race marked by four safety-car periods and a brief rain shower.
Initially, the No. 25 car—Tom Dillmann, Enzo Trulli, and Michael Jensen—was shown as the winner, even pulling onto the winners’ podium for celebration. The confusion stemmed from a five-second penalty awarded to the Cetilar entry for a full-course-yellow infringement, which the team served at its final pit stop when Fuoco refueled with just under five minutes remaining.
Race control later corrected the misapplication of the penalty to the No. 47, restoring Cetilar’s rightful victory. Fuoco led the field at the final restart with 42 minutes left, quickly building the necessary five-second cushion over the second-placed CrowdStrike Racing by APR entry driven by Malthe Jakobsen to secure the win.
Jakobsen’s early splash-and-go strategy, compared with most rivals, cost him ground to Dillmann, who ultimately finished third in the No. 4 Oreca shared with George Kurtz and Louis Deletraz.
Nielsen Racing’s No. 64 Oreca, piloted by Alex Quinn, Kriton Lendoudis, and Cem Bolukbasi, took fourth, followed by the pole-sitting No. 5 United Autosports car driven by Giorgio Roda, Gregoire Saucy, and Mikkel Jensen in fifth.
At the start, Roda led, but the first safety car arrived almost immediately after the No. 71 23Events Racing Ligier LMP3 spun at Turn 2 and became stuck. On the restart, Roda’s advantage slipped away to Georgios Kolovos’ Inter Europol Competition Oreca. The Polish squad’s strategy faltered on drying track conditions after the rain shower, as they stayed on Wet tires through the second safety-car period triggered by an off for the R-ace GP Duqueine LMP3.
Further incidents—Nolan Siegel’s unforced spin and then a brush from behind that spun Nick Cassidy—left the No. 23 23Events Ligier and its drivers 13th at the finish. A stray LMP3 car caused the third safety car when Isaac Barashi went off into gravel with 1 hour 15 minutes to go.
The race restarted with 52 minutes remaining, but the fourth safety car followed immediately after a collision between Lucas Auer’s Mercedes-AMG and Alessio Rovera’s Ferrari, sending Rovera into the wall before the start/finish line.
United Autosports’ No. 6 also looked competitive but incurred a drive-time miscalculation that forced Bronze-rated Phil Fayer to return for a one-lap cameo between stints by Ben Hanley and Paul di Resta. That blip helped drop the team to seventh on the road, ultimately placing them sixth after a post-race penalty against the RD Limited Oreca that had crossed the finish ahead but couldn’t return to parc ferme under its own power.
LMP3 delivered a thrilling finish, with Inter Europol’s No. 13 Ligier JS P325 Toyota narrowly defeating High Class Racing’s Ligier by a mere 0.218 seconds. Henry Cubides Olarte, sharing with Alex Bukhantsov and Chun Ting Chou, clung to victory as Callum Voisin closed in for High Class Racing.
Jacoby, Lanchere, and Rabin in the CLX Motorsport Ligier finished third after an early pole performance was undone by a five-minute repair stop for left-rear damage. Team Virage’s No. 1 Ligier faced an opening-lap setback when Indian actor Ajith Kumar sustained damage, leaving the car for most of the race and returning only in the final hour for ninth.
In GT, Manthey capitalized on smart pit work and a late, clean pass to snatch victory with its No. 10 Porsche 911 GT3 R ahead of GetSpeed’s No. 9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo. After a three-minute penalty to GetSpeed’s sister No. 37 for Auer’s role in Rovera’s crash, Manthey’s strategy shifted late. Loek Hartog’s No. 10 and Riccardo Pera’s No. 92 both pitted after the final restart, enabling Manthey to race in clear air. Hartog moved from third to first on the final lap, passing Fabian Schiller’s Mercedes at the final corner when Schiller ran wide.
Manthey’s No. 10, with Klaus Bachler and Antares Au, won by 1.072 seconds over Schiller’s GetSpeed Mercedes. The No. 92 Porsche, driven by Pera, Richard Lietz, and Francois Heriau, finished fourth, while the Origine Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Ye Hongli, Bo Yuan, and Laurin Heinrich settled for sixth after a late surge.
The second leg of the 4H Sepang is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. local time (12 a.m. ET).
Source: Jamie Klein, Sportscar365, Asian Editor. Klein covers the FIA World Endurance Championship and SUPER GT, among other series.
