Dubai – EL1: COOL Racing takes the lead

COOL Racing begins its Asian campaign Le Mans Series in LMP2 on the right foot. Carried by Nicolas lapierre, Malthe Jakobsen and Alexandre Coigny, the Swiss team dominated the first free practice session in Dubai where the 2023 ALMS exercise begins this weekend.

In a relatively calm session, COOL Racing placed its No. 07 Oreca 37 at the top of the timesheet thanks to Danish hopeful Malthe Jakobsen. He was in fact the fastest of the crew with a best time of 1'48"013. A mark which allowed him to relegate the No. 98 of 99 Racing, which is looking for a replacement for Felix Porteiro since his status has been revised, to 0“888. The reigning champions from Nielsen Racing (Oreca 07 No. 24) completed the podium in these EL1s, just under 9 tenths from the benchmark.

In LMP3, COOL Racing also imposed its law there. This time, the domination was less consistent since Marcos Siebert only finished 0 ahead of the No. 136 Inter Europol Competition Ligier JS P320 (Corbett-Bukhantsov-Winslow) with a lap in 73’1“54. Note that the Top 380 was held by just over 4 tenths.

In GT, four Mercedes-AMG GT3 took the first positions. It was the No. 10 from GetSpeed ​​which stood out as the fastest thanks to a man who knows the machine very well, Raffaele Marciello. The Italian, who is coming off a successful 2022 season with the title in ADAC GT Masters and GT World Challenge Europe Endurance, completed his best attempt in 1'57"277. Enough to relegate its closest pursuer, the No.3 Mercedes-AMG GT7 of Haupt Racing Team to 1 seconds. Winner at Daytona and more recently at Bathurst, Jules Gounon followed this first session from his garage. Indeed, the No. 047 Hub Auto Racing Mercedes did not take to the track this Friday.

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