Inter Europol Competition in pole position at the Dubai 4H

After two Free Practice sessions dominated by COOL Racing this Friday, the first qualifying rounds for the 2023 Asian La Mans Series took place this Saturday morning. The format used this year was particular since the same session determined the grid for the two races of the weekend according to the following rule: the fastest times decided the starting order of race 1 and the second fastest times that. of race 2.

After a long interruption under the rougem flag, it was Inter Europol Competition which took pole position through Charles Crews.

Fastest Crews in prototype

The Bronze category drivers were in action for these qualifications. Charles Crews was the best of them, putting the No. 07 Inter Europol Competition Oreca 43 in pole position with a lap of 1:48.580. The American got the better of Salih Yoluc (Oreca 07 nº3 from DKR Engineering) by 0.644 seconds and over Rodrigo Sales (Oreca 07 nº24 from Nielsen Racing) by more than a second.

Charles Crews also took pole position for race 2, held this Sunday.

Find the ranking of the best second rounds HERE

The session was more complicated for the 99 Racing team from Nikita mazepin, since newcomer Goncalo Gomes finished in last position in his category, almost four seconds behind the best time.

In LM P3, it was Torsten Kratz who was the fastest in the No. 30 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine M08 – D11. He got the better of the first Ligier, the n°1 of CD Sport driven by Nick Adcock. Kratz also set the second fastest time, synonymous with pole position for race 2.

Double blow for Merrill in GT

The GT session was interrupted for more than two hours following Philipp Sager's exit from the track at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R nº54 from Dinamic GT. The red flag was out to allow the replacement of the safety barrier hit by the Austrian. At that moment, it was Alexander West who was at the top of the timesheet in 2:07.012 on the McLaren 720S GT3 from Garage 59. It was after lengthy repairs that the session was restarted.

The Swede's mark was quickly beaten by several drivers who logically lowered the bar below two minutes. At the end of the clock, it was Thomas Merrill (Walkenhorst Motorsport) who had the last word. The American driver set the best time in his category in 1:57.701 in the #4 BMW M3 GT34. He beat Martin Konrad (Mercedes-AMG GT3 nº7 of Haupt Racing Team) by 0.315 seconds and Stefano Constantini (Ferrari 488 GT3 nº21 from AF Corse) by 0.827 seconds.

Thomas Merrill even achieved a double as he also took pole position in race 2 in 1:58.107.

Meet at 13:45 p.m. (French time) for the start of the first race of the weekend in Dubai. The 4H Dubai will be followed live video on AUTOhebdo via the official YouTube channel of the Asian Le Mans Series. 

ALSO READ > Dubai – EL2: Perfect day for COOL Racing which doubles the stakes