Le Mans Series coming to Asia

“24 Heures Du Mans” is one of the most watched sporting events in the world. The race is a test of endurance of man and machine. This is high speed wheel to wheel racing at its best.

The Automobile Club de l’Quest (ACO), founded in 1906, is one of the oldest car clubs in the world, The ACO are the created and organizes the “24 Heures Du Mans”, held annually since 1923 in Le Mans, France.

Asian brands have always had a presence in the Le Mans series, highlighted by Mazda winning back in 1999 (Mazda 787B). It is still the only Japanese car brand to win the prestigious event.

The ACO gave the license to the S2M group, to hold the Asian Le Mans series. S2M is a China based company focusing on sports and lifestyle marketing, and TS Motorsport will handle logistics and race operations. For 2013 they will be holding a series of races starting on August 4 at the Inje Speedium, South Korea, moving to the famed Fuji Speedway in Japan on September 22, at the Zhuhai International Circuit – China, on October 13 and finally on December 8 at the Sentul International Circuit in Indonesia. The organizers’ vision is to create and sustain Asia’s premier endurance and motorsports event, while embodying the spirit and passion of Le Mans.

The Asian Le Mans Series will be open to the following categories; LMP2 class is for private teams and is the final step before the LMP1 or the top prototype category. LMP2 cars can either have a normally aspirated 8 cylinder engine or a 6 cylinder turbo. The LMPC was created to allow up and coming drivers to get a feel for driving prototypes. The GTC is the starting platform for teams going into GT racing, while the GTCAM is for gentlemen drivers wanting to try out endurance racing. The Asian Le mans series will only run for 3 hours, and each team is mandated to have one Asian driver per crew of two or three. This will definitely help in the development of Asian drivers giving them much needed exposure to international racing.