Cetilar Racing had a perfect weekend in the opening round of the 2025-26 Asian Le Mans Series at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. After taking victory in the first race on Saturday, Roberto Lacorte, Charles Milesi and Antonio Fuoco stood on the top step of the Sepang podium for a second time after a strong performance in Sunday’s race.
The Malaysian weather played a critical role in the outcome of the race with rainstorms hitting the Sepang area several times, forcing the teams to change strategies on more than one occasion. There were three virtual safety car and full safety car periods along with two full course yellows during the course of the race, which was shortened by 20 minutes from the scheduled four hours when the heaviest rain of the day flooded the track while the competitors were behind the safety car for an earlier incident and were all on slick tires.
Watch race highlights below:
At the red flag, the No. 47 Cetilar Racing ORECA LMP2 entry finished ahead of the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing entry, with the No. 4 Crowdstrike by APR car finishing third in a carbon copy of the podium in Race 1.
Victory in LMP3 went to the No. 17 CLX Motorsport Ligier, with Paul Lanchere burning the two mandatory 100-second pit stops during the first VSC period, a gamble that paid off later in the race and allowed the Swiss team to take the win. ELMS champion Lanchere stood on the top step of the podium alongside Kevin Rabin and Alexander Jacoby, with the No. 71 23Events Racing and the No. 29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligiers finishing second and third respectively.
In the GT class, Kessel Racing scored the maximum 25 points with its Ferrari 296 GT3. Dustin Scott Blattner rapidly moved up through the field in the opening laps to hold third after starting from a lowly 15th place on the grid. The Swiss team made the right decisions regarding tires at the right time and the strategy paid off as teammates Chris Lulham and Dennis Marschall were able to hold the class lead and finish at the head of the 22-car GT field.
The No. 69 Team WRT BMW M4 had had an engine change overnight to cure a power issue that plagued the car’s performance in Race 1. It led to a strong performance by the Belgian team as Tony McIntosh, Parker Thompson and Dan Harper finished second ahead of the No. 87 Origine Motorsport Porsche, the Chinese team also showing a lot of potential with Bo Yuan impressing everyone with his speed from 14th on the grid to be challenging for the lead during his long stint.
