Ahead of the ACO’s premier event, the 24 Hours of Le Mans later this week, the Asian Le Mans Series Managing Director, Cyrille Taesch Wahlen today announced exciting changes to the 2017/18 Season.
After extensive discussion with the major players of the Asian Motorsport industry and with the full support of the teams, the Series will remain a four round Championship, with one race being extended to 6 Hours.
The Series will also introduce a new, all bronze driver LMP2 gentleman class.
Motorsport in Asia is booming, and it is the ACO’s intention to do whatever they can to help drive this growth even further.
The Asian Le Mans Series team speak regularly to the main players in the Asian market and they have made it very clear that they see the Asian Le Mans Series having huge potential for growth. They do also request the Series assistance in avoiding date clashes wherever possible.
The ACO announced earlier this year that the Asian Le Mans Series would expand the calendar from 4 to 5 races for the coming 2017/18 season. They have have decided now, in agreement with the teams, to defer this increase for a year.
The Series will now feature four rounds and this unfortunately means the Series will no longer be going to Zhejiang.
The full details of the 2017/18 season, including the location of the 6 Hour race and further details of the new LMP2 gentleman trophy, will be announced in the coming weeks following the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The ACO will also call for a meeting with the other major series’ in Asia so that together they can reach an agreement to avoid date clashes in the future. They do this in the interests of the whole Asian motorsport industry.
For the ACO, motorsport is their passion, it is their sport. It is of course a business, but for them, the growth of this Series and the growth of motorsport in Asia is more than a financial transaction. The team at the Asian Le Mans Series is working towards sustainable ‘Endurance Racing for Asia’, within the professional ACO racing environment.
