INTERVIEW: LACORTE'S DREAM RETURN TO LMP2

Roberto Lacorte Talks About the Perfect Start to the ALMS in Sepang

Roberto Lacorte marked his return to prototype racing with two wins in the no47 Cetilar Racing Oreca 07-Gibson alongside his teammates Antonio Fuoco and Charles Milesi in Malaysia last month.

The Italian driver has been competing in GTs since his last outing in an LMP2 at the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans. He talks about the reasons for his return to race a Le Mans Prototype and looks forward to the next two races on the Asian le Mans Series calendar in Dubai.

Q1: It’s now just over a month since you won twice in Sepang on your Asian Le Mans Series debut. How would you sum up the weekend in Sepang and what lessons are you taking forward to the next races in Dubai? Is there anything from Sepang you want to improve on?

RL: “We had a good start to the season with wins in both races of the first round for the Asian Le Mans Series. However, we must stay focused, because the level in this championship is very, very competitive. So, we must stay focused for the rest of the races, because we have to maintain the position by managing the races the best we can. We are ready to proceed in the best direction. We have great support from AF Corse and great contribution by my teammates.

“We have prepared for the next the next round in Dubai, with two days of testing on a very, very complicated track. The track surface is very tricky and there are some big differences between Sepang and Dubai.

“We have to work improving the pure performance that is useful for qualifying, but, we prefer to concentrate on the long-distance performance, because in a four-hour race, this is more important than qualifying."

KESSEL'S DENNIS MARSCHALL LOOKING FORWARD TO DUBAI CHALLENGE

The first two races of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series in Sepang saw plenty of drama and excitement in the GT class, with the no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 heading to Dubai in the championship lead thanks to a 5th place finish in Race 1 and then victory in Race 2 for Dustin Scott Blattner, Chris Lulham and Dennis Marschall.

Highly experienced GT racer Dennis Marschall is no stranger to winning on the big stage, having won the SP9 Pro class at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in 2024 and then winning the Gulf 12-Hours at Yas Marina later the same year.

The 29-year-old German driver raced for Kessel Racing in last year’s ALMS, securing two podiums and finishing 4thoverall alongside current teammate Dustin Scott Blattner and Ben Tuck.

We caught up with Dennis Marschall as he prepares for the next ALMS event, the 4 Hours of Dubai.

INFORMATION ON THE 4 HOURS OF DUBAI

The next round of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series is the 4 Hours of Dubai, with two races on the 31 January and 1 February.

2025/26 ASIAN LE MANS SERIES CALENDAR

Rd 1 / Rd 2

12-14 Dec 2025

Sepang International Circuit

Malaysia

Rd 3 / Rd 4

30 Jan-1 Feb 2026

Dubai Autodrome

UAE

Rd 5 / Rd 6

6-8 Feb 2026

Yas Marina Circuit

UAE

Information and photo source : THE ASIAN LE MANS SERIES