Massive 48 Car Grid for Season Opener in Malaysia

Sepang (12-14 December), will feature a huge entry of 48 cars - 16 LMP2, 10 LMP3 and 28 LMGT3s – an increase of nearly 15% on last year’s event at the Sepang International Circuit.

The grid for the 4 Hours of Sepang is truly international, with 142 drivers and 35 teams representing 35 different nations from all corners of the world.

LMP2: Largest Ever LMP2 Entry in ALMS History

Sixteen cars will compete for the overall honours this season, the largest gathering of LMP2 cars in the history of the Asian Le Mans Series. As well as challenging to become the 2025/26 ALMS LMP2 Champions, the teams will also be chasing the coveted automatic invitation to the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans next June.

Reigning LMP2 Champions Algarve Pro Racing will be entering two Oreca 07-Gibsons, and running a further car for 2023/24 LMP2 Champions Crowdstrike Racing by APR. 2025 LMP2 Drivers Champion Michael Jensen will be joined in the no25 Oreca by 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 winner Tom Dillmann and LMP2 rookies Enzo Trulli, the son of former F1 winner Jarno Trulli.

2023/24 Driver’s Champion George Kurtz rejoins the ALMS grid this year and will be partnered by double ALMS champion Malthe Jakobsen and four time European Le Mans Series champion Louis Deletraz.

United Autosports return to the ALMS, the Anglo America team running two cars. Qualifying ace Giorgio Roda will be joined by Gregoire Saucy and Peugeot factory driver Mikkel Jensen in the no5 Oreca, while Phil Fayer, Ben Hanley and Paul Di Resta will race the no6 car.

2023 LMP2 Champions DKR Engineering is entering a single car with Australian Griffin Peebles moving up to LMP2 alongside Alexander Mattschull and the highly experienced Mathias Beche.

2022 ALMS LMP2 Champions Nielsen Racing will also run a single Oreca-Gibson, with Turkish driver Cem Bolukbasi returning to the ALMS alongside Kriton Lentoudis and Alex Quinn.

Proton Competition will run a pair of Oreca 07s, with Jonas Ried sharing the driving of the no22 car with fellow German Felipe Laser, while the no88 car will be driven by father and son duo Horst Felbermayr Jr and Horst Felix Felbermayr, with Spanish driver Lorenzo Fluxa joining the Austrians.

Reigning LMP3 Champions Jens Reno Moller and Theo Jensen move up to LMP2 with High Class Racing, with American Gustavo Menezes filling the third spot in the no49 Oreca.

Cetilar Racing will enter a single car with Roberto Lacorte racing alongside 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and Ferrari factory driver Antonio Fuoco and reigning ELMS LMP2 Champion Charles Milesi.

Ponos Racing joins the ALMS grid and becomes the first all Japanese LMP2 entry with Yorikatsu Tsujiko, Kei Cozzolino and Marino Sato.

ALMS race winners RD Limited return for another season running the no30 Oreca-Gibson for the same trio of drivers who won in Sepang 12 months ago – Fred Poordad, James Allen and Tristan Vautier.

Inter Europol Competition, ARC Bratislava and Vector Sport RLR compete the impression line up of 16 cars on the 2025/26 LMP2 grid.

LMP3: Ten Cars for Sepang

The LMP3 field reaches double figures with ten cars forming the entry. It is also the first time the new third generation of Toyota powered cars will be seen in Asia, with nine Ligier JS P325s and one Duqueine D09.

Reigning champions Bretton Racing are back to defend the title they won in Abu Dhabi last February, the Czech team running a Ligier for Poland’s Jacek Zielonka, Germany’s Lenny Ried and Spain’s Lucas Fluxa.

2023/24 LMP3 champions COOL Racing have changed to CLX Motorsport this year but they arrive in Sepang on the back of an impressive season in the ELMS, finishing as runaway champions, and with a win at Le Mans in the Road To Le Mans in June. The Swiss team are running a single car for Alexander Jacoby, Kevin Rabin and reigning ELMS LMP3 Driver’s Champion Paul Lanchere.

Team Virage is running a pair of Ligier-Toyotas with the no1 car sure to attract a lot of attention. Tamil Cinema superstar Ajith Kumar is racing a Le Mans Prototype for the first time and he will be joined by fellow Indian, and former F1 driver, Narain Karthikeyan.

Inter Europol Competition is running an LMP3 car alongside their LMP2 entry, with 2023/24 LMP3 Champion Alex Bukhantsov being joined by Jimmy Chou from Taiwan and Colombian Henry Olarte.

Reigning Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 Champions R-ace GP will enter the ALMS with a single Duqueine D09-Toyota, with MLMC Driver’s Champion Hugo Schwarze racing alongside race winners Fabien Michal and Pierre-Alexandre Provost.

French team 23Events Racing are entering a pair of Ligier JS P325s with MLMC race winner Terrence Woodward, Matus Ryba and Ibrahim Badawy in the no71 entry and Louis Stern, Isaac Barashi and Road To Le Mans winner Matteo Quintarelli in the no23 car.

Forestier Racing by VPS and High Class Racing complete the ten strong grid with a single Ligier-Toyota for each team.

GT: Seven Manufacturers Go Head-To-Head for GT Honours

The 22 strong GT grid features seven different manufacturers with Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche all represented this season.

Reigning champions Manthey return to defend their title, with reigning driver champions Antares Au and Klaus Bachler being joined by Dutch driver Loek Hartog in the no10 Porsche 911 GT3 R. The no92 Manthey Porsche will be driven by the highly experienced Richard Lietz, with 2023 LMP3 Champion François Hériau and Italian Riccardo Pera joining the Austrian.

Local interest in Sepang will be focused on the two JMR Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs with their Royal Highnesses Prince Jefri Ibrahim and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim returning to the ALMS grid in the no99 and no66 Corvettes respectively.

Newly crowned ELMS LMGT3 Champions TF Sport will also run a pair of Corvettes. The no11 car will run under TF Sport colours, while the no34 car will race under the Racing Team Turkey banner, with 2023 LMP2 champions Salih Yoluc and Charlie Eastwood, who is also the reigning ELMS LMGT3 Champion. They will be joined by Belgium’s Tom Van Rompuy.

Thailand is also represented on the grid with the Amerasian Fragrance by AF Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 entered for Carl Wattana Bennett, Gregory Slatin Bennett and Tommaso Mosca.

China will have two teams on the GT grid in Sepang, with the no41 Phantom Global Racing Porsche 911 and the no87 Origine Motorsport Porsche, with Bo Yuan, Hongli Ye being joined by Germany’s Laurin Heinrich.

German team Getspeed will run a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVOs. The no9 entry will be under Getspeed colours, while the no37 car will be under the QMMF by Getspeed banner, with Qatari drivers Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi and Ghanim Salah Al-Maadheed being joined by Austrian Lucas Auer.

Team WRT will enter a pair of BMW M4 GT3 in this year’s Asian Le Mans Series, with the Belgian team fielding the no69 BMW under the Team WRT colours with American Anthony Mcintosh, Canadian Parker Thompson and British driver Daniel Harper. The second M4 is entered under the UNX Racing by Team WRT banner, with Belgian duo Fabian Deffieux and Mathieu Detry being joined by BMW Motorsport factory driver Augusto Farfus.

United Autosports will enter the only McLaren 720S GT3 on the grid in Sepang, with former ELMS LMP3 champion Wayne Boyd at the wheel.

Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn and EBM will each run a single Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3, with the British team running the car for Jonny Adam, Kobe Pauwels and Giacomo Petrobelli while the drivers for the New Zealand team are former FIA WEC Champion Marco Sorensen and Jamie Day.

Proton Competition will run a Porsche 911 GT3 R for Japanese duo Bankcy and Kiyoto Fujinami, who will race with British driver Harry King.

Kessel Racing will run a pair of Ferrari 296 GT3s with the no15 entry for Memo Gidley, Alessandro Balzan and Dylan Medler, while the no74 296 will be driven by Dustin Scott Blattner, Chris Lulham and Dennis Marschall.

AF Corse completes the grid with the no21 Ferrari 296 GT3 for Simon Mann, Darren Leung and Alessio Rovera, the no51 Ferrari for Sean Galael, Charly Samani and Davide Rigon and the no54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari for Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci and newly crowned FIA World Endurance Champion Alessandro Pier Guidi.

The 4 Hours of Sepang is Round 1 of the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series and will feature two 4-hour races, the first on Saturday 13 December at 13h00 (local) and the second on Sunday 14 December, also starting at 13h00.

Asian Le Mans Series

The 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series calendar will consist of six races, with double headers at Sepang International Circuit (12-14 December), Dubai Autodrome (30 January-1 February) and Yas Marina Circuit (6-8 February).

2025/2026 is the third season for the Asian Le Mans Series as a joint venture between the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO), Asian Le Mans Endurance Management (ALMEM) and SRO Motorsports Group. This agreement sees all parties collaborating closely together to ensure the Series continues to grow and deliver exceptional results.

2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series Provisional 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