With the sun shining and the thermometer hitting 33 degrees Celsius, the first Free Practice session of the 2024/25 Asian Le Mans Series got underway at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. The 90-minute session saw several Full Course Yellow periods and a red flag to recover stranded cars but at the chequered flag it was the no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca-Gibson heading the time sheets.
Olli Caldwell posted the fastest lap in the lead car, the British driver setting a 1m52.119 lap, 1.314 seconds ahead of the rest of the 42-car field. The no11 Proton Competition Oreca was second fastest at the end of the session, with Mathias Beche setting a 1m53.433 on the 5.543km circuit, with the no25 APR Oreca of Valerio Rinicella in third spot, 0.092s behind the Proton Competition entry and 0.023s ahead of the no91 Pure Rxcing Oreca of Harry King.
The LMP3 field was headed by the no35 Ultimate Ligier, with Matteo Quintarelli setting a session best time of 2m00.663, 1.469s ahead of the no7 Graff Racing Ligier of James Winslow in second spot and a further 0.04s ahead of the third placed no49 High Class Racing Ligier-Nissan of Anders Fjordbach, who set a 2m02.172.
The 25 car GT field saw Ferrari take a 1-2-3 at the end of the 90-minute session, with the no23 Absolute Racing 296 GT3 of Chris Van Der Drift leading the way with a 2m04.672, 0.471s ahead of the no51 AF Corse of Riccardo Agostini and 0.495s ahead of the third placed no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296, with Dustin Blattner posting a 2m05.167 lap time.
Car Collection posted the 4th and 5th best times, with the no12 Porsche 911 of Nico Menzel lapping in 2m05.557, 0.128s ahead of the sister car, the no21 Porsche of Alex Fontana.
The second Free Practice session is due to get underway at 16h00 (local).
CLICK HERE for the result from FP1 for the 4 Hours of Sepang.
