Asian Le Mans launches Sprint series

A new summer sprint championship has been launched as a companion to the Asian Le Mans Series by organizer the Automobile Club de l'Ouest.

The Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup, which was first mooted last October, will be open to LMP3 and carbon-chassis Group CN prototypes, as well as one-make GT cup machinery. It will be made up of three rounds – all at Sepang in Malaysia between May and September – each comprising two races of a maximum of 60 minutes' duration.

The Sprint Cup has been conceived to complement the Asian LMS, which moved to a winter schedule on the ACO's takeover of the series for this season.

"With the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup, the ACO is taking another step in its implantation on the Asian continent, as well as giving the LMP3 category a new playing field," ACO boss Pierre Fillon said.

Asian LMS boss Cyrille Taesch Wahlen explained that the new championship "was absolutely necessary for teams running LMP3s and CNs" and that it would act as a "perfect launchpad" for those aiming to move up to the higher series.

The series is aimed at amateur drivers and will be open only to those with a silver or bronze rating. Two-driver line-ups can only have one silver-ranked driver. Michelin will be the one-make tire supplier.

The 2015-'16 Asian LMS continues at the Buriram circuit in Thailand this weekend and then concludes with its fourth round at Sepang on Jan. 24.

Originally on Autosport.com