AF Corse wins first Asian Le Mans Series Hypercar race at Paul Ricard

AF Corse reigned over the first Hypercar class race for the Asian Le Mans Series, in the opening four-hour race of the weekend doubleheader at the Paul Ricard Circuit in Le Castellet, France to open the 2026-27 season. The team’s Ferrari 499P led for almost the entire race, with Nicklas Nielsen crossing the line just six second ahead of Antonio Fuoco in the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 499P.

The LMP2 victory went to the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA, with newly crowned ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am champions Michael Jensen, Malthe Jakobsen and Enzo Trulli standing on the top step of the podium after Trulli had to get the car to the finish with very little fuel left in the tank. At the end of the race the top three LMP2 cars were split by just 2.2 seconds.

The GT3 victory went to the No. 62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG after Abdulla Ali Al-Khelafi had to start at the back of the grid because the car had missed qualifying following an accident in FP2. Julian Hanses and Maxime Martin brought the car home, with Mercedes-AMG taking the top four places in the GT3 standings at the end of the race.

With rain falling on the track as the 46-car field began their formation lap for the opening 4 Hours of Le Castellet, the race director called for a second formation lap in the tricky conditions, with the race beginning on the second lap. Roberto Lacorte in the No. 47 Ferrari led from pole position into Turn 1, with the No. 90 499P driven by Luis Perez Companc, challenging the Italian. Lacorte ran wide on the exit and Companc swept into the lead, followed by Giorgio Roda in the LMP2 pole-sitting No. 22 United Autosports ORECA. Lacorte used the power to get back ahead of Roda on the run down to Turn 3.

In GT3 Steve Jans in the No. 9 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG led the 28-car grid, with Charles Dawson in the No. 46 2Seas Motorsports Mercedes-AMG moving up to second from fifth on the class grid and the No. 65 Haupt Racing Team Ford of Hubert Haupt in third.

At Turn 3, chaos ensued as several cars went off track to avoid spinning cars, with the No. 21 Herberth Motorsport Porsche and No. 64 Haupt Racing Team Ford Mustang returning to the pits with damage, with the later car retiring without completing a single lap.

Roda started to pull out a gap to the chasing LMP2 field led by the No. 30 Duqueine Team ORECA of Antti Rammo and the No. 20 APR ORECA of Jens Moller. Companc was also pulling a gap to Lacorte at the head of the field as the two Hypercars separated from the LMP2-leadiUnited Autosports Oreca.

As the rain continued to fall more cars went off track, including the No. 46 Mercedes-AMG, dropping Dawson from second to 19th in class and the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition ORECA pitting for a replacement front clip after suffering bodywork damage in a collision.

The No. 33 2Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG of Darren Leung was also in the wars, suffering damage from a collision with the No. 91 Manthey Porsche at T4, with Leung forced into the pits and into the garage for repairs.

The battle for the GT3 lead was intense with Steve Jans being challenged by Stephane Tribaudini in the No. 7 Petrolife Racing Team Mercedes-AMG. Tribaudini eventually got ahead of Jans after the pair swapped positions several times. The No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari then also joined in, with Rafa Duran getting past Jans on the next lap.

The No. 70 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage driven by Giacomo Petrobelli also showed strongly before starting to lose grip from his Michelin wet tires. On the exit of Turn 7, the rear of the Aston came around and the car hit the tire wall backwards, coming to a halt with heavy damage and debris spread across the runoff area. Petrobelli emerged from the car unharmed, but the virtual safety car was deployed to allow the car and debris to be cleared up safely.

At the restart the LMP2 lead was held by the No. 37 CLX Motorsport Oreca of Adrien Closmenil, with Sting Ray Robb in the No. 22 United Autosports entry, Jakobsen in the No. 25 APR and Laurin Heinrich in the No. 4 Crowdstrike by APR all closing up to the leader. Jakobsen closed in on Robb, passing the American and then catching and passing Closmenil for the lead. Victor Martins in the No. 11 Proton Competition was also rapidly moving up the field, the Frenchman passing Heinrich and then Jakobsen for the lead.

With heavy rain now falling and the spray causing visibility to drop to a dangerous level, a safety car was dispatched, which lasted until 15 minutes before the end of the race as the conditions improved enough for racing to restart.

When the race went green for the final run to the flag, the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Zac Robichon led the GT3 field but was caught and passed by the No. 7 Petrolife Mercedes-AMG of Frederik Schandorff. However, Maxime Martin at the wheel of the No. 62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG was catching them both and was soon leading the class, with the Belgian taking the checkered flag 1.9s ahead of the No. 9 Getspeed Mercedes-AMG of Fabian Schiller, with the No. 88 Craft-Bamboo Iron Lynx making it a Mercedes-AMG 1-2-3 on the GT3 podium.

Trulli in the No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA was 7.8 seconds ahead of Louis Deletraz in the No. 4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR but the reigning ALMS LMP2 champion had to pit for a splash of fuel, which allowed Matthieu Vaxiviere in the No. 37 CLX Motorsport to move up to second place. The French driver set off after Trulli, who was desperately trying to save fuel while keeping ahead of the chasing Vaxiviere. Trulli made it to the flag just 0.6s ahead, with Nick Yelloly bringing the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca home a further 1.5 seconds back to claim the final podium position.

At the head of the field the No. 90 AF Corse of Nielsen crossed the line just 6.3s ahead of Fuoco's sister Ferrari at the end of the four-hour race.

The second 4 Hours of Le Castellet is set for Sunday starting at 7:15am ET. Watch live on RACER Network and RACER+.