Car Collection Motorsport experienced an intense and teaching debut weekend in the Asian Le Mans Series at the former Formula 1 circuit in Sepang, Malaysia. Although the special conditions in Asia and the new racing series format presented the team with major challenges, Car Collection scored its first points in this high-class ACO championship.
The German squad traveled with two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs to Sepang, where the first two rounds of the Asian Le Mans Series took place. Car Collection made several debuts on the international motorsport stage there, as not only was the track in Malaysia completely new to the team, but it was also their first ever start in the ALMS and in an ACO racing series. The learning curve for the German team was correspondingly steep, as this racing series differs significantly from the usual championships in Europe in terms of organization and the weather and track conditions in Malaysia are also very special.
However, Car Collection quickly managed to adapt to these new conditions. The two driver crews already showed strong results in the free practice sessions. In qualifying, the trio of James Kell, Bashar Mardini and Nico Menzel in the #12 car finished 12th, while “Hash”, Alex Fontana and Yannick Mettler in the sister car with the #21 finished 22nd.
A perfect strategy had to be found in the four-hour Saturday race. The #12 Porsche continuously worked its way forward with strong, faultless performances from all drivers and was able to advance to ninth place by the chequered flag. The driver crew Kell/Mardini/Menzel thus scored Car Collection’s first ever championship points in the ALMS.
The number 21 car was also able to steadily fight its way forward from 22nd on the grid. Towards the middle of the race, however, driver “Hash” was spun around by a competitor and lost a few places again. As a result, all three drivers tried to make up the lost ground and crossed the finish line in 21st place.
The race Sunday was characterized by changeable weather. The right strategy was to play an even greater role here. While the start took place in dry conditions, heavy rain announced itself later on. At the first drops, Car Collection acted immediately and put rain tires on both cars. Unfortunately, the weather did not develop as expected, as the rain subsided again, forcing the team to switch back to slick tires with no profile.
But the strategy roulette was not over yet, because shortly afterwards the heavens finally opened their floodgates. The rain became so heavy that the race had to be stopped prematurely with the red flag. At this point, the two Car Collection Porsches were in 13th (#12) and 21st (#21) place.
Peter Schmidt, Team Principal: “Basically, we are quite satisfied with our debut in the ALMS. Due to the new track and the new racing series, there was obviously a lot for us to learn. The conditions here in Malaysia and the race format are quite different from what we are used to and this experience will help us a lot in the coming races. I’m very proud of our first points in an ACO racing series and I’m looking forward to the next races.”
