A turbulent weekend for Car Collection Motorsport at the Asian Le Mans Series in Dubai ended with a strong top 10 result. Despite major challenges due to a serious accident and other difficulties, the team showed fighting spirit and collected valuable points for the championship.
The weekend began with a setback: an accident during free practice on Thursday damaged the chassis of the number 21 Porsche 911 GT3 R beyond repair. This put an early end to the race weekend for the drivers “Hash”, Alex Fontana and Yannick Mettler, as the search for a replacement car was unsuccessful.
However, thanks to the support of Porsche Motorsport, DHL and Etihad Airways, a new chassis was flown in from Germany at short notice, which will now be set up in Abu Dhabi for the next round of the race so that the trio can compete in the ALMS finale.
Qualifying with obstacles
Qualifying for the remaining sister car with starting number 12 and drivers James Kell, Bashar Mardini and Nico Menzel did not go according to plan either. A faulty starter motor shortly before the start of the session led to delays, meaning that the team was only able to take to the track eight minutes before the end of qualifying.
After just one timed lap, the session was ended by an accident and a red flag. The grid positions for the races: P20 for race 1, P22 for the second race.
Solid battle in the first race and strong fightback in race 2
In the first four-hour race on Saturday, the team fought its way forwards continuously despite several interruptions – including a red flag, virtual safety car phases and full-course yellow periods – and finished the race in 12th place
. In the second race, the team put in a strong fightback. From 22nd on the grid, the team worked its way up to 9th place with a clever strategy, consistently fast lap times and a little bit of luck, securing valuable points in the championship.
Peter Schmidt, Team Principal: “We had a challenging weekend, but our team did an incredible job. The strategy was perfect, the pace was strong and we got the maximum out of the situation. Now we are focussing on the next round in Abu Dhabi, where we want to attack again with both cars.”
The next two races in the Asian Le Mans Series, which are also the finale of the series, will take place in Abu Dhabi on 15 and 16 February.
