Weekend preview: eight Ferraris in Dubai for the Asian Le Mans Series

After the two races contested in Malaysia in December, the Asian Le Mans Series arrives in Dubai for the second event of the 2024-2025 season with two more four-hour races scheduled. There are 29 cars entered in the GT3 class in the United Arab Emirates, including no fewer than eight from the Maranello-based manufacturer.

After the victory in the first challenge at Sepang, which coincided with the 100th win by a Ferrari 296 GT3 in its first two years of racing, Car Guy’s number 57 returns on the track, with official driver Daniel Serra returning, joined this time by Takeshi Kimura and Casper Stevenson.

Two Prancing Horse cars will be fielded by the Dragon Racing home team. In number 8 will be Todd Coleman, Lorcan Alafin and Aaron Tellitz, while in number 88 there’s an all-Italian trio with Marco Pulcini, Nicola Marinangeli and Giacomo Altoè, winner of the Ferrari Challenge Europe 2024.

There will be three Ferrari 296 GT3s driven by AF Corse. In number 28 will be the other Prancing Horse official driver Davide Rigon taking turns with Massimiliano Wiser and American Manuel Franco; in number 51 on the other hand will be Brazilian Custodio Toledo together with Monegasque Cédric Sbirrazzuoli and Riccardo Agostini, and in number 82 Charles-Henry Samani, Conrad Laursen and Nico Varrone.

In Kessel Racing’s number 74 will be Britain’s Morgan Tillbrook and Tom Ikin alongside Marvin Kirchhofer, while in the number 23 of the Hong Kong team, Absolute Racing, Carl Wattana Bennett, Gregory Bennett and Chris Van Der Drift will share the driver’s seat.

Schedule. The qualifying sessions for the two races will be contested on Saturday, 8 February at 9.40 a.m. The first of the two four-hour races will see the green light again on Saturday at 2.10 p.m., while the second 4 Hours of Dubai race will start at the same time on Sunday, 9 February. All times are local.