Japanese Super GT Cars Cleared for Asian Le Mans Racing

The Asian Le Mans Series has had some teething problems, but it appears that the 2013 season will be the series' real beginning. The ACO has just announced that cars competing in the Super GT GT300 class will be qualified to race in the GTC class in the Asian Le Mans Series. Participating teams will still be able to race in Super GT, and the two series are coordinating on their calendars to make sure that is possible. 

“The ACO, organizer of the legendary Le Mans 24-Hours race, will launch the Asian Le Mans Series in 2013. I’m particularly grateful to Messrs Pierre Fillon, the ACO President, and Rémy Brouard, the ACO Director of International Development, to have accepted our request, namely: to allow the GT 300 cars to take part in the Asian LMS. Through this collaboration, I feel sure that our Asian strategy, the organization of GT 300 races in Asia and the training of local teams and drivers will be a strong factor in the development of the motor racing industry in these countries," said Super GT promoter Masaaki Bandoh.

The GT300 class accepts a combination of homologated GT3 cars and custom racecars. Its grid is made up of the BMW Z4 GT3BMW Z4 GT3Germany, 2010 > present7 photos
, Nissan GTR GT3Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3Japan, 2012 > present1 photo
, Honda CRZHonda CR-ZJapan, 2010 > present21 versions
57 photos
, Toyota PriusToyota Prius Gen.3Japan, 2010 > present52 versions
118 photos
2 videos
, Subaru BRZSubaru BRZJapan, 2011 > present7 photos
and more. The ACO said that there would be technical balances for the cars when racing in the GTC class. To allow cars to compete in both series these modifications will likely be minor and limited to air restrictor changes.

The Asian Le Mans Series was inaugurated in 2009 with two races in Shanghai and two more at the Okayama Circuit in Japan. There was another single race in 2010 at the Zhuhai Circuit in China. The ACO announced during Le Mans in 2012 that it would give the series a second chance in 2013 with four races in China, one in Japan and one in Indonesia. The series is meant to put a new regional emphasis on prototype and sports car racing with the regions being the American Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. The winning cars in each class in each of the series would get an automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, the ELMS has just been canceled for the rest of the season due to lack of participation, and its final race will be Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta racing with the ALMS.

The ACO's announcement was released on August 19, and so far no GT300 teams have officially signed up to race in the Asian Le Mans Series, but it appears that this is a good way to create larger fields and give teams more opportunities to race. It might be the best of both worlds. In theory this means a Prius or CRZ could race at Le Mans. 

Source: Le Mans.org