Weekend Motorsports Preview: Great Endurance Racing and F1 at Night

If endurance racing is what you like, then this might be the best weekend since the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The ALMS and WEC share the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas, and the Asian Le Mans Series is at Fuji. If endurance racing is not your thing, then there is still a Formula 1 race at night on the streets of Singapore to enjoy. There is also a NASCAR race and a WTCC race from Suzuka.

American Le Mans Series

The ALMS and WEC head to the Circuit of the Americas outside of Austin, Texas, this weekend.

The Circuit of the Americas is a 3.427-mile (5.513 km), 20-corner track with significant elevation changes. The track opened in 2012, and this will be the first time that either series races there.

The American Le Mans Series holds its race on Saturday, September 21, from for two hours and 45 minutes starting at 3:45pm local time. Qualifying will be from 1:50pm to 3:10pm on Friday.

There are 34 cars entered in the race – three in the LMP1 class, four in LMP2, eight in the LMP Challenge class, 11 in GT and eight in the GT Challenge class.

World Endurance Championship

The WEC will hold its six-hour race on Sunday, September 22, at 11:00am local time. Qualifying will be on Saturday, September 21, at 1:00pm to 2:00pm local time.

There are 28 cars entered – four in the LMP1 class, nine in LMP2, seven in GTE Pro and eight in GTE Am.

Asian Le Mans Series

ALMS and the WEC are not the only major sports car races in the world this weekend. The Asia Le Mans Series will hold a three-hour endurance race at the 2.84-mile (4.563km), 16-corner Fuji International Speedway. What makes the race so special is that to increase the cars participating, the series invited GT300 cars from the Super GT series. The Super GT cars will earn points in the race for their own series championship.

The race will begin at 2:00pm local time on Sunday, and qualifying will be from 1:55pm to 2:25pm on Saturday.

There are nine cars entered from the Asian Le Mans Series – two in LMP2, one in GTE and six in GTC, which is for GT3-class cars in the series. There are a further 11 Super GT GT300 cars in the race. Eight of them are GT3 cars and the three others are Honda CR-ZsHonda CR-ZJapan, 2010 > present21 versions
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and a Subaru BRZSubaru BRZJapan, 2011 > present7 photos
, which only race in the Super GT series.

Formula 1

Formula 1 is also in Asia this weekend at the 3.15-mile (5.065km), 23-corner Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore.

The race will be at 8:00pm local time on Sunday, September 22, and qualifying will be at 9:00pm local time on Saturday, September 21.

Sebastian Vettel leads the drivers’ standings with a 53-point lead over Fernando Alonso with seven races left in the season. Vettel has also won the last two races back-to-back. Alonso’s second place in the standings is also assured with a 28-point lead over Lewis Hamilton in third.

In the teams’ standings, Red BullRed BullAustria, 2004 > present12 models
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3 videos
has an unassailable lead of 104 points over FerrariFerrariItaly, 1947 > present233 models
5131 photos
37 videos
. However, just three points in the championship separate Ferrari and MercedesMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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.

Singapore is an interesting race simply by being at night, and the lack of runoff room on the city streets leave little room for error. Vettel won last year, and another win would only extend his lead further. 

NASCAR

NASCAR heads to a 300-lap, 317.4-mile race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday, September 22, at 2:00pm local time.

In the second race for the Race for the Sprint Cup championship Matt Kenseth leads by eight points over Kyle Busch, and Jimmie Johnson is in third, 11 points back from Kenseth.

World Touring Car Championship

The WTCC is also in Japan with two, 26-lap races scheduled around the 1.39-mile (2.243km) layout of Suzuka International Speedway.

The first race will begin at 2:35pm local time on Sunday, September 22, and the second race is scheduled for 3:35pm that day. Qualifying will be held from 3:30pm to 4:05pm on Saturday.

Yvan Muller has 343 in the series’ drivers’ championship, which is a 144-point lead over Gabriele Tarquini in second place.