4 Hours of Sepang Race 1: Cetilar Racing wins amidst confusion over the winning cars
- Ghazlan Atqiya Firmansyah
- 6 minutes ago
- 7 min read
The 2025–26 Asian Le Mans Series officially kicked off with the completion of the first round, the 4 Hours of Sepang on Saturday. The No.47 Cetilar Racing took the victory in LMP2, the No.13 Inter Europol Competition car in LMP3, and the No.10 Manthey Racing car in GT.
First hour
The race began at 13:00 local time. The No.5 United Autosports led the grid of the 4 Hours of Sepang, but drama ensued immediately. A yellow flag was waved right at the first turn after an incident involving the No.1 Team Virage and the No.71 23Events Racing.
As the cars passed through the incident, the safety car was deployed not long after when the No.22 Proton car was spotted facing the wrong way in the middle of the track. The race finally resumed at 13:12 local time.
The No.43 Inter Europol Competition car snatched the overall lead away from the No.5. Meanwhile, the action was intense in the GT class: the No.87 Origine Motorsport car mounted a challenge against the No.37 QMMF by GetSpeed, but the latter nicely fended off the attack to retain its position.
The middle of the LMP2 and GT packs was full of action, with cars intensely battling for position, all eager to gain crucial early momentum in the four-hour race. In stark contrast, the No.17 CLX Motorsport wasted no time, immediately establishing dominant control to hold the lead of the LMP3 class.
Yuan Bo in the No.87 car finally pulled off the move for the GT class lead, executing a risky lunge on the No.37 Mercedes. Meanwhile, race control confirmed that no further investigation was necessary for the starting procedure, but an investigation into several incidents continued.
Full-course Yellow was deployed at 13:48, neutralising the field to allow the marshals at Turn 2 to clear the debris. A minute later, race control declared the track "wet," and rain light was activated in low mode, and the race was resumed at 13:50.
The No.99 JMR faced the wrong way at Turn 1; other incidents followed afterwards, with the No.85 R-ace GP going to the gravel. As the conditions began to worsen, the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed at 13:55.
Under caution, many cars pitted to switch to wet tyres. However, several brave GT teams gambled, tackling the rainy track on slicks. They hoped to save time, betting the rain would not last long enough to justify the stop.
Second hour
As the race entered the second hour, the No.20 Algarve Pro Racing (APR) moved to the lead of the LMP2 class, followed by the No.13 Inter Europol Competition and the No.87 car in LMP3 and GT, respectively.
No.74's Dustin Blattner received a warning flag for abusing track limits. The physical safety car was deployed to the track for the second time in this race. The condition was tricky with the pit lane straight dry and other parts of the track very wet.
At 14:15, the safety car returned to the pits, and the No.3 DKR Engineering, the car that led the restart, was under investigation for FCY procedure. The No.44 made contact with the No.5 car, and the former went off track.
Cem Bölükbaşı in the No.64 Nielsen Racing car tried to pass a Ferrari GT car, but went off track and subsequently dropped to last place in LMP2. The No.66 JMR car received a warning flag for abusing track limits.
The No.22 Proton Competition car overtook the No.3 car to take third place in LMP2. The race control deemed the No.20 APR car at fault for causing a collision, with 10 seconds added to its next pit stop.
The No.50 AF Racing collided with the No.26 Bretton Racing LMP3 car. But the replay showed the No.26 made contact with the No.59 United Autosports McLaren first before the Ferrari hit its rear. Nonetheless, all cars were able to continue.
As the second hour progressed, more drivers were penalised for various infringements. The No.66 and No.77 cars were both penalised with a drive-through penalty.
At 14:49, the No.26 car went off track after it was tagged by a Ferrari car. The yellow flag was momentarily waved, but it was removed not long after the No.26 car rejoined the track.
As the second hour came to an end, our leaders were the No.6 United Autosports (LMP2), No.8 Team Virage (LMP3) and No.37 QMMF by GetSpeed (GT).
Manthey Racing's No.10 car pitted, but the pit crew made a mistake of lowering the car too early before the front right tyre was fitted properly, costing the reigning GT champions valuable time.
Third hour
As the race entered the second half, the leaders were the No.6 United Autosports (LMP2), No.8 Team Virage (LMP3) and No.37 QMMF by GetSpeed (GT).
At 14:09, the No.87 car driven by Laurin Heinrich once again passed the No.37 car for the GT class lead. Penalties were then dished out: the No.5 and No.37 cars received a 5-second time penalty added for their next pit stop. Whereas the No.30 received a harsher penalty with a 10-second penalty for FCY infringement.
Nolan Siegel made an error while trying to pass his rival. The American driver spun and dropped to the back of the field. Some drivers reported heavy drizzle approaching 2.5 hours of racing.
The race directors had many incidents requiring investigation, ranging from collisions to forcing a car off track. The No.99 JMR and the No.28 cars received a drive-through penalty for causing a collision.
Benjamin Hanley was the overall race leader ahead of the No.5 sister car by 22 seconds. The sister car, however, was pressured by the No.4 CrowdStrike Racing car that was lurking less than 1.5 seconds behind.
On Lap 62, Louis Delétraz in the No.4 car overtook compatriot Grégoire Saucy for second place in LMP2. Not long after, Enzo Trulli in the No.25 APR car eyed third place, waiting for the right moment to snatch the podium place from the Swiss driver.
Delétraz inherited the LMP2 lead from Hanley after the Briton pitted. Phil Fayer took over the No.6 car from Hanley. The No.4 car pitted, allowing the No.25 car to lead the race from the No.5 car.
At around 15:46, the VSC was deployed after the No.23 car was stranded in the gravel after losing control of the car. Cars pitted under caution to reduce lost time. The safety car was sent out at 15:55.
A slow pit stop for the No.17 car meant the team lost their LMP3 lead to the No.13 car. The CLX Motorsport car seemed to have an issue with its left rear tyre, which contributed to its slow stop.
Final hour: The winners of the first 4 Hours of Sepang race were crowned
Entering the final hour of racing in Sepang, our class leaders were the No.47 Cetilar Racing (LMP2), No.13 Inter Europol Competition (LMP3) and No.9 GetSpeed (GT).
Charles Milesi said the conditions were tricky and humid. The Frenchman said the air conditioner in his No.47 car was not working properly, which adds to the challenge.
The safety car returned to the pits at 16:08, but a big problem straight away just as the No.47 car led the restart with the No.21 AF Corse crashing into the barriers, prompting another safety car deployment.
The action resumed at 16:17, setting the stage for a thrilling climax to the 4 Hours of Sepang. Plenty of actions for positions in all classes.
Such instances were the battle for second in GT, the No.87 car defending its position from the attacks of the No.89 Earl Bamber Motorsport (EBM) and the No.99 JMR cars. The No.17 car also defended second place from the No.94 High Class Racing car.
With 15 minutes left in the race, cars No.37 and No.8 received a 3-minute stop-and-go penalty for safety car infringement. The No.4 car was running in second place before it stopped for fuel with eight minutes remaining.
Plenty of cars pitted for a quick fuel stop with only five minutes left on the clock. The No.47 car dashed to the pits on Lap 100, followed by the No.25 car behind. A quick FCY with two minutes left before the green flag once more.
In the final lap, the No.9 GetSpeed defended its lead from the No.10 Manthey, the Porsche attacking the Mercedes. The Porsche made contact with the Mercedes at the very last corner.
There was confusion over who was declared the winner of the LMP2 and GT classes since there was uncertainty whether the No.47 car had properly served its penalty and whether the No.10's move on the No.9 car was legal.
Nonetheless, the No.10 car, the No.13 car and the No.25 cars rolled into the victory lane. But eventually, the No.47 was credited as the LMP2 and overall race winner of the first 4 Hours of Sepang race.
The second 4 Hours of Sepang race will take place tomorrow at 13:00 local time.
LMP2 - Top 5
1st No.47 Cetilar Racing - Fuoco, Milesi, Lacorte
2nd No.25 APR - Jensen, Trulli, Dillmann
3rd No.4 Crowdstrike Racing by APR - Kurtz, Jakobsen, Delétraz
4th No.64 Nielsen Racing - Bölükbaşı, Lendoudis, Quinn
5th No.5 United Autosports - Saucy, Roda, Jensen
LMP3 - Top 5
1st No.13 Inter Europol Competition - Cubides Olarte, Bukhantsov, Chou
2nd No.94 High Class Racing - Timothy, Lindberg, Voisin
3rd No.17 CLX Motorsport - Jacoby, Rabin, Lanchère
4th No.23 23Events Racing - Stern, Quintarelli, Barashi
5th No.29 Forestier Racing by VPS - Adcock, Ferury, Morano
GT - Top 5
1st No.10 Manthey Racing - Au, Hartog, Bachler
2nd No.9 GetSpeed - Bartone, Schiller, Shigekazu
3rd No.56 Blackthorn - Petrobelli, Adam, Pauwels
4th No.92 Manthey Racing - Lietz, Pera, Heriau
5th No.74 Kessel Racing - Blattner, Lulham, Marschall
