The #25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca-Gibson LMP2 met the chequered flag first after an unpredictable four-hour race at Dubai Autodrome, ahead of the #3 DKR Engineering and the #20 Algarve Pro Racing.

By Noah Nayak Fernandez

The timing sheets saw lots of shuffling around as both APRs gained 7 places to claim a 1-3 finish in Race 1. Polesitter Giorgio Roda in his #22 Proton Competition held the lead for over half an hour, but ultimately lost it in the pits to Aliaksandr Malykhin’s #91 Pure Rxcing. 

However, the race order was shaken up when the #8 Dragon Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Todd Coleman spun into the barriers 52 minutes into the race. The debris on the track, as well as the damage to the barriers, caused an hour-long red flag that dramatically changed the fortunes of many competitors.

After the safety car restart, cars were allowed to pit. Contact between two Ferrari 296 GT3s in the exit of Turn 15 left a mirror in the straight, causing a full course yellow that lasted nearly four minutes.

A dramatic second half of the race

The #91 Pure Rxcing held the lead for over an hour as Julian Andlauer took over, but Malthe Jakobsen’s #25 APR and Laurents Hörr’s #3 DKR jointly overtook him on track. Andlauer managed a P8 finish after two more pit stops. Algarve Pro Racing were the big winners in the LMP2 class, as Alex Quinn in car #20 joined the top two on the podium.

In contrast, the LMP3 class was rather quiet. Theodor Jensen winning in his #26 Bretton Racing, edging out the #35 Ultimate of Matte Quintarelli, a lap ahead of Daniel Ali in his #34 Inter Europol.

The #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 set the pace in the GT class for a large portion of the race, but ultimately fell after safety cars and pit stops. The #10 Manthey got ahead at the end of a full course yellow, and Klaus Bachler held that lead for the last 45 minutes.

However, he pitted unexpectedly with under two minutes to go in the race, sparking rumors of an under-fueled car. Ben Barnicoat inherited the lead in the #96 2 Seas Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO for a surprise victory around the UAE circuit.

Jakobsen: 4H Dubai race one “very intense”

LMP2 and overall winner Malthe Jakobsen commented on the “very intense” race. “It’s been a very chaotic week for me, not with a lot of sleep,” he said. “I had a cancelled flight on Thursday night, so I couldn’t get here until last night. I got here this morning and managed to get one flying lap before the start of the race. Then I got thrown out into the race with an hour to go.

“It’s amazing to fight with drivers like Julian (Andlauer), because we have obviously, respect for each other, but we still race each other hard but there’s respect in between us. So that’s cool to see that there are no dirty tricks or anything going on but hard and fair racing and the run to the flag.”

Jakobsen’s co-driver, Valerio Rinicella, had similar thoughts. “With the red flag, we had to change the plan, but we adapted really quickly. I really thank my teammates and to the team for the fantastic job. The car was amazing, the pace looked good, and I hope for another win tomorrow.

“The pitstop after the Safety Car was a bit crazy, I had contact with a Porsche on the back, but we managed to survive on the exit. I think this was the crucial moment of the race, because it helped our position. So, I would say I’m really thankful to the safety car.”

This wasn’t Valerio Rinicella’s first time racing at Dubai Autodrome, as the Italian had previously competed at this circuit in the Formula 4 UAE and Formula Regional Middle East championships.

Race 1 of the 2025 4H Dubai featured difficult conditions in the Arabian desert, with sand on an already dirty track causing clouds of dust to be lifted up. Track temperatures and rubber pickup were also at play, with many drivers going offline and losing control under braking. There are huge championship implications from the result of this race, and it will certainly be all to consider going into the last three races of the Asian Le Mans Series.

LMP2 top ten

• 1st – #25 Algarve Pro Racing (M. Jensen / M. Jakobsen / V. Rinciella) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 2nd – #3 DKR Engineering (G. Kolovos / L. Hörr / J. Van Uitert) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 3rd – #20 Algarve Pro Racing (J. Allen / J. Quinn) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 4th – #83 AF Corse (F. Perrodo / M. Vaxiviere / J. Rovera) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 5th – #22 Proton Competition (G. Roda / V. Vautier / T. Dillmann) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 6th – #30 RD Limited (F. Pordad / T. Vautier / J. Allen) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 7th – #24 Nielsen Racing (R. Rao / M. Bell / N. Catsburg) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 8th – #91 Pure Rxcing (A. Malykhin / H. King / J. Jandlauer) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 9th – #11 Proton Competition (A. Matschull / J. Ried / M. Beche) – Oreca 07 – Gibson
• 10th – #50 AF Corse (J. Clarke / P. Byrne / O. Pla) – Oreca 07 – Gibson

LMP3 top 6

• 1st – #26 Bretton Racing (J. Moeller / G. Peebles / T. Jensen) – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan
• 2nd – #35 Ultimate (L. Stern / M. Quintarelli / R. Colavita) – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan
• 3rd – #34 Inter Europol Competition (T. Creswick / D. Ali / D. Dedecker) – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan
• 4th – #49 High Class Racing (M. Paterson / A. Hardwick / T. Kiefer) – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan
• 5th – #43 Inter Europol Competition (S. Brooks / K. Rabin / M. Kristensen) – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan
• 6th – #7 Graff Racing (D. Frost / J. Winslow / A. Buchanstov) – Ligier JS P320 – Nissan

GT top ten

• 1st – #96 2Seas Motorsport (A. McIntosh / P. Thompson / B. Barnicoat) – Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO
• 2nd – #92 Manthey EMA (R. Hardwick / R. Pera / R. Lietz) – Porsche 911 GT3 R
• 3rd – #74 Kessel Racing (D. Blatther / B. Ruchti / D. Marschall) – Ferrari 296 GT3
• 4th – #87 Origine Motorsport (B. Yuan / H. Ye / D. Heinrich) – Porsche 911 GT3 R
• 5th – #10 Manthey (A. Au / K. Bachler / J. Sturm) – Porsche 911 GT3 R
• 6th – #16 Winward Racing (M. Engel / V. Shaytar / S. Stolyarov) – Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO
• 7th – #51 AF Corse (T. Agostini) – Ferrari 296 GT3
• 8th – #8 Climax Racing (L. Wei / L. Kang / L. Lauer) – Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO
• 9th – #60 Proton Competition (C. Schiavoni / M. Cressoni / A. Picariello) – Porsche 911 GT3 R
• 10th – #2 Climax Racing (B. Zhou / F. Seppanin / R. Aron) – Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO

Header photo credit: Asian Le Mans Series