Exedra Motorsport; Rnd#2 - Asian Le Mans Series

Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia

7-8 November, 2015

 

Former Australian GT champion Dean Koutsoumidis made his much anticipated prototype race debut with an impressive second placed finish for Exedra Motorsport during the second round of the Asian Le Mans Series in Malaysia last weekend.

 

Sharing the wheel of the #25 Algarve Pro Ligier JSP2 with Australian GT partner James Winslow, and Winslow’s 2014 Le Mans 24-Hour team-mate Michael Munemann, the trio qualified the Equity-One supported LMP2 on pole position, and battled hard across the full three hour race distance to score valuable championship points, and important miles for Koutsoumidis who enjoyed his maiden race in the category.

 

“What can I say, my face is sore from smiling,” the popular Victorian admitted.

 

“It was everything I would have hoped for and more. We were super competitive first time out, and my own pace was better than we’d actually planned for.

 

“Asian Le Mans and Sepang were fantastic, very accommodating, and having the chance to spend two days testing in a former Formula BMW open-wheeler was invaluable, in the end I think I spent six and a half hours behind the wheel, which is something that’s difficult to do in Australia, and whilst very different to the prototype, it gave me a huge head start once official practice started.

 

“Ultimately though all testing I’d done under controlled conditions in Europe when you’re often on the circuit alone, is vastly different to being on track with other cars, especially of such varying performance levels, so that was certainly something that was immediately obvious from opening practice.

 

“The LMP2 might be five or six seconds a lap faster than a GT3 car, but they’re very closely matched on straight line speed - it’s the high speed corners and under braking where we have a huge aero advantage, so we had to be careful how quickly we approached the GTs. I had one very exciting moment with one of the BMWs in practice because he clearly hadn’t seen me coming, so from that point on I’d be on the lights flashing well before I caught them, and didn’t have a drama at all during the race.

 

“James [Winslow] ultimately qualified, and I think he surprised even himself with his pace, a full second faster than the rest of the field which is testament to his pace in these cars, it was a great start to the weekend.”

 

“The team have done a fantastic job, the car’s really hooked up,” Winslow explained to the amassed media at Sepang. “Basically, I just had to do my job, not make any mistakes, and get the most from the car and the time just took care of itself. I think the Ligier runs a little more downforce than some of the other cars, so we think that for the race it’s going to look after its tyres pretty well. 

 

“My two teammates have been doing a very good job as well. Their pace is very strong compared to the other teams. Hopefully tomorrow we won’t make any mistakes, or push too hard, cruise it round, then after three hours, we’re still in front.”

 

Winslow might have qualified the car, but after much discussion the team elected to put Munemann behind the wheel for the start because of his experience, and with threatening weather, the team wanted to esnure that Winslow was in the car if it started to rain late in the day.

 

“Michael did a great job to lead early, and after just under an hour I took over for my stint,” Koutsoumidis confirmed.

 

“I had one clear objective for the weekend, and that was to bring the car back in one piece, but my pace was consistent across the full 50-minute stint and I brought the car in holding down second.

 

“I then handed the car to James who did a stint and a half, setting an impressive pace to cross the line on the lead lap, and still in second position at the close of the three hour race.

 

“I really struggled with the heat for the last half an hour,” Winslow admitted. “The radio also pulled out of my ear in the driver change, so I had no radio and no idea how many laps I had to go, so I just cruised around and tried to look after the tyres, and take it to the end of the race.”

 

“We were all more than happy with our performance - although the racer in all of us would have loved the #1 trophy,” Koutsoumidis admitted matter-of-factly. “But for my debut in the category, all I can say is ‘I’m rapt, and I’m hooked!’

 

“I’ve learnt a lot from the weekend - from my driving to my fitness which was certainly acceptable, but I’ll be doing everything I can physically and in a car or a kart over the coming weeks to be ready ahead of the next event in Thailand in early January.

 

“So far as my goal beyond this season of Asian Le Mans, I’m not 100% sure just yet. Driving a prototype is a big commitment on a number of levels, and whilst the heart says let’s do Le Mans, that is an even bigger step, so I’ll get through the coming rounds of Asian Le Mans, continue to push and improve, and make a judgment from there. 

Perhaps a round or two of European Le Mans which is similar but with a stonger field might be step two, but regardless, I’m loving this experience, it’s something every racing driver should experience at some point in their career, they are just purebred race cars and a joy to drive quickly.”

 

For Koutsoumidis, his next chance to join European Le Mans Series team-mates Munemann and Winslow will be Rnd#3 of the Asian Le Mans Series at the new Buriram Circuit in Thailand on 8-10 January.

 

Qualifying (7 November, 2015)

1. 25. LMP2. Winslow/Munemann/Koutsoumidis (Algarve Pro Ligier JSP2)
- 1:58.773

2. 8. LMP2. Leutwiler/Nakano (Race Performance Oreca 03R Judd)
- 1:59.734

3. 99. LMP2. Lok/Kim/Bradley (Eurasia Motorsport Oreca 03R Nissan) - 1:59.787

4. 1. LMP3. Chang/Tung/Laurent (DC Racing Ligier JSP3)
- 2:03.244

5. 3. GT. Mok/Bell/Sawa (Clearwater Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 2:06.838

6. 5. GT. Lee/Kim/Picariello (Absolute Racing Audi R8 GT3) - 2:07.075

 

Race (3-Hours - 8 November, 2015)

1. 8. LMP2. Leutwiler/Nakano (Race Performance Oreca 03R Judd)
- 85-laps

2. 25. LMP2. Munemann/Koutsoumidis/Winslow (Algarve Pro Ligier JSP2)
+46.361

3. 99. LMP2. Lok/Kim/Bradley (Eurasia Motorsport Oreca 03R Nissan) - 84-laps

4. 3. GT. Mok/Bell/Sawa (Clearwater Racing McLaren 650S GT3) - 82-laps

5. 91. GT. Chen/Muller/Millroy (Team AAI BMW Z4 GT3) - 81-laps

6. 90. GT. Tanigawa/Yu (Team AAI Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3) - 81-laps

 

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1. Nicolas Leutwiler/Shinji Nakano (51-points), 2. Tacksung Kim/William Lok (33), 3. Michael Munemann/Dean Koutsoumidis/James Winslow (19), 4. Tristan Gommendy (18), 5. Richard Bradley (15)

 

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Rnd#1, 10-11 October - Fuji International Speedway (Japan)

Rnd#2, 7-8 November - Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia) - 3-Hour

Rnd#3, 8-10 January - Buriram International Circuit (Thailand) - 3-Hour

Rnd#2, 23-24 January - Sepang International Circuit (Malaysia) - 3-Hour