© Planetlemans - Marcel ten Caat
The Automobile Club de l’Ouest returned to Japan ten years after the Le Mans Fuji 1000km and two years after the end of the ACO-sanctioned Japan Le Mans Challenge for a new attempt to start an Asian championship. Despite a cancellation of the Chinese round the Asian Le Mans Series kicked off at the Okayama International Circuit, the former TI Circuit Aida.
After the ACO announced that they were aiming for a minimum of 30 cars and then confirming reaching that number of car well before the closing date of entries it was somewhat of a disappointment to many when the final entry list eventually showed ‘just’ 23 cars.
Back in 1999 the race at Fuji also had 23 entries and the winners in each class would earn an automatic entry to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, like it was this weekend. The one-off event in 1999 was staged to see what the interest was of getting an Asian series, but the series never became reality. In 2006 and 2007 the ACO backed the SERO run Japan Le Mans Challenge, but with only a handful of ACO spec cars the series wasn’t a success either.
When big names like Audi and Peugeot made it clear that they would not send their works cars to Asia and that the second round at Shanghai was cancelled the doubts about the Japanese race actually taking place started to grow. However with several teams confirming their presence in public and with the entry list working towards its final shape everyone knew that it was really going to happen.
Last year, when the FIA WTCC raced at Okayama there were 28.000 spectators over the weekend and earlier this year the opening race of the Super GT championship attracted 23.000 spectators. The FIA WTCC/Asian Le Mans Series had 33.000 spectators over the weekend, 21.000 on Sunday. One should take into consideration that the Okayama circuit is not exactly just outside the city of Okayama, but promotion was good and a shuttle service that took spectators to and from the nearest railway station at Yoshinaga every 30 minutes turned out to be really successful. An increase of over 17% in the number of spectators compared to next year is, given the economic circumstances, far from bad!
The decision to split the weekend into two 3-hour races rather than one 1000km or 6 hour race also meant the spectators were able to see good fights on two days rather than having one long sitting, although it took some of the endurance spirit of Le Mans away.
It was however good for the teams, as an early end in race one did not automatically mean their trip to Asia had been a waste of money. Larbre Competition taking third in race 2 after a DNF due to mechanical issues in race 1 was the best example of the positive aspects of two 3-hour races.
Fabrice Bourrigaud and his ACO team also did well on promotion off the track. Just behind the main stands lots of activities for race fans and their children were taking place. Small stands with food and drinks, model cars, merchandising, games…there was something for everyone, young and old. At the Asian Le Mans Series driver autograph session the Japanese fans queued up long before the session started, but everything went smooth and not a single foul word was said and most of the drivers liked it.
So, will there be a 2010 Asian Le Mans Series season? One would think so after a rather positive weekend, but it is still far from done. ACO President Jean-Claude Plassart said that the Japanese manufacturers had shown great interest, but the manufacturers remained unnamed and it became clear that those that will come will probably do so only in 2011. After the races Daniel Poissenot, in charge of the Asian Le Mans Series, confirmed that “the ACO had been very nervous” about this series getting off to a good start but that they were very happy with the result. He could however not yet specify what their exact plans were for the future, other than that they would start planning the 2010 series and that they would look at the possibilities to return to Japan, without excluding the chance of not being at Okayama next season, and China. The ACO seems likely to slowly increase the number of rounds year after year.
There are two issues that the ACO (or any organisation that will organise the series) should really look into though.
The first is the interpretation of the regulations. Having had a louvers issue in the Le Mans Series at Silverstone in both 2008 and 2009 the issue was back again at Okayama. In race one several teams had damaged louvers and came in to have them repaired, not with duct-tape but with original bodywork parts. OAK Racing and Aston Martin Racing did just that, while one of the Audi R10 TDIs crossed the finish with a broken louver and took third place. Having the exact same regulations for all ACO sanctioned races would most likely be the best option and will prevent misinterpretation of the rulessss.
The second one, a direct follow-up on the first one, is communication. On Saturday everyone watched an exciting first race but also one that led to quite some discussions afterwards. Remy Brouard, general manager of the ACO, said: “Nobody knew who would win the Asian Le Mans Series - Pescarolo, Oreca, Lola, Aston Martin and Audi. Not before the meeting, not after qualifying, not after the first hour and not even after the first race. And this was the case in all the categories.” His comment was right, even if it was partly for the fact that on Monday releases from the ACO, Audi Motorsport and Aston Martin contradicted each other on the results. While Audi and the (amended) ACO result sheet of race 1 said that the #15 Kolles Audi had been given a one lap penalty and therefore dropped from third to fourth the Aston Martin Racing release said the team was frustrated by the different interpretation of the regulations but had decided not to further protest the ruling and had accepted fourth place. Eventually the final results of race 1 confirmed that no penalty had been given and the Audi had kept its third place. Perhaps releasing all decisions made by the race director, as in FIA GT, could help.
Taking everything into consideration however the Asian Le Mans Series should be able become a major Asian championship in the (near) future, on the condition that Asian teams and manufacturers will support it. Unlike the European races, with the exception of Silverstone, the fans got both racing and off-track activities and that is what makes it a series for the fans!
Of course all will depend on where the races will take place and what the support package is but the potential to do it right this time is absolutely there.
Here’s for hoping that the Automobile Club de l’Ouest will continue to run the Asian Le Mans Series as serious as they run the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In that case this series will certainly have a bright and promising future!
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