Endurance Racing

Jackie Chan DC Racing Takes Double Prototype Victory at 4 Hours of Fuji

2 Mins read

Jackie Chan DC Racing by Jota took victories in both LMP2 and LMP3 as the #8 car took its second consecutive Asian Le Mans Series victory at the 4 Hours of Fuji.

The #8 ORECA was involved in a race long duel with the delayed pole-sitting #37 BBT Ligier which was only decided in the final hour.

After days of overcast and wet weather, the race day greeted the crews with glorious sunshine and a fully visible Mount Fuji.

Stephane Richelmi in the #8 Jackie Chan DC Racing entry got a blinder of a start to leapfrog the pole sitting #37 BBT Ligier of Anthony Xu Liu into the first corner.

Half-way round the lap, light contact with the #7 Jackie Chan of David Cheng entry resulted in Liu spinning and dropping to the back of the field.

That left Richelmi well in front and he built up a lead while behind him, the sister ORECA of Cheng was having a mighty tussle for second with the #4 ARC Bratislava Ligier of Rik Breukers.

However by the end of the first hour both of them would have been passed by the recovering #37 of Liu.

When Liu handed over to Pipo Derani, who gave the BBT team pole in qualifying, he immediately set about reducing the gap to the leader, sometimes by up to 2 to 3 seconds a lap.

Derani’s 87 lap double stint eventually gave BBT a 23 second lead after the final pitstops, but Thomas Laurent, now aboard the #8, he began his own charge and brought the gap down rapidly, eventually taking the lead with a daring pass either side of the #66 GT Audi.

Laurent held the lead to the end with the #37 and the #7 completing the podium.

In LMP3 the first half of the race proved to be a tight battle between the #18 KCMG Ligier and the #11 Taiwan Beer GH Motorsport.

Despite spins for each car they dominated proceeding before the #18 ground to a halt with a suspected broken drive shaft just before the halfway point of the race.

That gave the lead to the #11 car, but the #6 Jackie Chan Ligier of Guy Cosmo was closing fast and soon took over the lead, which was extended in the last hour when the #11 was hit by a drive-thru penalty and then retired with mechanical woes.

The attrition saw the #65 Viper Niza Racing take second with the much delayed Japanese #99 TKS Ginetta squad rounding out the podium.

In GT it was again a big battle between the two Team AAI cars, with the #90 Ferrari eventually taking honours after team-mate #91 BMW was hit with a  2 second stop and go penalty for a violation of mandatory pit stop time.

Avatar photo
233 posts

About author
Sports Car and GT writer. Perhaps being named after James Hunt and Murray Walker (first and middle names) might have something to do with how I have always been motorsport obsessed. After failing to get int racing, I might as well write about it.
Articles
Related posts
Endurance RacingFIA WECGT Series

Ben Barker Secures Factory Contract with Ford for 2024 Mustang GT3 Campaign

1 Mins read
Ben Barker embraces a new chapter, securing a factory contract with Ford for the 2024 Mustang GT3. An iconic partnership poised for sportscar success.
Endurance RacingFIA WECFormula 1

Owner of long-time personal Max Verstappen sponsor reportedly at front of "large money laundering scandal"

2 Mins read
Max Verstappen’s personal sponsor Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo, has seen it’s CEO and owner Frits van Eerd have their house raided following reported major scandal.
Endurance RacingIMSASportscars

BMW Reveal the M Hybrid V8

2 Mins read
BMW have confirmed the name of their 2023 Hypercar, along with releasing images of the car sporting its special test livery.