A trip to Australia, night racing in Malaysia, and a return to China and Thailand; that's the new Asian Le Mans Series calendar in a nutshell. The 4 hour race format will be kept for the upcoming season, but there's a few significant changes to look forward to next winter.
The 2018/2019 season has been a great success so far for the series with a grid that has grown strongly in depth and quality, and a significant increased audience as well on track as online. The Asian Le Mans Series is cementing its position not only in Asia, but now also globally. As from next season the current LMP2 prototypes will also be eligible to race in the series which might attract more (new) teams to the winter series.
Just as it did this season, the 2019/20 Asian Le Mans Series will feature four races each of four hours in length, and will start in China again on the final weekend of November at the Shanghai International Circuit. The opening race will continue to be run in conjunction with the China Touring Car Championship (CTCC).
As previously announced, 2020 will see the Series’ first visit to Australia. The second round of the Championship will be held on the 12th of January 2020 at The Bend. The Bend is Australia’s newest permanent circuit and is located approximately 100 km from Adelaide in South Australia. The Asian Le Mans Series will be the first series to use the full 7.77km configuration of the circuit, which is - apart from Le Mans - the longest track in any ACO supported series.
In a change to their traditional season ending date, the third round of the Championship will be held at the Sepang International Circuit. The race will be held on Saturday the 15th February in 2020. Also new is that the 4 Hours of Sepang will finish into the night, with the second half of the race to be run after sunset.
The final round of the 2019/20 Asian Le Mans Series will be held at the Buriram International Circuit on the 23rd of February 2020. Moving away from the traditional mid January date on Children's day, the Thai circuit will instead host the final 4 hour race of the Championship.
The 2019/20 Asian Le Mans Series calendar has been designed to ensure it avoids clashes with other Asian series and major events in the region, whilst also allowing for transport times for those teams from around the world wishing join the Series. The opening round at the end of November now also gives (more) teams who race in the European Le Mans Series the time to prepare for the Asian series.
2019/20 Asian Le Mans Series Calendar details
Round 1: Shanghai International Circuit, China • 22 – 24 November 2019
Round 2: The Bend, South Australia • 10 – 12 January 2020
Round 3: Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia • 14 – 15 February 2020
Round 4: Buriram Chang International Circuit, Thailand • 21 – 23 February 2020
