The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) opened its short season with a pair of four-hour races at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, and Team WRT came away with a second-place finish in race two after struggling in race one.
Team WRT has two entries in the ALMS, with the #69 M4 GT3 EVO driven by Dan Harper, Parker Thompson and Anthony McIntosh, and the #28 driven by Augusto Farfus, Fabian Duffieux and Mathieu Detry. For Harper, Thompson and McIntosh, the ALMS is a warm-up for the FIA WEC championship, where the trio will drive together for WRT in the LMGT3 class for the full season.
Both BMWs performed fairly well in qualifying for the pair of four-hour races that comprised the Malaysia race weekend. For race one, the M4 GT3 EVOs qualified fourth (#28) and fifth (#69). For race two, the #69 once again qualified in fourth, but the #28 ended up down in 11th.
One big challenge all the teams had in Malaysia was the changing weather. “With tropical weather, conditions have been wildly unstable,” said Farfus after the second practice session. “Free practice one was hot, and we managed to put together a solid session, but free practice two was hit by rain, making everything more complicated.”
Anthony McIntosh (left), Parker Thompson (middle) and Dan Harper celebrate their second place finish in race two.
Rain continued to be a factor in both races. Race one was mostly dry but had a brief rain shower, but neither of the BMWs had a good result, with the #69 ending up in twelfth and the #28 in seventeenth. The #69 car had some issues with a lack of power during race one, so decided to change the engine oversight for the second race on Sunday.
The engine change in the #69 proved to be a good call, as Harper, Thompson and McIntosh put in a strong race to move up into second and were closing on the leader toward the end. Unfortunately, the race was called to a premature end when heavy rain fell on the circuit with thirteen minutes left in the race. The #69 finished second, while the #28 ended up in eleventh. “P2 in the final race of 2025!,” said Harper on social media. “Another very tricky race with the changing conditions, but the WRT boys stayed cool and made the perfect strategy calls.”
The third and fourth rounds of the ALMS will take place at the Dubai Autodrome Circuit on January 31–February 1.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy WRT]
