Hard work rewarded with top-5 finish in Sepang

Proton Competition kicked of their 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series at Sepang International Circuit with a top-5 finish and valuable mileage for three new driver line-ups. With the first race weekend of the season (13 to 14 December) featuring a pair of four-hour races, there was ample opportunity for Christian and Michael Ried’s team to settle into the new ALMS campaign.
 
Horst Felbermayr, Horst Felix Felbermayr and Lorenzo Fluxa may be new names behind the wheel of one of the team’s LMP2 efforts, but there was still a touch of old school about the #88 effort as the classic Felbermayr blue livery made its return to the racetrack.
 
Not only did the #88 Oreca 07 crew make an impression in terms of their car design, they also performed excellently in challenging conditions. Sunday’s four-hour race was shaped by the weather, with one deluge midway through the race and one in the final hour proving crucial.
 
The trio navigated Sunday’s conditions excellently, bringing the car home safely in fifth position to complement Saturday’s ninth-place finish. “Overall, it was a very positive weekend,” said Lorenzo Fluxa. “The conditions were very tough, with changeable weather. The team had to make some very important calls, and they did a great job, as did my new teammates. It was a great way to start the championship and now we are looking ahead to Dubai.”
 
For Bernardo Sousa, Jonas Ried and Felipe Fernández Laser in the #22 Oreca 07, the weekend in Malaysia was somewhat more challenging. Contact from another car in race one put the trio a lap down early on, while issues with the radio in race two made it extremely difficult to make the right decisions at the right time.
 
Featuring two debutants – Japanese drivers Kiyoto Fujinami and Bankcy – as well as British driver Harry King, the first race weekend of the 2025/26 season was all about finding a good balance and set-up for Proton Competition’s GT3 crew. In a record 21-car GT3 field, the trio fought hard at Sepang and secured a top-10 finish on Sunday – laying some solid foundations ahead of the remainder of the season.
 
Proton Competition is back in action in the Asian Le Mans Series on the final weekend in January for another pair of four-hour races, this time at Dubai Autodrome.

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Copyright: Proton Competition (Paola Depalmas)