Le Castellet 13 November 2026
A week after the final race of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the Ferrari 499Ps are back in action in the opening weekend of the Asian Le Mans Series, held exceptionally in Europe for the 2026-27 season, which kicks off at the French circuit of Paul Ricard in the 5,482 km configuration. For the first time, Hypercars will compete in this championship, with two 499Ps entered by AF Corse and Cetilar Racing, featuring Ferrari official drivers Antonio Fuoco, Nicklas Nielsen and Yifei Ye, who have already won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the first two in 2024 and the third in 2025. Four 296 GT3 Evos will also be competing in France, with official driver Alessio Rovera among the participants in the GT3 class.
Hypercar. The category, making its debut in the 2026-27 season, will see two Ferrari 499Ps take to the track for the first time in a context other than the FIA WEC, where the Maranello Manufacturer’s Sport Prototipo has achieved a total of eight wins over four seasons – including three consecutive victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans between 2023 and 2025 – along with 11 pole positions and 27 podium finishes.
The ALMS therefore represents a new challenge for the 499P, which will be entrusted to Pro-Am crews. The number 47 car fielded by Cetilar Racing will be driven by Roberto and Nicola Lacorte, father and son, alongside Prancing Horse official driver Antonio Fuoco. Meanwhile, Luis Pérez Companc and official drivers Yifei Ye and Nicklas Nielsen will take turns at the wheel of the number 90 car fielded by AF Corse.
GT3. The GT3 class is the largest in the Asian Le Mans Series grid, with 28 cars entered, including four Ferrari 296 GT3 Evos. AF Corse is fielding two cars: Peter Dempsey, Rafael Duran and David Perel will share the number 50, while official driver Alessio Rovera will join Francesco Piovanetti and Jef Machiels in the number 51. Japanese team Ponos Racing will be on the track with the number 45 car featuring an all-Japanese crew made up of Yorikatsu Tsujiko, Takuro Shinohara and Tadasuke Makino. Finally, CarGuy Racing returns to the championship with a number 57 296 GT3 Evo for Takeshi Kimura, Mathys Jaubert and Esteban Masson.
The programme. Following the cancellation of the first test sessions on Thursday 12 November due to bad weather conditions, track activity at Paul Ricard resumed as expected on Friday 13 November with two 90-minute free practice sessions, scheduled for 10.10 a.m. and 1.30 p.m. Qualifying sessions for each of the two races will follow, with the GT sessions scheduled for 4.05 p.m. and 4.25 p.m., and those for Hypercar and LMP2 at 4.50 p.m. and 5.10 p.m. On Saturday, 14 November, the green flag will be waved for the first four-hour race at 1.15 p.m., while Sunday, 15 November ’s programme will be the same, with the second race also starting at 1.15 p.m. (local times).
The calendar. After the opening round at Paul Ricard, the 2026-2027 Asian Le Mans Series will move to Spain for two more races at the Jerez circuit over the weekend of 16-17 January, before the final round takes place at Portimão, Portugal, on 20 and 21 February.
