Alex Fontana has completed the first of his 2025 programmes. With the doubleheader in the United Arab Emirates at Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the Asian Le Mans Series season has been put to bed. Alex Fontana took to the track at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 R entered by Car Collection, sharing driving duties with Hash and Yannick Mettler.
It was an intense winter for the Swiss driver, who in addition to the six races of the Asian Le Mans Series also competed in the Dubai 24 Hours, increasing his confidence with the car over the winter period, and achieving personal record of competitive action in the Middle East before the engines are restarted for the European season.
Both trips were hardly the most straightforward of races, with numerous red flag interruptions making it difficult to nail a flying lap in qualifying. This was a significant handicap, especially as the starting grid for the second race was defined using the second best lap times. Hash showed significant growth, proving to be consistent and pragmatic with a constant progression curve. This was despite encountering new hurdles such as managing traffic when being lapped by prototypes from both the LMP3 and LMP2 classes; this was all great formative experience as it reflects the same format used in European races and the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Alex Fontana
“Even though luck wasn't on our side last weekend, I’m delighted to have had the chance to get back on track in Abu Dhabi after more than a year. Car Collection did a fantastic job in allowing us to race in these eventsand the pace shown in the race confirmed the good work we did in fine-tuning the car, with stints in which we were always involved in great fightbacks. Despite the interruptions due to accidents and a collision in which we were innocent parties in the last race, the potential was there and we could easily have aspired to a place in the Top10. We are already back in Europe and working on the first steps of the new AF Academy season. This winter, two of our participants were in action in the Emirates and two others joined us to watch the race. We will also soon be announcing the programmes for the 2025 season, which I am sure will be a nice surprise for all our fans.”