Former F1 driver Nikita Mazepin made a successful return to motorsport racing, claiming a podium-place finish during Asian Le Mans Series, having led the race in its initial stages.
Mazepin has had to spend a significant amount of time on the sidelines following his exit from Haas ahead of the 2022 season.
The Russian driver had so much time on his hands that he even tried out the role of a DJ at a club recently, but that seems to have been a short-lived experiment.
Nikita’s sportscar debut is the first of four races that he will feature in through the course of the next fortnight.
Mazepin was part of the 99 Racing Oreca 07 team that included 2016 Le Mans 24 Hours winner Neel Jani and Portuguese racer Gonzalo Gomes.
Mazepin was in the lead with only 80 minutes to go in the race, but was unable to nail the spot in the final standings.
Currently, the Algarve Pro Racing team is leading the standings after their victory in race one, with James Allen, Kyffin Simpson, and John Falb sharing the winning machine. In both races, the DKR drivers Eastwood, Ayhancan Guven, and Salih Yoluc finished second.
In the second race, the Inter Europol Competition Oreca, driven by American racers Nolan Siegel, Christian Bogle, and CR Crews, claimed the top spot after making a strong recovery from a spin.
The Polish team’s car, which claimed pole position in both races, performed well in the first race with 18-year-old Siegel showing impressive skills while pressuring Jani, but a suspected wheel hub failure caused him to retire.
The LMP3 class winners were divided between the #29 MV2S Racing Ligier and #5 DKR Duqueine, while Walkenhorst Motorsport secured both GT victories using its BMW M4 GT3.
In both races, Nicky Catsburg, Chandler Hull, and Thomas Merrill finished ahead of the Getspeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Raffaele Marciello, Fabian Schiller, and Florian Scholze.