Michelin Le Mans Cup – A STRONG GRID FOR SPA
51 KURZEJEWSKI Matthew (usa), BALZAN Alessandro (ita), AF Corse, Ferrari 296 GT3, GT3, #51, action during the Road to Le Mans 2024, 3rd round of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup, on the Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, from June 12 to 15, 2024 in Le Mans, France - Photo Marcel Wulf / DPPI
With the races in Barcelona, Le Castellet and Le Mans completed, the Michelin Le Mans Cup heads to Spa-Francorchamps for the start of the second half of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup. The highly competitive grid for Round 4 in Belgium will feature 39 cars across the LMP3 and GT3 classes.
The 7km Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps ranks high on any driver’s favourite tracks and the track in the heart of the Ardennes Forest provides a challenge that the competitors are looking forward to facing on Saturday 24 August.
The grid will consist of 28 LMP3 and 11 GT3 cars, with 28 teams and 78 drivers representing 21 different nations from around the globe.
After two 55-minute races in Le Mans in June, the format for the final three races of the 2024 season returns to the single 110-minute encounter, beginning with the race in Belgium.
LMP3: COOL Racing Lead After Road To Le Mans
A podium finish at Le Mans saw Round 2 winners David Droux and Adrien Chila take the lead in the LMP3 Championship, with the no97 COOL Racing Ligier heading to Belgium on 47.5 points, 7.5-points ahead of the no20 High Class Racing Ligier-Nissan of Jens Moller and Tommy Foster.
While the R-ace GP duo of Fabien Michal and Hadrien David are tied on 40 points with Moller and Foster, the Anglo-Danish pairing is classified in second thanks to the win at the opening race in Spain.
2023 Vice Champions Team Thor are in 4thoverall with Colin Noble and Audunn Gudmundsson at 25 points, with reigning LMP3 Team Champions Team Virage on 19.5 points, and Inter Europol Competition, with Rik Koen and Alexander Bukhantsov on 19 points in 6thplace after three rounds.
French team MV2S Racing will run a two-car effort and travel to Spa-Francorchamps after celebrating victory at Le Mans in the Saturday race with the no29 Ligier claiming the 15 points for a win. RTLM winner Maximus Mayer will be joined in Belgium by Poland’s Jacek Zielonka.
The win of the shortened open RTLM race was the ELMS entered WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine, so the points for the first MLMC car home went to the no71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of MLMC regulars Stefan Aust and Felipe Fernandez-Laser, though only half points were awarded. The German pairing will be hoping for a similar podium performance in Belgium on Saturday 24 August.
ANS Motorsport will once again run two cars, with Belgium’s Eric De Doncker returning to the MLMC alongside Nicolas Schatz in the no6 Ligier. CD Sport, Bretton Racing, Inter Europol Competition, COOL Racing, Team Virage and Rinaldi Racing will all run two cars in Belgium.
2022 LMP3 Champions Racing Spirit of Léman will be looking for a better result after a disappointing start of the season for their French drivers Christophe Lapierre and Marius Fossard.
Nielsen Racing, M Racing, More Motorsport, Steller Motorsport, GG Classics, Haegeli by T2 Racing, and P4 Racing are all entering a single car each. Reiter Engineering are also entered once again but on a non-points scoring race-by-race basis.
GT3: AF Corse Hold Comfortable Lead at Half Time
After securing victory from pole on their debut in Barcelona and then taking a second victory at Le Castellet, Americans Matthew Kurzejewski and Alessandro Balzan followed it up with a double podium at Le Mans in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. They currently have 64.5 points, 26 points ahead of their nearest rivals Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda Mateos in the no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari (38.5 pts).
Kessel Racing and AF Corse make it a Ferrari 1-2-3-4 at the head of the championship standings with the no12 Ferrari 296 GT3 of Frédéric Jousset and David Cleto Fumanelli on 33.5 pts and the no88 AF Corse run 296 of Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini on 30.5 points after three rounds.
The no18 High Class Racing Porsche is in 5th overall with Nick Jones on 29.5 points. The British driver will be joined by Germany’s Nico Menzel for the race in Belgium.
After scoring their first MLMC podium from pole in Le Castellet, the Iron Dames duo of Célia Martin and Karen Gaillard will be looking to bounce back from a disappointed Road To Le Mans in the no83 Lamborghini Huracan. The all-female crew is currently in 6th overall on 27 points.
British team Blackthorn won the first Road To Le Mans race and will enter a single Aston Martin Vantage for Claude Bovet and former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and ELMS LMGTE Champion Darren Turner.
The LMGT3 grid is completed by single-car entries for Stellar Motorsport (Audi), Biogas Motorsport (Ferrari), Proton Huber Competition (Porsche), Grid Motorsport by TF (Aston Martin) and Herberth Motorsport (Porsche).
The Spa-Francorchamps Round, Round 4 of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup, will take place on Saturday 24 August, with qualifying on Saturday morning preceded by two Free Practice sessions on Friday 23 August.
