Michelin Le Mans Cup – Large Grid for Mugello Showdown
With five races completed on the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup calendar, the series now heads to Italy for the first visit to Mugello in the heart of Tuscany.
The grid will consist of 38 cars, 27 LMP3 and 11 GT3, with 76 drivers and 26 teams representing 21 different nations. Three cars, AF Corse and Iron Dames, and two drivers, Riccardo Agostini and David Cleto Fumanelli, will be the focus of the local fans in Mugello.
LMP3: Championship Wide Open for Mugello
A difficult weekend for Swiss driver David Droux and his French teammate Adrien Chila saw the no97 COOL Racing Ligier finish 9th place in Belgium last month. However, the Swiss team still head the points standings on 49.5 points as their nearest rivals in the title race also failed to score.
COOL Racing have an 8.5 points advantage over their nearest rivals Fabien Michal and Hadrien David in the all French no85 R-ace GP. They head to Mugello on 41 points, 1 point ahead of Barcelona winners High Class Racing, with Denmark’s Jens Moller and British driver Tommy Foster on 40 points.
The destination of the 2024 titles is going to be a tough call to make as Spa-Francorchamps saw several teams take their best result of the season, including race winners Ben Stone and Theodor Jensen for Bretton Racing, which moved the Czech team up to fifth in the standings.
COOL Racing’s Adrien Closmenil and James Sweetnam took their first podium of the season in Belgium, putting the team in 4th place on 34 points, six behind High Class Racing and nine ahead of Bretton Racing.
Belgium also a debut MLMC podium for More Motorsport, with Dutch father and son duo Mark Van Der Snel and Max Van Der Snel JR taking third place.
Road to Le Mans race winners MV2S Racing could also be in the mix for victory in Mugello, as could the M Racing duo of Alexandre Cougnaud and Romano Ricci, who had a great run in Belgium but lost the win due to a last corner collision that dropped them from 1st to 7thin the final classifications.
GT3: AF Corse on Course to Clinch Title at Home
The GT3 grid consists of five different manufacturers, Aston Martin, Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche but Ferrari teams have dominated the 2024 season, holding the top four places in the GT3 championship standing after five races.
The no51 AF Corse Ferrari secured another podium finish in Belgium with Americans Alessandro Balzan and Matt Kurzejewski heading to Mugello with 82.5 points, 27 ahead of the no88 AF Corse Ferrari of Custodio Toledo and his Italian teammate Riccardo Agostini, who took their first win of the season at Spa-Francorchamps.
The third placed no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Fran Rueda Mateos and Andrew Gilbert is just 2 points behind Toledo and Agostini and 12 points ahead of the no12 Kessel Racing Ferrari, with Italian David Cleto Fumanelli driving with French driver Frédéric Jousset.
The no12 Ferrari is tied on 41.5 points with the no18 High Class Racing Porsche of Nick Jones and Sven Müller and 14.5 points ahead of Italian Team Iron Dames on 27 points.
Round 5 of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup will be in Mugello on Saturday 28 September, with Free Practice on Friday 27 September.
