Michelin Le Mans Cup – COOL Racing are LMP3 Champions after Dramatic Race in Portugal
LMP3 Podium -Michelin Le Mans Cup - Portimao Round - Autodromo Internacional do Algarve - Portugal -
The final round of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup was a dramatic end to a dramatic season with two Safety Cars and four Full Course Yellows during the 110-minute race.
The no85 R-ace GP Duqueine was leading the championship but an extra 42 seconds on the mandatory pitstop and then a Safety Car period at the wrong time dropped Fabien Michal and Hadrien David out of contention.
Their nearest rivals in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier, Adrien Chila and David Droux, also had their problems, with a 10 second penalty being added to their race time meaning Droux had to take the chequered flag at least 10 seconds ahead of the seventh placed car to take the time. A late Full Course Yellow to recover the stranded no99 More Motorsport Ligier gave Droux the breathing room he needed to secure the title in 4th place.
Victory went to Team Thor’s #77 Ligier: for the Icelandic team, Audunn Gudmundsson and Colin Noble took the top step of the podium in this final race. The n°7 Ligier of Tony Wells and Wayne Boyd (Nielsen Racing) was second, while the n°20 of Jens Moller and Tommy Foster took third place, which also secured them an identical position in the final championship standings.
In the GT3 class it was a fourth win of the season for the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 296, with Matt Kurzejewski and Alessandro Balzan underlining their championship winning season with a perfect weekend in Portimao.
Starting from pole the no51 Ferrari was passed by the no90 Blackthorn Aston Martin of James Swift and the no12 Kessel Racing Ferrari of David Fumanelli after the Italian had started at the back of the grid.
After the first Safety Car period Kurzejewski went back up to second place ahead of the Aston Martin.
After the second Safety Car and the pitstops, the no12 Kessel Racing Ferrari was leading by nearly 90 seconds but with bronze driver Frederic Jousset in the car Alessandro Balzan now in the no51 Ferrari, started to close the gap.
A spin for Jousset reduced the gap further and with 10 minutes of the race remaining Balzan took the lead to win the race ahead of the no88 AF Corse Ferrari of Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini, which was enough to secure them the vice champions position, with the no12 Kessel Racing Ferrari finishing in third.
