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Michelin Le Mans Cup ... Road to Le Mans
The Michelin Le Mans Cup series had two races during the build up to the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, one on the Thursday evening before the main race qualifying sessions, and the second on the Saturday morning as a prelude to the main race starting in the afternoon. As with the main race, there was a healthy entry list with a total of 49 cars, comprising of 31 LMP3 cars, plus 1 innovative car for disabled drivers entered by Frederic Sausset, and 17 GT3 cars.
Both of the races, each of 55mins duration, were hard fought in both classes, with the # 39 Graff entered Norma M30-Nissan of Chila / Schatz taking the win in the first race, and claiming a 2nd podium finish with 3rd place in race 2. The #3 DKR Engineering entered Norma M30-Nissan of Kirmann / Horr took victory in the second race, where the 3rd place finisher in race 1, the #25 Lanan Racing Norma M30-Nissan of Benham / Tappy took the runner-up spot. In the GT3 category it was two wins for the #71 Luzich Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 of Mac / Lavergne, from the # 40 SPS Automotive Performance entered Mercedes-AMG of Pierburg / Onslow-Cole in race 1, and from the #99 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 entered by Beechdean AMR driven by Howard / Gunn in the second race.
Race 1 Overall & LMP3 Class Podium
1st #39, Grazz, Norma M30-Nissan, A. Chila / N. Schatz 2nd #5, DKR Engineering, Norma M30-Nissan, M. Marateotto / M. Cencetti 3rd 25, Lanan Racing, Norma M30-Nissan, M. Benham / D. Tappy
Race 1 GT3 Class Podium
1st #71, Luzich Racing, Ferrari 488 GT3, M. Mac / F. Lavergne 2nd #40, SPS Automotive Performance, Mercedes-AMG GT3, V. Pierburg / T. Onslow-Cole 3rd #51, Spirit of Race, Ferrari 488 GT3, C.Ulrich / M. Mediani
Race 2 Overall & LMP3 Class Podium
1st #3, DKR Engineering, Norma M30-Nissan, F. Kirmann / L. Horr 2nd 25, Lanan Racing, Norma M30-Nissan, M. Benham / D. Tappy 3rd #39, Grazz, Norma M30-Nissan, A. Chila / N. Schatz
Race 2 GT3 Class Podium
1st #71, Luzich Racing, Ferrari 488 GT3, M. Mac / F. Lavergne 2nd #99, Beechdean AMR, Aston Martin Vantage GT3, A. Howard / R. Gunn 3rd #40, SPS Automotive Performance, Mercedes-AMG GT3, V. Pierburg / T. Onslow-Cole
Ferrari Entry
Race # | Model | Chassis # | Team | Drivers | Position | | Class GT | R1 | R2 | | | | | | OA / Cl | OA / Cl. | 71 | 488 GT3 | 4230 | Luzich Racing | M. Mac / F. Lavergne | 9th / 1st | 14th / 1st | 51 | 488 GT3 | 4274 | Spirit of Race | C. Ulrich / M. Mediani | 11th / 3rd | 19th / 5th | 82 | 488 GT3 | 4406 | Kessel Racing | Pierre Mulacek / P. Kaffer | 13th / 4th | 36th / 13th | 53 | 488 GT3 | 4222 | Spirit of Race | K. Lentoudis / R. Aguas | 19th / 6th | 26th / 10th | 62 | 488 GT3 | 4256 | Kessel Racing | Philippe Mulacek / A. Lazzaro | 22nd / 9th | DNF | 8 | 488 GT3 | 4444 | Kessel Racing | S. Pianezzola / G. Piccini | 26th / 10th | 17th / 4th | 50 | 488 GT3 | 4212 | Kessel Racing | J. Hartshorne / O. Hancock | 37th / 13th | 38th / 14th | 52 | 488 GT3 | 4260 | Spirit of Race | F. Piovanetti / O. Negri Jr. | DNF | 30th / 12th |
Ferrari Challenge
The Ferrari Challenge races are split into four categories, Trofeo Pirelli, Trofeo Pirelli-AM, Coppa Shell and Coppa Shell-AM, the AM signifying amateur driver status. With a total of 51 near identical performance cars taking to the track at the same time, some having fell by the wayside through practice and qualifying indiscretions, there was a recipe for some very close action, as is known to be the case with these races. From memory, the last time a Challenge race was held as a prelude to the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, virtually the whole race was run behind safety cars. Fortunately this wasnt the case this year, as slow zones were implemented, which kept the race flowing well, despite a few cars getting grabbed by the gravel traps or playing kiss and tell with the barriers.
Pole position had been claimed by Louis Prette from Italy, and two of his main adversaries, Frenchman Thomas Neubauer and Italian Nicolo Schiro were eliminated in a first lap incident which caused their immediate retirement. However, he still had his hands full for the remainder of the race, as British driver Adam Carroll homed in on him and they then had an enthralling dice through the closing stages, swapping places, but both driving impeccably and respecting each other. At the chequered flag it was the #47 example of Carroll that crossed the line first by just 0.505sec from the #17 car of Prette, with the #92 car of another Brit, Sam Smeeth taking the final podium spot.
Overall & Class P Podium
1st #47, Adam Carroll, Ferrari Budapest 2nd #17, Louis Prette, Formula Racing 3rd #92, Sam Smeeth, Baron Motorsport
Class P-AM Podium
1st #33, Emanuele Maria Tabacchi, Rossocorsa 2nd #37, Jan Danis, Scuderia Praha 3rd #90, Jack Brown, Graypaul Nottingham
Class S Podium
1st #118, James Weiland, Rossocorsa 2nd #177, Fons Scheltema,Kessel Racing 3rd #109, Ernst Kirchmayr, Baron Motorsport
Class S-AM Podium
1st #145, Laurent De Meeus, H.R. Owen 2nd #189, Mark Fuller, Rossocorsa-Pellin Racing 3rd #136, Alexander Nussbaumer, Scuderia Gohm
Keith Bluemel 06 / 2019 |