The 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 title race was a fight between COOL Racing and R-ace GP right up to the final encounter in Portugal.
R-ace GP’s Fabien Michal was almost unstoppable in qualifying taking pole position five times out of six attempts, which added an extra 5 championship points to the team’s tally. However, Michal’s speed during the season proved to be the undoing of the team’s title hopes, with an extra 42 seconds added to the mandatory pitstop in Portimao proving too hard to claw back.
In the end, it was the no97 COOL Racing Ligier with 2023 ELMS LMP3 Champion Adrien Chila adding the MLMC LMP3 title to his CV alongside his Swiss teammate David Droux.
Danish team High Class Racing scored a debut Michelin Le Mans Cup victory in the opening round of the 2024 season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Jens Moller making MLMC history by becoming the driver to win in both LMP3 and GT3.
Moller and his British teammate Tommy Foster came through from third on the grid to take the chequered flag over seven seconds ahead of the second placed, the pole-sitting no85 R-ace GP Duqueine.
The no97 COOL Racing Ligier finished 5th behind their teammates in the no87 Ligier, with Rik Koen bringing the no34 Inter Europol Competition Ligier home in third.
After the disappointment of Spain, the no97 COOL Racing Ligier of Adrien Chila and David Droux bounced back in France to take the win from third on the grid.
The start saw Fabien Michal had made the best use of his pole position to lead the 39-car field around the opening lap in the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine, but he had the no44 Team Virage Ligier driven by Jamie Falvey close behind. Falvey in turn had the no97 COOL Racing Ligier of Adrien Chila directly behind with the no59 Team Virage of Oscar Bittar and the no2 CD Sport of Shahan Sarkissian keeping pace with the leaders as well.
Fabien Michal’s day took a turn for the worse when the Ligier got onto the kerbs at T14 and spun across the track hitting the tyre wall on the inside. The no85 Ligier got going again but had dropped back to 4th place.
After the pitstops, Mihnea Stefan was in the no44 Team Virage and held a 4-second lead over David Droux in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier. However, the Swiss driver was rapidly closing the gap and swept into the lead with 40 minutes of the race remaining.
At the chequered flag, the no97 COOL Racing Ligier of David Droux crossed the line 6.7 seconds ahead of the no44 Team Virage Ligier of Mihnea Stefan, with the no85 R-ace GP 5.7 seconds further back in 3rd, a great recovery drive by Hadrien David.
ROAD TO LE MANS
An accident in the opening Road To Le Mans race caused significant damage to the barriers at Indianapolis, which meant the race was red flagged and the result declared after just 4 laps. This meant that half points were issued.
At the start of Race 1 the no22 Duqueine driven by Torsten Kratz quickly moved from 4th on the grid into the lead passing the two COOL Racing Ligiers ahead of him. Audunn Gudmundsson also made good progress in the no77 Team Thor Ligier, moving up to 3rd place behind Adrien Chila in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier.
Two cars went off track in separate incidents and after initially declaring a Slow Zone, the Race Director upgraded to a Safety Car to recover several cars and repair some damage to the barriers.
The Race went green after 23 minutes behind the Safety Car with the no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine driven by Leo Weiss quickly making his way back up into the overall lead. However, the no9 Graff Ligier of Louis Rossi impacted the barrier heavily, badly damaging his car and the barrier. With debris all across the track and the Armco barrier just twisted metal, the race was red-flagged.
The result was declared with the order on the lap just before the Safety Car, which put the no22 WTM by Rinaldi Duqueine on the top step of the podium, with the no97 COOL Racing Ligier finishing 4th and the no85 R-ace GP in 21st place.
Road to Le Mans Race 2 went the full distance which got underway with the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine of Fabien Michal leading the huge grid into the first corner. RTLM Race 1 winner Torsten Kratz was soon on the move in the no22 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine, moving up to third on the opening lap.
The race resumed after the second Safety Car period with Maximus Mayer in the no29 MV2S Racing Ligier ahead of the no6 ANS Motorsport Ligier of Clement Moreno, who was being caught by the no97 COOL Racing Ligier of David Droux, which had started the race at the back of the grid. Droux moved up to second on the outside of Moreno at Indianapolis.
The last lap saw David Droux closing the gap to Maximus Mayer in the leading MV2S Ligier, the Spaniard pushing hard to keep the gap as the chequered flag approached. There was a heart-stopping moment for the team when Mayer ran wide on the exit of Virage du Pont, but the Spanish driver gathered the car up and kept the charging COOL Racing Ligier at bay, crossing the line just 0.935s ahead.
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS
The 7km circuit at Spa-Francorchamps invariably produces a drama-filled race and it didn’t fail to disappoint for the entire of the 110-minute encounter. With three Safety Car periods and a 3-minute dash to the chequered flag that saw the winning margin measured in tenths, it was anything but boring.
The dash to the first corner resulted in a collision at La Source. The pole-sitting no85 R-ace GP Duqueine of Fabien Michel was tapped into a spin by the no2 CD Sport Ligier and several cars went off in avoidance. The first Safety Car was deployed to recover the cars, with Michel being forced to retire.
After the pitstops, the no67 Haegeli by T2 Racing Duqueine of Samir Ben emerged in the lead, to the surprise of many in the pitlane. It turned out the team had a pitstop time of 2 minutes and 3 seconds when the reference time was 2 minutes and 40 seconds. This meant the team would have to pit again or be given a penalty.
A late Safety Car saw the no67 Ligier still leading but had been given a 37-second Stop and Go penalty for the pitstop time issue but continued to lead behind the Safety Car as the pitlane was closed.
The race restarted with 3 minutes left on the clock. The no13 M Racing Ligier tried to pass the no67 Ligier but Alexandre Cougnaud had to back out as Ben defended the position, the French driver knowing he didn’t want to end up in the barriers when his opponent was going to have a penalty.
At the last corner, Alexandre Cougnaud pounced, colliding with the no67 car and moving ahead to take the chequered flag.
However, the no13 M Racing Ligier was given a 5-second penalty for the collision with the no67 Haegeli by T2 Racing, which dropped them to 7th and promoted the rest of the cars up one place. Bretton Racing were classified in first place, the no87 COOL Racing in second, and the no99 More Motorsport in third. David Droux brought the no97 Ligier home in 9th place.
MUGELLO
The LMP3 race was won by the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine-Nissan of Fabien Michal and Hadrien David, the all-French team taking a lights to flag victory and regain the championship lead with one race remaining in Portimao next month.
Spa winners Bretton Racing finished in second with the Nielsen Racing taking the final podium place ahead of championship contenders Adrien Chila and David Droux in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier.
PORTIMAO
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, David crossing the line in 14thplace. The only consolation was the extra point for Fabien Michal’s 5th pole position of the season.
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 secure the title. A late Full Course Yellow to recover the stranded no99 More Motorsport Ligier gave Droux the breathing room he needed to bring the car home in 4th place and lift the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup crown.
The race win went to the no77 Team Thor Ligier, with Audunn Gudmundsson and Colin Noble standing on the top step of the podium in the last race for the Icelandic team. The no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier of Tony Wells and Wayne Boyd.
The no20 High Class Racing Ligier of Jens Moller and Tommy Foster took the final podium place to secure third place in the championship standings.
CLICK HERE for the final LMP3 championship standings in the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup.
