In 2016 the ACO launched the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup and the very first race of this brand-new series was held on the 14 May at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari. The 2016 season only featured the GT3 category, with the LMP3 class joining the grid in 2017 after a successful one-off joint event at Le Mans in June 2016.
Imola, which is situated 40km east of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, was opened in 1953 and the current 4.9km circuit is one of only a handful of major international circuits that runs in an anti-clockwise direction.
On Saturday 14 May 2022, exactly six years after the first event, the Michelin Le Mans Cup will once again race at Imola, returning to the circuit where it all began.
2016
The grid for the inaugural Michelin Le Mans Cup race featured eleven GT3 cars, with several past and future champions amongst the 22 drivers – Johnny Mowlem (2013 ELMS LMGTE Champion), Phil Hanson (2020 ELMS and 2019/20 FIAWEC LMP2 Champion), Matteo Cressoni (2021 ELMS LMGTE) and Egidio Perfetti (2018/19 FIAWEC LMGTE AM Champion).
The 2-hour race at Imola resulted in victory for the no34 TF Sport Aston Martin Vantage of Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey, finishing 16 seconds ahead of the no55 FFF Racing Team by ACM McLaren 605S of Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.
A second victory would follow at the final round in Estoril for Yoluc and Hankey, which enabled TF Sport to secure the 2016 MLMC Team title, while the drivers finished the season as Vice Champions, 14 points behind the Russian duo of Aleksey Basov and Viktor Shaitar.
CLICK HERE to visit the official website of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari
