In wet conditions championship leader Julien Gerbi in the no16 Team Virage Ligier Nissan topped the times in the final qualifying of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup. The extra point for pole puts him and Gillian Henrion 22 points ahead of their nearest rivals and only need to finish 8th or better to secure both the Teams and Drivers titles.
Gerbi’s lap of 1m56.685 was six tenths ahead of the second placed car, the no11 CD Sport Ligier of Lebanese driver Shahan Haig Sarkissian and the no77 Team Thor Ligier of championship contender Audunn Gudmundsson.
The no59 Team Virage Ligier of Oscar Bittar had held the top spot at the start of the session but slipped back to 4th by the time the chequered flag was shown.
As the cars headed out on track rain began to fall on the circuit and with the no55 GMB Motorsport Honda of Thomas Andersen spinning into the barriers, the session was red flagged with just 2 minutes of running elapsed.
The session got back to green flag running with the cars on wet weather tyres. The no64 Team Parker Racing Porsche 911 took the top spot with Alex Martin posting a 1m54.614, 0.204s ahead of the Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Hiroshi Hamaguchi and over two seconds ahead of Championship leader Arnold Robin in the Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage.
As the session progressed the track got slicker, and the earlier times were never challenged by anyone on the grid. So, Alex Martin took his and Team Parker Racing’s first MLMC pole ahead of the season finale in Portimão.
The no64 Porsche also starts at the very front of the grid as the LMP3 times were slower. This is the first time that a GT3 has qualified ahead of the LMP3 field since the series started in 2017.
CLICK HERE for the result from qualifying for the Portimão round.
