With five races completed and two remaining, the 2018 Michelin Le Mans Cup is reaching its conclusion after a drama filled season.
Round 5 will take place in the Ardennes on the 7km Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium with all four titles in both the LMP3 and GT3 categories likely to be decided as the chequered flag falls on Saturday 22 September.
Twenty six cars are due to line up for two hours of endurance racing action. The grid will consist of 17 teams and 52 drivers from 13 different nations, with local Belgian interest centred on the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier of Eric De Doncker and his French co-driver Dino Lunardi.
With the Dutch and German borders not far from Spa there will also be a lot of interest for the current LMP3 championship leaders Leonard Hoogenboom and Jens Petesen who are racing with reigning team champions DKR Engineering from Luxembourg.
Hoogenboom and Petersen have won three of the five races and hold a commanding 38.5 point lead over the Ecurie Ecosse Nielsen pairing of Alasdair McCaig and Colin Noble. To be declared champions in Belgium, the Dutch-German pair need to be at least 26 points ahead of their nearest rivals when the teams head to Portugal for the season finale.
As long as the no3 DKR Engineering Norma finishes in the top 3 at the end of the two hour race they will be guaranteed to take the title, otherwise there will be someone in the team with a calculator working out the championship permutations as the race unfolds.
It is a similar story in the GT3 category with Giacomo Piccini and Sergio Pianezzola also winning three races from five starts in 2018. They are currently on 86 points in the no8 Kessel Racing Ferrari F488, with a 21 point advantage over the second placed no51 Spirit of Race F488 of Christophe Ulrich and Maurizio Mediani.
Piccini and Pianezzola need to gain another six points in Belgium to open up a 27 point advantage to be confirmed as 2018 champions at the end of the two hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. Victory number four would be the perfect way to secure the 2018 Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 title and the Italian crew will be aiming for that on Saturday 22 September.
CLICK HERE for the provisional entry list
