With the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup now at the halfway point of the season with three rounds complete and three rounds to go, the championship standings in the LMP3 and GT3 classes are looking very interesting.
With two wins in Barcelona and Le Castellet, the no16 Team Virage Ligier Nissan driven by Gillian Henrion and Julien Gerbi has a healthy 18-point lead.The Polish flagged team has 54 points, with the no77 Team Thor Ligier of Audunn Gudmundsson and Colin Noble in second place on 36-points.
The third placed entry after four races is the no 87 COOL Racing Ligier on 29-points, with Adrien Chila and Cedric Oltramare a race win (25 points) behind the leading Team Virage Ligier.
The no26 360 Racing Ligier of Terrence Woodward and Tommy Foster is 4thon 27 points, despite failing to score a podium finish from the first four races.
The British team is 1 point ahead of the no97 COOL Racing Ligier with Road To Le Mans race winners Luis Sanjuan and David Droux on 26 points.But it is worth noting that a RTLM victory is worth 15-points, not 25-points as in the 110-minute races.
The no2 CD Sport Ligier of Kirill Smal and Fabien Michal is on 25 points thanks to podium finishes in Barcelona and in the second RTLM race, while RTLM Race 1 winners John Melsom and Matt Bell are 7thon 20-points in the no4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine.
After falling back to second place in the championship standings after Road To Le Mans, Round 1 winners Valentin Hasse Clot and Arnold Robin went back to the top of the leader board with a second place finish in Le Castellet in the no10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage.The French duo head to Aragon on 54 points, a 10-point advantage over their nearest rivals.
With maximum points in Le Mans, taking 15-points from each of the two races as the top MLMC competitors, Anders Fjordbach and Tim Creswick were the championship leaders before Le Castellet.However, a 9thplace finish in the second French event dropped the no86 HCR by CaffeineSix Porsche 911 back to second place with 44-points.
Victory in Le Castellet propelled the no19 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan up the standings to third overall, with Gabriel Rindone and Patrick Kujala on 34-points.The no51 AF Corse Ferrari, which finished 4thin Le Castellet is also on 34-points but Japan’s Hiroshi Koizumi and Kei Cozzolino are classified 4thin the standings due to Leipert Motorsport’s victory in France.
Nick Jones and Scott Malvern are 23 points behind the leaders with the no18 Team Parker Racing Porsche on 31-points, thanks in part to the second-place finish in Barcelona.
Round 4 of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup will take place on Friday 25 August in Aragon, Spain.
CLICK HERE for the championship positions after Round 3 in Le Castellet.
