This week we should have been racing in Le Mans for the biggest race of the Michelin Le Mans Cup season, Road To Le Mans. Let’s have a look back at the first race back in 2016.
The Road to Le Mans event in support of the 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been an important event on the Michelin Le Mans Cup calendar. The first event in June 2016 was unique because it was a single 55-minute race on Saturday morning before the big race and it was the first time that the GT3 and LMP3 classes ran together as the 2016 Michelin Le Mans Cup was for GT3 cars only.
The race attracted a good size grid of 37-cars, with 19 entered in the GT3 category alongside the 18 strong LMP3 class. It also featured many drivers who would go on to win races and titles in the ELMS, FIA World Endurance Championship and victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Qualifying saw the no88 Mentos Racing Porsche of 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans LMGTE AM winner Egidio Perfetti and ELMS race winner Klaus Bachler take the GT3 pole, six tenths ahead of the no57 AF Corse Ferrari of eventual 2016 Michelin Le Mans GT3 Cup driver champions Alexsey Basov and Victor Shaitar.
The LMP3 grid was headed by the no2 United Autosports Ligier of former FIA World Sportscar Champion Martin Brundle and Christian England, who would go on to become the 2016 ELMS LMP3 Champion alongside Martin’s son Alex and American Mike Guasch. The Ligier claimed pole position by just 0.185s ahead of the no32 Ginetta P3-15-Nissan of team boss Lawrence Tomlinson and reigning ELMS LMP3 Champion Charlie Robertson.
Here is a recap of the first Road to Le Mans race on Saturday 18 June 2016.
Racing for Victory at Le Sarthe
The Road To Le Mans got underway with plenty of action as soon as the 37 cars crossed the start line. In LMP3 the no32 Lawrence Tomlinson Ginetta-Nissan of Charlie Richardson was right behind the pole position car of Martin Brundle in the no2 United Autosports Ligier as they went up the hill towards Dunlop for the first time. Richardson left his braking late and his bravery paid off as he moved into the lead.
The no61 Graff Ligier of James Winslow also made up places on the opening part of the first lap and was up to third from sixth on the grid. Winslow then soon caught and passed Brundle’s Ligier for second place.
In the GT3 class, Egidio Perfetti in the no88 Mentos Racing Porsche made the most of his pole position to stay ahead of the no57 AF Corse of Alexsey Basov, the Norwegian soon opening up a comfortable gap to the chasing Russian as the race progressed.
Back at the front, Richardson had opened up a 2.7 second lap to Winslow, who had Brundle’s United Autosports LMP3 filling his rear view mirrors. Two laps of the 13.6km circuit later and Martin Brundle moved back into second place.
The no7 Scuderia Villorba Corse Ligier of Roberto Lacorte caused the first Slow Zone of the race to declare when the Italian went off into the gravel at the Forza Chicane. After 5 minutes the car was recovered, and the Slow Zone was removed.
At this time the pitstop window opened and cars started to come in for their pitstops. A few cars were reported to the stewards for speeding in the pitlane including the GT3 race leader, the no88 Mentos Racing Porsche. A ten second stop and go penalty was the result and Klaus Bachler had to come into the pits to serve the penalty.
The no85 DC Racing Ligier of Thomas Laurent was back of the pits and challenging the no32 Ginetta after Charlie Richardson had handed over to Lawrence Tomlinson. Laurent overtook Tomlinson on the run into the Dunlop corner and soon opened up a comfortable gap. Tomlinson’s race then took a turn for the worse when he spun at Dunlop and the Ginetta went off into the gravel. This brought out the second Slow Zone of the race and dropping the English driver down the order as a result.
After the pitstops and the penalty for the no88 Porsche, the race lead now fell to the no57 AF Corse Ferrari, which now had Victor Shaitar at the wheel, who had the no34 TF Sport Aston Martin of Euan Hankey, the no26 Classic & Modern Racing Ferrari of Matthieu Vaxiviere and the no55 FFF Racing McLaren of Adrian Quaife-Hobbs in contention for the remaining podium places.
In LMP3, Thomas Laurent held a comfortable 14s lead in the no85 DC Racing Ligier from Christian England in the no2 United Autosports Ligier, with the no18 M Racing-YMR Ligier of Romano Ricci in 3rd but being caught by John Falb’s no77 Graff Ligier. The American fought his way into contention and with minutes left on the clock he passed Frenchman to take the final podium place.
At the chequered flag Alexandre Cougnaud, Thomas Laurent and DC Racing stood on the top step of the podium at Le Mans and celebrated a famous victory ahead of Martin Brundle and Christian England, with John Falb, who had competed on his own, completing the top three in the LMP3 class.
In the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup the AF Corse Ferrari of Alexsey Basov and Victor Shaitar finished 11.2 seconds ahead of the FFF Racing Team by ACM McLaren of Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs, with Klaus Bachler completing a good recovery drive in the no88 Mentos Racing Porsche after the earlier penalty and was joined by Egidio Perfetti on the podium.
This year Road To Le Mans will take place in September as the curtain riser of the 88th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
