The 2025 MLMC season will be the tenth edition since it all started with the first race for GT3 cars in Imola on 14 May 2016. There have been 62 races held since 2016, with 17 Road To Le Mans encounters, providing the first step on the ladder to the world’s greatest endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Michelin Le Mans Cup was revealed to the world in a press conference at the final round of the European Le Mans Series in Estoril, October 2015 and 11 GT3 cars took part in that first race in Italy the following spring.
LMP3 cars were not eligible to compete in 2016 but were invited to race in the very first Road To Le Mans in June, with Thomas Laurent and Alexandre Cougnaud winning the single 55-minute race in the DC Racing run Ligier JS P3-Nissan. The GT3 category at Le Mans was won by AF Corse, with Victor Shaitar and Aleksey Basov, who went on to win the inaugural MLMC GT3 Drivers’ title, taking the chequered flag at Le Mans in the no57 Ferrari 488.
While Basov and Shaitar secured the driver’s crown, TF Sport became the first ever MLMC Team Champions with Salih Yoluc and Euan Hankey finishing second in the driver standings after the final race of the season in Estoril.
The LMP3 category was officially added to the full season in 2017, with 20 cars, 15 LMP3 and 5 GT3s taking part in the 2-hour race at Monza on the 13 May.
There was also a change for the Road To Le Mans, with a second 55-minute race added to the schedule, attracting a 49-car entry for the event.
Jean Glorieux and Alex Toril took the LMP3 win in the DKR Engineering Norma ahead of eventual ELMS LMP3 Champions John Falb and Sean Rayhall, with Falb and Rayhall winning the first race on Thursday in the United Autosports Ligier.
TF Sport secured victory in both 55-minute races, with Ahmed Al Harthy and Tom Jackson in the no97 Aston Martin Vantage.
The 2017 titles were secured by DKR Engineering LMP3, with Glorieux and Toril taking a further three wins at the Red Bull Ring, Le Castellet and Spa-Francorchamps to wrap up both the team and driver titles with one race to spare. Emanuele Busnelli and Fabio Babini secured the GT3 title in the Ebimotors Porsche 911 with two wins at Red Bull Ring and Le Castellet.
The grid for the 2018 season grew again, with 28 cars lining up for the first race of the year in Le Castellet.The Road to Le Mans entry grew again, with 50 cars taking part in the 2018 edition.
DKR Engineering secured their second title in a row, with Jens Peterson and Leonard Hoogenboom securing both LMP3 titles after winning three of the seven races in the no3 Norma M30-Nissan. Kessel Racing became MLMC Team Champions, with Giacomo Piccini and Sergio Pianezzola winning five of the seven races in the no8 Ferrari 488 GT3.
Another good season for the Michelin Le Mans Cup, with the addition of the hydrogen powered prototype to the Innovative Car class, with Norman Nato and Olivier Lombard testing the car during the practice sessions.
It was three in a row for DKR Engineering in LMP3 as Laurents Horr and Francois Kirmann took the title with two wins, including one in the second RTLM race in June, the other being in Barcelona. Giacomo Piccini and Sergio Pianezzola gave Kessel Racing their second MLMC title in a row with four wins at Le Castellet, Barcelona, Spa-Francorchamps and Portimao in the Ferrari 488 GT3.
Despite the season starting at Le Castellet in July due to the Covid-19 crisis, there was still plenty of action-packed racing in the seven races that were held in four short months.
Laurents Horr took his second LMP3 title, with DKR Engineering securing their fourth in a row, this season with the Duqueine D08-M30-Nissan. In GT3 Giacomo Piccini took his third drivers title in a row alongside Rino Mastronardi in the Iron Lynx Ferrari 488 GT3, with four wins including one of the RTLM races in September.
The MLMC season started in Barcelona for the first time, with 31 cars taking part in the first race.
With DKR Engineering focusing on the ELMS in 2021, the team from Luxembourg winning the ELMS LMP3 title, Nielsen Racing stepped up to become the 2021 LMP3 champions after Tony Wells and Colin Noble secured the team and drivers titles in Portimao with two wins at Le Castellet and in Le Mans along the way. It was also the first MLMC LMP3 title for Ligier.
The GT3 team title went to Iron Lynx for the second season in a row.However, with several driver changes in the Iron Lynx Ferrari during the season, the drivers title being secured by Nicolas Leutwiler in the Pzoberer Zürichsee by TFT Porsche 911. This was the second time that the GT3 titles had been won by a separate team and driver.
The grid for the 2022 season had grown again, with 39 cars entered for the opening race in Le Castellet. The 2022 season also saw the H24 Racing hydrogen prototype take part in its first race, with Stephane Richelmi piloting the car in Portimao and completing 18 race laps.
Swiss team Racing Spirit of Leman took the LMP3 title with three wins, including one at Le Mans, for Alex Mattschull and Tom Dillmann. Danish team GMB Motorsport took the top three places in the GT3 standings, with Kasper Jensen and Kristian Poulsen taking the drivers title, securing two wins, including one at Le Mans, in the no55 Honda NSX.
A mammoth grid of 42 cars were entered for the first race of the 2023 season in Barcelona, with 30 LMP3 and 12 GT3 cars taking part.
Team Virage secured the LMP3 title, with reigning Ligier European Series Champion Gillian Henrion and Julien Gerbi taking the drivers’ title with two wins in Barcelona and Le Castellet.
After winning the LMP3 title the previous season, Racing Spirit of Leman became the first team to win both the LMP3 and GT3 crowns with Arnold Robin and Valentin Hasse Clot taking the title in the Aston Martin Vantage, the second MLMC title for the British manufacturer.
The 2024 season saw more growth for the series, with 58 cars joining the grid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans supporting Road To Le Mans.
Swiss team COOL Racing added the MLMC LMP3 title to their ELMS LMP3 championship wins, with Adrien Chila and David Droux finishing the season at the top of the standings ahead of R-Ace GP duo Fabien Michal and Hadrien David after a thrilling season long battle.
AF Corse became MLMC GT3 Champions for the first time, taking a 1-2 in the standings after the final race in Portimao. Matt Kurzejewski and Alessandro Balzan finished 40 points ahead of their AF Corse teammates Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini taking four wins from seven starts with victories in Barcelona, Le Castellet, Mugello and Portimao.
The start of the 10thseason of the Michelin Le Mans Cup will take place in Barcelona on Saturday 5 April with a huge 44 car grid signed up for the full season.
The series will return to 2-hour long races in 2025, the only exception will be Silverstone in September, with the Road To Le Mans races in June becoming 60-minute for the first time.
A new LMP3 category will also be seen for the first time with the MLMC expanding to three classes – LMP3, LMP3 Pro/Am and GT3.LMP3 will be for silver and gold rated drivers, while LMP3 Pro/Am will feature at least one bronze rated driver in the lineup.
Finally, the MLMC will visit Silverstone in the UK for the first time this September.
