MLMC at Spa-Francorchamps – Facts and Figures

Spa-Francorchamps has hosted the Belgian round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup since the first season in 2016, when the series was for GT3 cars only, and once again hosts the penultimate round of the season on Saturday 23 September.

Here are some facts and figures from the six races held at Spa-Francorchamps.

1. The first race winners in the Michelin Le Mans Cup were Aleksey Basov and Victor Shaitar in the no72 SMP Racing Ferrari 488.They finished just 0.722 seconds ahead of the no88 Mentos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Egidio Perfetti and Klaus Bachler in one of the closest ever finishes in the MLMC.
2. The first LMP3 MLMC race winners were Alex Toril and Jean Glorieux in the no3 DKR Engineering Norma M30-Nissan.The victory secured the 2017 LMP3 titles for the drivers and the team.
3. Giacomo Piccini has won the most races at Spa, winning in 2018 and 2019 with Sergio Pianezzola in the no8 Kessel Racing Ferrari and in 2020 with Rino Mastronardi in the no8 Iron Lynx Ferrari.
4. Kessel Racing took a 1-2-3 finish in GT3 in 2018, with GMB Motorsport also taking all three GT3 podium places in 2022.
5. 2021 MLMC LMP3 Champions Colin Noble and Tony Wells have both been on the podium three times.Noble and Wells finished 2^ndin 2017 and 3^rdin 2020, while Noble won in 2018 alongside Alasdair McCaig in the no79 Ecurie Ecosse / Nielsen Ligier.Tony Wells finished second alongside James Littlejohn in the same race giving the British team a 1-2.
6. Ferrari has won five of the seven GT3 encounters at Spa-Francorchamps, with Mercedes winning in 2017 and Honda in 2022.
7. Belgian teams and drivers have visited the podium at Spa three times since 2016 with Jean Glorieux taking victory in 2017 and finishing second in 2020.Eric De Doncker finished third in 2017 for Belgian team Motorsport98.
8. The current LMP3 official lap record was set on 18 September 2021

LMP3 - Matt BELL - 2m14.633 - 187.3kph

1. The current GT3 official lap record was set on 21 September 2019

GT3 - Ross GUNN - 2m18.672 - 181.8kph

1. The fastest outright lap recorded in LMP3 in the MLMC was set by Laurents Hörr in the no3 DKR Engineering Duqueine with a 2m12.766 lap (189.9 kph) set during FP1 on the 23 September 2022.
2. The fastest outright lap recorded in GT3 in the MLMC was by Fabien Lavergne in the no71 Luzich Racing Ferrari with a 2m17.902 lap (182.8 kph) set during qualifying on 21 September 2019.
3. The longest race distance was 51 laps (357.2km) in 2017 (Jean Glorieux/ Alex Toril) and in 2020 (Nicolas Maulini / Edouard Cauhaupe). In 2022 the race was shortened by 10 minutes, with the winners completing 36 laps.

The 110-minute race at Spa-Francorchamps is Round 5, and the sixth race, of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup and it will be held on Saturday 23 September.