An incident packed race at Le Castellet for Round 3 of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup saw the no16 Team Virage Ligier of Julien Gerbi and Gillian Henrion take the chequered flag to extend their championship lead. The pole position no87 COOL Racing Ligier finished in second place, 4.9 seconds behind the leaders.
The no19 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini won the GT3 category after the no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin Vantage had a problem stopping and rejoining in second place 15-minutes before the chequered flag. Patrick Kujala brought the Lamborghini home 3.2 seconds ahead of Valentin Hasse Clot, who crossed the finish line without further incident.
Drama Right at the Start
The race started in good order but at Turn 1 there were two separate incidents when the no68 M Racing and the no15 Inter Europol Competition Ligiers collided on the entrance to the corner. The no83 AF Corse Ferrari moved over and collided with the no64 Team Parker Racing Porsche. A Safety Car was deployed to allow the marshals to clear the debris from the track and for the cars to rejoin.
The marshals worked efficiently, and the race went green again after just 5 minutes. Later in the race the no83 Ferrari and the no68 Ligier were given drive through penalties for causing the collisions.
The no87 COOL Racing Ligier of Adrien Chila was leading after starting on pole, with the no29 MV2S Racing Ligier in second and the no11 CD Sport Ligier in third. Arnold Robin had moved into the lead in the no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, with the no19 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini of Gabriel Rindone and the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Hiroshi Hamaguchi fighting for 2nd and 3rd ahead of championship leader Tim Creswick in the no86 HCR by CaffeineSix Porsche.
The race settled down, with several battles raging in the mid order but the battles at the front remaining the same. There was a Full Course Yellow period when the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier suffered a tyre failure which caused damage to the rear bodywork and dropped debris on the track.
Once again, the race went green very quickly after the track was cleared. The no16 Team Virage Ligier of Julien Gerbi had made its way up to 4th before the FCY, but on the restart Gerbi was able to pass both the no11 and no29 Ligiers to move up to second. The no29 MV2S Racing Ligier then pulled off the track, stopping briefly before re-joining but dropping back.
As the pitstop window approached the no59 Team Virage Ligier went off track with a puncture. The debris from the car caused another Full Course Yellow, which saw the competitors head to the pits to change drivers.
The race went green again after just 8 minutes but all the cars had managed to conduct their mandatory pitstop. The no87 COOL Racing Ligier was still leading with Cedric Oltramare at the wheel, with the no16 Team Virage Ligier of Gillian Henrion closing the gap.
The French driver took the lead and started to pull away from the chasing pack. Colin Noble in the no77 Team Thor Ligier was quickly moving up the field, the Scot picking off several cars to move up behind the 5thplaced no2 CD Sport Ligier of Kirill Smal. Noble went ahead but Smal fought back and lunged down the inside of the Icelandic team’s car, spinning both cars off the track. Noble rejoined quickly, losing a couple of places. Smal was given a drive through penalty for causing the collision.
The no10 Aston Martin was now driven by Valentin Hasse Clot, the French driver leading by over five seconds from the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini of Vincent Abril and the no19 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini of Patrick Kujala. The no63 Lamborghini was given a 1 second stop and go penalty for failing to complete the minimum pit stop time, which promoted Kujala into second place, with Ander Fjordbach in the no86 HCR by CaffeineSix Porsche in third.
The no3 DKR Engineering Duqueine of James Winslow was fending off a determined challenge by the no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier of Josh Skelton, which came to an end when Skelton had to pit with a problem. However, Winslow then had the no26 360 Racing Ligier of Tommy Foster on his rear wing and Foster soon took the third place, with the recovering Colin Noble also passing the no3 Duqueine for 4th.
With 15 minutes left on the clock there was another Full Course Yellow after the no27 24-7 Motorsport Ligier of Louis Hamilton-Smith stopped in the middle of the track at Turn 5. As the cars slowed down the leading no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin stopped, Hasse Clot’s car suffering from a loss of power. He stopped, restarted the car and re-joined but the no19 Lamborghini had moved into the GT3 lead.
The race went green with 10 minutes to go. Colin Noble lost a place to James Winslow at the restart but regained the 4thplace position a lap later.
The no86 HCR by CaffeineSix Porsche was given a drive through penalty for abusing track limits but Vincent Abril in the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini had already taken the place spot from Anders Fjordbach.
The chequered flag was shown with the no16 Team Virage Ligier taking the win, from the no87 COOL Racing Ligier. The no26 360 Racing Ligier-Nissan finished third on the road but was given a 10 second penalty by the Stewards after the race (Stewards Decision no29).
At the end of a Full Course Yellow period, driver Tommy Foster had increased his speed in excess of the permitted 80 kph two seconds before the FCY was withdrawn. The penalty dropped the no26 Ligier to 6th and promoted the no77 Team Thor Ligier of Colin Noble and Audunn Gudmundsson to third.
The GT3 category saw the no19 Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini take the first MLMC GT3 win for a German team, with the no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin in second and the no63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini rounding out the podium places.
CLICK HERE for the result from the Le Castellet Round, Round 3 of the 2023 Michelin Le Mans Cup.
Round 4 will take place in Aragon, Spain on Saturday 26 August.
