Barcelona
For the second year in a row the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier JS P325-Toyota driven by Eric De Doncker and Gillian Henrion were victorious in the LMP3 Pro/Am category.
As in 2025, the race for the title went down to the final race of the season, with the same two cars battling it out for the championship and a dramatic twist in the final part of the race deciding the destination of the title.
While it was Eric De Doncker’s second championship win in a row, it was Gillian Henrion’s fourth in five years after winning the Ligier European Series JS P4 crown in 2022 and the MLMC LMP3 title in 2023.
The opening race of the 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup season saw 10 entries in the LMP3 Pro/Am class at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
In qualifying the first pole of the season went to the no34 Inter Europol Competition Ligier with Alex Bukhantsov claiming the first point of the year by 0.285s ahead of the no71 Rinaldi Racing and the nono62 Bretton Racing. Eric De Doncker qualified the no98 Ligier in 6th, 2.6 seconds behind Bukhantsov’s laptime.
The LMP3 Pro/Am class was won by the no62 Bretton Racing Ligier, with Poland’s Jacek Zielonka and Algerian racer Léo Sami Robinson taking the victory by 3.2 seconds ahead of the no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier at the end of the 2-hour race. The no98 Motorsport98 Ligier finished 6th, one lap behind to the leaders at the chequered flag.
The first of two Michelin Le Mans Cup races in France was held at the Circuit Paul Ricard in May ahead of the second race at Le Mans in June. Once again, it was Eric De Doncker who qualified the car. The Belgian finished the session in 5th place, 2.8 seconds behind Alex Bukhantsov, who claimed his second pole of the season, with the no71 Rinaldi Racing and no62 Bretton racing in second and third in a mirror image of qualifying in Spain the month before.
In the race Stefan Aust in the no71 Rinaldi Racing had worked his way to the front of the LMP3 Pro/Am field ahead of the no34 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Alex Bukhantsov, with the no58 GG Classics Ligier of James Sweetnam also challenging the leading cars. However, a steering failure put Aust into the pits and into retirement.
Gillian Henrion in the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier had taken over from Eric De Doncker at the halfway point of the 2-hour race and was soon challenging Leo Robinson in the no62 Bretton Racing Ligier. Henrion finally made a move that worked when the two cars were negotiating traffic, but Robinson was not going to give in quietly and was soon challenging Henrion for the lead. Eventually Henrion found some traffic to put between the two cars, and he finally pulled out a gap.
Gillian Henrion took the chequered flag to secure their first victory of the season over eight seconds ahead of Round 1 winners Jacek Zielonka and Leo Sami Robinson in the no62 Bretton Racing Ligier, which kept the Bretton Racing duo at the head of the LMP3 Pro/Am points standings 10 points ahead of De Doncker and Henrion.
In a change from previous years, the 2026 Road To Le Mans would be a three-hour races with 38 points instead of the normal 25 points on offer to the class winners. Le Mans is also the only race the pro drivers can take part in qualifying and Eric De Doncker handed over the qualifying duty to his young French teammate.
At the end of the session the no3 DKR Engineering Ligier took the LMP3 Pro/Am pole after Quentin Antonel’s best lap of 3m50.901 was good enough for 6th overall. The no98 Motorsport98 took the other front row position, with Gillian Henrion’s best lap of 3m51.293 being 0.392 seconds behind Antonel. With the DKR Ligier not being a full season entry in the MLMC, Henrion claimed the championship point for pole as the fastest championship contender. The no62 Bretton Racing and no71 Rinaldo Racing filled Row 2, with Léo Sami Robinson posting a 3m51.897 and Felipe Fernandez-Laser a 3m52.014 lap.
The Friday race saw plenty of drama, which extended beyond the chequered flag. Wayne Boyd brought the M Racing Ligier home to claim victory in the LMP3 Pro/Am class after his teammate Daniel Goldburg started at the back of the class field. Gillian Henrion finished second in the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier, 98 seconds behind Boyd and 18 seconds ahead of the no3 DKR Engineering Ligier of Quentin Antonel.
However, the no78 M Racing Ligier was penalised after the race for not respecting the minimum pitstop reference time and the victory, and 38 valuable championship points, went to the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier. This put the Belgian team at the head of the championship standings with a 12-point lead at the halfway point of the season.
After two home races for Gillian Henrion, it was time to head to the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for Eric De Doncker's home race.
Qualifying saw Alex Bukhantsov resuming his dominant pace, claiming his third pole of the season for Inter Europol Competition, with Allay Racing and Bretton Racing finishing the session in 2nd and 3rd respectively. Eric De Doncker qualified in 7th place.
The race was interrupted seven times during the 120-minute race, with five Safety Car periods and two Full Course Yellows. De Doncker kept out of trouble to hand over the Motorsport98 Ligier to Henrion in a good position, with the French driver soon moving up the order, passing the no71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier for the lead into Les Combes to take the lead. He took the chequered flag to claim a third victory from four starts in LMP3 Pro/Am, finishing ahead of the no71 Rinaldi Racing and the no34 Inter Europol Competition Ligiers.
This also extended the championship lead to 27-points over the no66 Rinaldi Racing duo of Steve Parrow and Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen, with the no62 Bretton Racing crew of Jacek Zielonka and Leo Sami Robinson 33-points behind the leading car.
Alex Bukhantsov made it four from four in qualifying at Silverstone, claiming his 4th pole of the season, three tenths ahead of the rest of the field. Eric De Doncker had a better qualifying session, finishing 4th behind the no48 Allay Racing and no71 Rinaldi Racing Ligiers, his best qualifying performance of the season.
The rain hit race caused teams a dilemma on tyre strategy and it was Rinaldi Racing that came out on top with a 1-2 finish for the German team.
The no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Steve Parrow and Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen won, with Pedersen taking the chequered flag 1.2 seconds ahead of his teammate Felipe Fernandez-Laser. Gillian Henrion was struggling for grip on wet tyres at the end of the race and slipped back to fourth in the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier.
The result meant that the championship was going to be decided between Motorsport98 and the no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier, with De Doncker and Henrion holding a 14-point advantage and needing to finish 4th in the final race of the year to retain their title.
The final qualifying of the 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup saw Alex Bukhantsov take a clean sweep of the five qualifying sessions he took part in, finishing the 15-minute session 0.147s ahead of the rest of the field, with Allay Racing in second, Bretton Racing in third and the no71 Rinaldi Racing in 4th.
Eric de Doncker qualified 6th, but more importantly he was two places ahead of his championship rival Steve Parrow in the no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier with the German driver needing to win the race to in with a chance of taking the title away from his Belgian rival.
In the race the LMP3 Pro/Am victory went to the no71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Stefan Aust and Felipe Fernandez-Laser, the first win for the German teammates since Road To Le Mans in 2025. Fernandez-Laser crossed the line 2.6 seconds ahead of his teammate Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen in the no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier, with the no34 Inter Europol Competition Ligier in third.
The no98 Motorsport98 of Eric De Doncker and Gillian Henrion finished 4th after receiving a drive through penalty for causing a collision with the no51 AF Corse Ferrari. However, fourth place was good enough to secure the MLMC LMP3 Pro/Am title for a second year in a row.
CLICK HERE for the 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 Pro/Am Championship standings.
