Back

What’s new in the 2019 Michelin Le Mans Cup regulation?

Applications for teams to enter the 2019 Michelin Le Mans Cup will open on the 7th December and close on the 25th February. Here are the main amendments to the sporting regulations for the 2019 season.

03/12/2018

A system of “Pitstop Handicap” will be applied to the top 5 GT3 cars. It will be based on the GT3 team championship and applied for each event according to the championship points at the end of the previous event. The Pitstop Handicap will not be applicable for the first event of the Championship. The calculation of the Pitstop Handicap for the top 5 will be the following: (Number of points of the 1st/2nd/3rd/4th/5th placed competitors – Numbers of points of the sixth placed competitor) x 0.5 = additional seconds added to the pit stop time. There will be no pitstop handicap for every competitor classified 6th or lower at the previous event. The number of additional seconds rounded down to the nearest second shall be added to the reference pitstop time. (Art 10.16)
In order to promote new technologies, the Michelin Le Mans Cup Committee may authorise one competitor presenting an innovative car in the innovative category (in the same spirit as the Garage 56 of the 24 Hours of Le Mans), which does not meet the 2019 technical rules subject to the following conditions:
- The car must be the product of an innovative technological project which will be assessed by the Selection Committee.
- The ACO will have to obtain the necessary guarantees regarding safety, performance and reliability of the car, as well as all other requirements it deems necessary.
- The innovative car will take part in the race outside the classifications.
- The Sporting Regulations will be applied (entries, driving times, qualification minima, etc.). The ACO may grant waivers linked to the technical features of the car (eg fuelling procedure). (Art 3.2.4)
Only the full season competitors will be able to score points for the Series titles. (Art 11.3.1.d)
The competitors will have the authorisation to use an additional set of used tyres. Which means that for the GT3 class, the competitors will have 5 sets of tyres including 2 sets of used tyres. The LMP3 entries will have 4 sets of tyres including 2 sets of used tyres from the previous race. (Art 7.7.1 and 7.7.2)
Bronze drivers collective test sessions reserved exclusively for drivers who have been categorised as Bronze by the FIA may be organised by LMEM, if possible and according to the timetable, at each race. The Bronze drivers collective test sessions won’t be mandatory and there will be no limitation on tyres. (Art 9.3).