In Barcelona next month the 8th season of the Michelin Le Mans Cup will begin. In this second part of ‘Where Are They Now?’ we look back at the first season of the MLMC and another four of the drivers who took part in the inaugural season that was just for GT3 cars.
Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr
2011 FIA GT3 European Champion Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr raced together in the first season of the Michelin Le Mans Cup in an AF Corse prepared Ferrari 488 GT3.The season started well with two 4ths and a 5th placed finish in the opening three rounds.Unfortunately, three DNFs meant they finished 7th overall at the end of the season.
There was some success in 2016 with the two standing on the top step of the Pro-Am podium at the end of the Gulf 12 Hours.
Castellacci and Flohr moved to the FIA World Endurance Championship, teaming up with Miguel Molina to take four podiums, including a win in Japan, finishing 4th in LMGTE Am in their first season.They have been a regular feature on the WEC grid since then but there have only been three move visits to the podium (two in 2018-19 and one in 2021).
The Swiss-Italian duo will be back on the WEC grid in 2023 and will race together alongside Davide Rigon at the 100th anniversary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June.
Hiroshi Hamaguchi and Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
Japan’s Hiroshi Hamaguchi teamed up with Britain’s Adrian Quaife-Hobbs for the inaugural MLMC season.Hamaguchi raced in the 2010 Super GT series in his homeland, taking three podiums, including one win, from the seven races.In 2013 he won the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race in a Clearwater Racing run Ferrari 458.
The 2016 Michelin Le Mans Cup was Hamaguchi’s first European series and scored two second place finishes at Imola and at Le Mans alongside Quaife-Hobbs in a FFF Racing Team by ACM run McLaren 650S GT3.The pairing finished 5th in the overall standings at the end of the season.
Since then, Hiroshi Hamaguchi has been racing in Asia and in Europe, winning the GT Cup for Japan at the 2019 FIA Motorsport Games.The Japanese driver returned to the MLMC in 2020 for the Road To Le Mans, winning both races in a FFF Racing Team by ACM run Lamborghini Huracan with Andrea Caldarelli.
British driver Adrian Quaife-Hobbs enjoyed a very successful karting career winning the British Regional Championship in 2004. The driver from Kent got his car racing off to a great start by winning the T Cars in 2005 and followed this up by winning the Auto GP World Series in 2012.
Adrian then competed in GP2 for two years, taking 1 win and three further podium finishes before switching to GTs in 2015.In 2016 he joined Hiroshi Hamaguchi in the Michelin Le Mans Cup taking two second places with the Japanese driver.
In 2017 Adrian Quaife-Hobbs stepped back from racing to concentrate on developing his highly successful simulator business, Pro Sim (www.pro-sim.co.uk), which he still runs today.
