Michelin Le Mans Cup

Highly dramatic LMC in France – updated

Saturday April 13th, 2019Sunday April 14th, 2019 Jens Jensen

It was a dramatic season opener in Michelin Le Mans Cup, when the 31 cars took the start at Circuit Paul Ricard. Already on the first lap there was panic in the midfield, when Michael Markussen in KEO Racing #43 had a contact with a competitor. The Dane fell back, and it didn’t help that he also got a Drive-through penalty for a jump start. Krypton Motorsport Mercedes #35 and BHK Motorsport #16 had a contact with each other in Turn 4, which damaged both cars so much that they…

LMC qualifying at Paul Ricard

Saturday April 13th, 2019 Jens Jensen

The qualifying for the first round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup was run at Circuit Paul Ricard in the South of France. The rules in LMC state that the Bronze rated driver will have to qualify the cars, so the faster drivers would have to stand in the pits and watch their less experienced teammates do the job. First onto the track was the 10 GT3 cars, for their 15 minute session. The tendency from the practice sessions continued, and it was to be a battle between Ferrari and…

Michelin Le Mans Cup Paul Ricard Friday

Friday April 12th, 2019 Jens Jensen

The Michelin Le Mans Cup 2019 really got underway today at Paul Ricard, where the two free practice sessions and a Bronze driver test was run. The first practice ran without major issues for most of the teams. Only Graff #39 had a small kiss with the barrier in Turn 2, but just with cosmetic damage to the car. United Autosports #24 with Wayne Boyd was the fastest driver, ahead of GrainMarket Racing #20 and the Danish KEO Racing #43 outfit. There was another Danish success story with Mikkel Mac…

Eurointernational’s cars in French police custody – updated

Friday April 12th, 2019Saturday April 13th, 2019 Jens Jensen

Eurointernational hasn’t been on track in neither the European Le Mans Series nor the Michelin Le Mans Cup, and there is one simple reason for that – the team don’t have any cars parked in their garage. French police showed up at the track Friday morning with a order to take the two Ligier JS P3 chassis’ into custody, that was going to be used in ELMS and LMC respectively. According to team sources, they however have done nothing wrong. It all comes down to an old contract, with a…

ELMS gets night race

Thursday April 11th, 2019Friday April 12th, 2019 Jens Jensen

European Le Mans Series will join in with a night race of their own. The series have tweaked the 2019 schedule a bit, so the 4 hours at Circuit de Catalunya will be run on Saturday evening 20 July, instead of the traditional Sunday afternoon, which is the usual time for the ELMS races. That makes the race start at 18.30 local time, with the race finishing on a slightly floodlit track, but not on the same level as we know from things like Formula 1. The official reasoning is…

Family affairs in LMP3

Thursday April 11th, 2019Wednesday April 10th, 2019 Jens Jensen

There are three cars in the Michelin Le Mans Cup, where the two drivers know each other exceptionally well. At the opening round of the 2019 season at Paul Ricard in the south of France, there are three father-and-son combinations racing. We have had Alexander Talkanitsa Snr and Jr in the same car for several seasons, where AT Racing most recently raced in the European Le Mans Series. They have changed to the Michelin Le Mans Cup now, where they can do all the running themselves, without an added third…

Michelin Le Mans Cup test Paul Ricard 2019

Wednesday April 10th, 2019 Jens Jensen

Michelin Le Mans Cup has done their first collective test at Circuit Paul Ricard, ahead of the first round, which will be run at the same track this Saturday. The 31 cars had a total of 7 hours available at the circuit, which gave the teams good opportunities to give plenty of laps for the two drivers of each car. A typical ELMS line-up consists of three drivers, but since they are four hour races, and LMC is just two, with a single pitstop in the middle, there is no…

31 cars at Le Mans Cup opening round

Thursday April 4th, 2019Thursday April 4th, 2019 Jens Jensen

The Michelin Le Mans Cup will start this coming week at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. LMC, as the series is known in short form, is a support series for the European Le Mans Series, and that might end up being an even more unpredictable season than the ELMS itself. 31 cars have entered the first round of the championship. LMC has the huge prize, that the winner of the GT3 category will be handed an entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2020. There are LMP3 cars…

LMP3 generation 2 presented

Thursday February 7th, 2019Thursday April 4th, 2019 Jens Jensen

Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) has announced the new LMP3 regulations, starting 2020. The LMP3 category was introduced in 2015, where Ginetta was the first company to have a car ready. Ligier joined them later in the year, while Adess and Norma are the two latest. Ginetta left the party early on, when they had an argument with the engine supplier ORECA. The Adess car is only made in a very few editions, but they are still active. The 4 constructors are all invited again to the new regulations, where…