The ACO launches a new endurance GT3 cup for 2016

At a press conference Sunday in Estoril, Pierre Fillion, president of the ACO and Gérard Neveu, CEO of ELMS, together with Pascal Couasnon, Michelin Motorsport Manager, announced the creation of a new GT3 series in 2016. The Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup will be launched next season and is reserved exclusively for GT3 cars. With prize money at the end of the season and an invite for the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours granted to the overall winner, this newly found cup is offering a straight entry to Le Mans.

The new championship will join the ELMS meetings from Imola on and have a sixth round at Le Mans, ahead of the 24 hours. The sporting programme in the Michelin GT3 Le Mans cup will be optimised in conjunction with the French GT Tour promotor. At the ELMS meetings, there will be 2 hour endurance races, the GT Tour meetings will have 1 hour sprint races.  There will be no clash in dates between both series, so the teams will be able to join both championships. The organisation of the new series will be managed by the same team who organises the ELMS, giving it a very good structural platform.

Gérard Neveu explained the goal of this new championship is to enlarge the endurance family and give new teams & drivers a taste of endurance racing & the Le Mans spirit.  The goal is to offer the best possible program for teams and drivers at a reasonable cost. The Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup will form the base of the endurance pyramid, giving teams the chance to have a taste of the passion for endurance racing and a platform offering a gateway into GTE, ELMS & further on possible to WEC and the Le Mans 24 Hours, similar with LMP3 to LMP2 and ELMS to WEC.

The race format will be a 2 hour endurance race, with 2 practice sessions of 35' & 25' beforehand. The championship will be open for all GT3 cars, with a minimum of 2 drivers of which one has to be bronze qualified. No decision has been made yet about the qualification of the other driver(s) as the sporting regulations are still in development and the organisation would like to further discuss this with participating teams. At this time, the objective is to have around 20 cars/teams on track by the start of the season.  The race ahead of the Le Mans 24 hours will be open to a maximum of 45 cars.  Having the race at Le Mans will be of great value for the championship, as this will give the teams and drivers a unique chance to race at the legendary circuit in the unique Le Mans atmosphere.

With the introduction of this new series, the GTC category will not compete in the European Le Mans Series anymore.  ELMS raceweekend will be packed with action in 2016 with the ELMS itself, Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup, Formula Renault 2.0 and Renault Sport Trophy.

Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO, said: “This new series is a logical step as part of the scheme adopted by the ACO for the development of endurance.  In addition to the WEC on the world stage, or the ELMS at European level, and the Asian Le Mans Series in Asia, with this new series the ACO adds another piece to its portfolio of competitions and strengthens its position as promoter of Championships and Endurance races.  It will be for the best teams and drivers in GT3, a true gateway to access the GTE world and therefore to have the opportunity to join the family of the 24 hours of Le Mans. The ACO also welcomes the strong involvement of Michelin in this new series, strengthening further the links between the world-renowned French manufacturer and Le Mans.”

Gérard Neveu, CEO of the European Le Mans Series, said: “The Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup enhances the ELMS programme for the 2016 season. In the same meeting, motorsport fans will be able to enjoy single seat racing with the Formula Renault 2.0, mono series with the RS01 and with the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup, all of this coming in addition to the main race of the weekend, the European Le Mans Series.

“This new series represents an excellent path for gentlemen drivers who want to progress in the world of endurance. Like we have always done in ELMS, we will do all we can so that the dream becomes reality for these gentlemen drivers. We are extremely pleased by the very strong interest that has already been shown by many GT teams for this new series. We look forward to seeing you in 2016 for a season that promises to be superb.”

Pascal Couasnon, Director, Michelin Motorsport: “Michelin has invested significantly in the development of its endurance racing tyre range over the past several seasons. It consequently seemed natural to share this expertise with the GT3 teams and, indirectly, with the manufacturers of GT3 cars. Through our involvement in the Le Mans 24 Hours and in the championships the Automobile Club de l’Ouest promotes, we already have close ties with the ACO, so it was a perfectly logical step to extend our partnership and thereby accompany the spectacular growth endurance racing has enjoyed in recent years. Michelin is very keen to be a part of this new challenge, especially as it will allow us to combine an endurance racing programme with a season of sprint racing within the framework of the GT Tour. We will provide the drivers who participate in the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup with tyres that will contribute both to their enjoyment and their performance thanks to the quality of their overall package.”

Kristof Vermeulen.

Felipe Albuquerque takes pole for Jota ahead of Greaves Motorsport

In a nail-biting qualifying session, Felipe Albuquerque hit the top mark and put the #38 Jota Gibson on pole. It all went down to the dying minutes of the session, when Felipe Albuquerque put in a  1.43.51, 0.8 seconds ahead of John Lancaster in the Greaves Gibson/Nissan.  Early in the session Leo Roussel set the pace in the #29 Pegasus Racing Morgan, untill Olivier Pla took over the lead in the #40 Krohn Ligier. When John Lancaster beat Pla's time with 0.001 second, it seemed like Greaves Motorsport had the pole in their hands, but Albuquerque put in his fastest lap at the end of the session.  Lancaster seemed to gain the advantage back in his last lap, but a double yellow at the beginning if the start/finish straight denied his chances to go full throttle.  So it's #38 Jota on pole, extending their lead to 2 points in the championship, ahead of the #41 Greaves and the #40 Krohn Ligier.  The third championship contender, #46 Thiriet Oreca05 took fourth place on the grid.  

In LMP3, Mike Simpson ultimately took pole ahead of newly crowned champion Charlie Robertson.  Both Ginetta's outpaced the Graff Ligier JS P3, 1.3 seconds behind them.  Richard Lietz took pole in the #88 Proton Porsche, the first time this season that there's no Ferrari on pole in thias class.  The championship leading #60 Formula Racing Ferrari is on second place, ahead of the #66 JMW Ferrari. Frank Perrera took the honours in GTC, even putting the TDS BMW ahead of the fastest GTE cars.  In these wet and damp conditions, the GTC cars surely have an advantage, with their ABS systems.  AF Corse took second and third place with the #63 and #62. 

We're in for a great race this afternoon, with all cards still to play for the championship.  All three title contenders will have to go all the way to clinch the 2015 title.  The weather forecast is still unpredictable; sunny and dry at the moment, but still a damp track, with dark clouds heading to the track again. 

Saturday practice sessions

Rain and heavy wind shortened the Saturday morning session in Portugal. Tricky conditions on track, causing lots of cars going off, luckfully without any huge damage.  At a certain point the clouds seemed to open up, only to do the opposite. Conditions got worse by the minute, resulting in a full course yellow due to debris from trees falling down on the track at the end of the start/ finish straight.  When the session got green flagged again, the Ginetta #3 of Hoy and Robertson spun into the gravel at the exit of turn 2.  Minutes later the red flag came out and due to the increasing amount of wind the session was ended after 64 minutes.  

The #40 Ligier JS P2 of Krohn racing topped the timetable after 64 minutes, thanks to an early quick lap of Olivier Pla. The #29 Pegasus Racing Morgan was second fastest, although on a reasonable distance of 3,8 seconds.  Third was the #46 Thiriet Oreca 05, nearly a second behind the Morgan. In LMP3 the #9 Graff Ligier JS P3 got third fastest, behind both Team LNT Ginetta's.  In GTE it was the #88 Proton Porsche fastest, ahead of the #66 JMW Ferrari and the #52 Marc VDS BMW. GTC was dominated by the #59 TDS Racing BMW, which was the fastest GT car on track, outpacing the GTE cars. AF Corse took 2nd and 3rd with the #63 and #64. 

Against all expectations, the weather changed just before the afternoon session started. Clouds opened up and the sun came out, making it a dry session.  Due to the omproved conditions the session was extended to 2 hours, so the teams could make up the time that was lost in the morning.  At the start of the session, the track was still quite wet and slippery but at the end, it was completely dry.  

Greaves Motorsport topped the times in LMP2, John Lancaster putting in the fastest lap of the afternoon, ahead of Nicolas Lapierre in the #46 Thiriet Oreca.  Mikhail Aleshin put the #21 AF Racing BR01 inbetween the 3 title contenders, holding off Harry Tincknell in the #38 Jota Sport Gibson.  Behind those 4, Eurasia Motorsport led the rest of the LMP2 contenders.  Team LNT took both top places again in LMP3, ahead of the #9 Graff Ligier, just over a second behind both Ginetta's.  GTE was very close, Ferrari factory driver and WEC regular James Calado put the #66 JMW Ferrari 458 on top, just 0.4 seconds faster than Andy Priaulx in the Marc VDS BMW who managed to hold off Richard Lietz in the #88 Proton Porsche.  In GTC The AF Corse Ferrari's #62 and #63 outpaced the #59 TDS BMW Z4 by 0.3 seconds.  

Kristof Vermeulen.

Qualifying results : HERE

3 titles still up for grabs in Estoril this weekend.

We're in for a fascinating weekend of racing in Estoril.  With only the LMP3 championship decided after the last race at Paul Ricard, all other classes face an intense battle to crown the 2015 ELMS champions.  The weather will be pretty unpredictable for Sunday too, adding up to the tension on and off track.  

Jota Sport almost seemed to have their title secured last month, untill it became clear Felipe Albuquerque exceeded his driving time.  Result : a 45 second penalty, from first to third place and the lead in the championship reduced to just one point ahead of the #41 Greaves Motorsport. If Greaves takes pole position tomorrow, both Gibson/Nissans will start the race equal on points.  With 26 points to gain on Sunday, the #46 French Thiriet by TDS crew is also still in contention for the title. They're only 10 points behind the leader in the championship and could have a shot to win the title on Sunday if they manage to win the race, and both other teams finish in third place or lower. AF racing might have the key in their hands to determine who wins the championship; the BR01 has proven itself very competitive in the past races with 2 podium finishes. Chances are high both Russian cars will mingle inbetween the title contenders.  Also, let's not forget the other teams in LMP2; Eurasia has been in the mix at the beginning of the past 2 races, Tracy Krohn's Ligier has been very consistent and would love to end the season with a podium spot, Murphy's men didn't have luck on their side this season but have proven to be very fast and Algarve Pro Racing is driving on their home track.  Either way, we're in for a mouthwatering fight in LMP2 over the weekend.  

Charlie Robertson and Chris Hoy secured the first ever LMP3 title last month at Paul Ricard. Behind them, the battle for second and third in the championship will go between the 3 other Ginetta's. SVK by Speed Factory (#15) has the best cards in hand at the moment with a 5 point advantage over the #5 Villorba Corse.  Graff enters the first Ligier JS P3/Nissan in the ELMS, which will be interesting to see how it compares to the Ginetta's. Considering the amount of LMP3 cars that alteady have been sold, and the interest of several (new) teams to enter the ELMS next season, this is going to be a class to watch next year.  

Mathematically, 6 teams are still in the running for the title in GTE. The #60 Formula Racing Ferrari, who won the last 2 rounds in Austria and France, has an advantage of 19 points over the #52 BMW by Marc VDS.  Things should have to go very wrong for the Danish team to lose the title.    The Belgian team only has a shot at the title if they win and the Ferrari finishes 9th in class or lower.  The battle for second and third will be fierce though, with only 13 points splitting 2nd and 7nd at the moment.  It's BMW (#52, 54 points) vs Ferrari (#55 Af Corse, 51 points - #66 JMW, 49 points - #56 AT Racing, 47 points) vs Porsche (#88 Proton, 50 points - #86 Gulf Racing, 41 points) on Sunday.  This could be very exciting stuff !

Last but not least, the GTC class. The #59 TDS Racing BMW holds an advantage of 13 points ahead of the AF Corse Ferrari armada. #62 458 Italia leads the chasing pack and is the only one who can steal the title away from the BMW.  The battle for third will go between the #64 and #63 Ferrari, with a bit of luck the #68 Massive Motorsport Aston Martin could be in contention for the third spot although they are 15 points off af the moment.  

Practice gets under way today at 10h30 and 15h00.  Qualifying on Sunday at 09h00 and the title deciding 4 hour race at 13h00.  The race will be live on MotorsTV and streamed on the ELMS website (www.europeanlemans.com).

Kristof Vermeulen.