ELMS: United Autosports wins final race in Portugal

The #22 United Autosports Ligier/Gibson of Filipe Albuquerque and Phil Hanson took a second consecutive ELMS victory with a hard fought win on the twist and turns of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.  

Local hero Albuquerque crossed the line just 0.5 seconds ahead of Will Stevens in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier. The #32 United Autosports Ligier of Will Owen took the final podium position after the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca, which had crossed the line in 3rd place, was given a 10 second penalty for an earlier track limits infringement.

The LMP3 category was won by the #13 Inter Europol Comptition Ligier of Martin Hippe and Jakub Smiechowski, a debut win for the Polish team.  However it was all smiles at RLR MSport when the crew of the #15 Ligier – Job Van Uitert, John Farano and Rob Garofall finished in 5th place to clinch the 2018 LMP3 Driver and Team titles.

History was made in LMGTE when Gianluca and Giorgio Roda became the first Father and Son driver pairing to win an ELMS title.  They brought home the #88 Proton Competition Porsche with their Italian teammate Matteo Cairoli in third place to secure the Team and Driver titles, with Cairoli, who had missed the race in Monza, securing the Vice Champions position in the Drivers Championship.  It was all smiles in the Proton Competition garage when the no77 911 took the chequered flag to take the first win of the 2018 season for Christian Ried, Dennis Olsen and Marvin Dienst.

The race started under sunny skies but air temperature was a low 15 degrees, especially in the strong wind blowing across the circuit.

Pierre Ragues in the #29 Duqueine Engineering Oreca led the 39 car grid across the line to begin the 4 Hours of Portimao but Timothe Buret in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier got alongside the pole car and took the lead.  The #9 AT Racing Ligier of Mikkel Jensen also got ahead of the LMP3 pole sitter Lucas Legeret in the #19 M Racing YMR Norma at the start, while in LMGTE Nic Jönsson in the #83 Krohn Racing Ferrari was leading the class by the end of the opening lap from the back of the grid.

There was a couple of incidents on the opening few laps with the #17 Ultimate Ligier heading to the pits with a puncture after contact with an LMP2 competitor and the #26 G-Drive Racing Oreca of Roman Rusinov being clipped into a spin by the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca of Memo Rojas, Rojas receiving a drive through penalty for causing the collision. The #88 Proton Competition Porsche of Gianluca Roda was clipped into a spin with the rear diffuser of the car coming away and spreading debris across the track.  The Race Director called the first Full Course Yellow of the race.

At the restart Pierre Ragues got a better run into the first corner, passing the #23 Ligier of Buret for the lead.  The #88 Porsche was missing the rear part of the car but Roda was still able to make progress through the field, catching and passing Jönsson’s Ferrari for the lead of the LMGTE class.

Felipe Nasr was pushing his way through the field towards the leaders and after one hour of racing was closing on the top two cars in the #47 Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara.  The Brazilian passed Buret for second and then closed up and passed Ragues for the lead after 1 hour and 18 minutes of racing.  

Pierre Ragues headed to the pits to hand the Duqueine Engineering Oreca over to Nelson Panciatici but on the out lap the rear left suspension collapsed and Panciatici was forced to head back to the pits for a long stop for repairs. The #6 360 Racing Ligier was also another retirement after a exhaust manifold cracked, melting a wiring loom.  The car that was lying in second place in the LMP3 championship was out of the running. Filipe Nasr headed to the pits from the head of the LMP2 field but cut right across the front of the #77 Proton Competition Porsche and was given a stop and go penalty for causing a collision.  The woes for the #47 Dallara continued when the car was pushed back into the garage for repairs, dropping the Italian team down the order even further.

Meanwhile in LMGTE the #80 Ebimotors Porsche of Fabio Babini was leading the class from the #77 Proton Competition Porsche of Christian Ried.  Babini handed over to Gianluca Giraldi but the Italian collided with an LMP3 car and the Porsche was left stranded with broken suspension.  The Safety Car was deployed to allow the Ebimotors Porsche to be moved to safety. At the restart the #77 Porsche was nearly a lap ahead of the chasing #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari of Alex MacDowall and the #88 Proton Porsche of Gianluca Roda.

In LMP3 the #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Martin Hippe was out in front, with the #7 Ecurie Ecosse/ Nielsen Ligier of Colin Noble 15 seconds up the road.  The German kept his cool and maintained the gap with Noble keeping the #2 United Autosports Ligier of 2017 champion John Falb behind him.  The #3 United Autosports Ligier of Tony Wells was ahead of the championship rival Rob Garofall in the #15 RLR MSport Ligier but a drive through penalty for Wells for exceeding Full Course Yellow speeds put the destination of the 2018 titles beyond doubt.

Back at the front and the #22 United Autosports Ligier of Filipe Albuquerque, the #26 G Drive Racing Oreca of Jean-Eric Vergne, the #32 United Autosports Ligier of Will Owen and the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier of Will Owen were separated by just 2.5 seconds with an hour to go. Vergne passed Albuquerque for the lead after several attempts but ran wide on the exit of the corner.  The French driver was judged to have gained an advantage by exceeding track limits and the #26 Oreca had to add 10 seconds to its race time at the chequered flag.

Vergne handed the car over to Andrea Pizzitola to finish the race.  After the final round of pitstops Albuquerque was leading by three seconds from Stevens, with Pizzitola holding a five second advantage over Owen.  The racing was edge of the seat stuff and the teams held their breath as the clock counted down to zero and the chequered flag was waved.

Filipe Albuquerque took a home victory in the #22 United Autosports Ligier, just 0.520 seconds ahead of Will Stevens’ #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier.  Andrea Pizzitola finished third, 4.6 seconds behind Stevens but, crucially, 9.462s in front of the #32 United Autosports Ligier of Will Owen. When the 10 second penalty was applied the #32 Ligier moved up to the final podium spot ahead of the #26 Oreca.

Race results

Text: Jeff Carter/europeanlemansseries.com

Pictures: Kristof Vermeulen & Jellybaby.media

ELMS: Duqueine Engineering on pole for a thrilling season finale in Portimao.

Nicolas Jamin claimed pole position this afternoon in a sunny but rather windy Portimao.  The Frenchman set his best laptime of 1.33.197 in the dying seconds of the session, giving Duqueine Engineering their first pole position in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series.  Will Stevens looked to have set the fastest lap in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier when the chequered flag fell, but ultimately came 0.060 seconds short. 

Filipe Albuquerque will start from the second row tomorrow with the third fastest time, 1.33.362 in the #22 United Autosports Ligier.  He will have Paul Loup Chatin next to him in the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca who was quickest in this morning’s practice session.  2018 champions G-Drive Racing will start from fifth place. 

© ELMS/Jakob Ebrey Photorgaphy

Lucas Légeret scored his first pole position in the European Le Mans Series and the second this season for the #19 Norma of M.Racing - YMR.  In another nailbiting session, Légeret’s time of 1.40.715 was just 0.061 seconds quicker than Mathieu Lahaye in the #17 Ultimate Norma.  Légeret set his time just before the #11 Eurointernational of Giorgio Mondini spun off at turn 5, causing a red flag. When the session was restarted, the top times weren’t improved anymore. 

Mikkel Jensen was the quickest of the Ligiers in third place in 1.40.999, almost 0.3 seconds behind pole position. Jensen will have another Norma next to him on the second row of the grid with the #8 of DKR Engineering of Marvin Klein.  All three contenders for the championship struggled for pace this afternoon.  Job Van Uitert in the leading RLR MSport Ligier didn’t get further than 7th place on the grid, almost a second off the pace of Légeret. Their main rivals in the #6 360 Racing Ligier and #3 United Autosport will start even further down the order, on 10th and 15th place. The race to the championship will be very tight and interesting tomorrow.

JMW Motorsport edges one point closer to the leading #88 Proton Porsche in the championship by claiming their second pole position of the season.  Miguel Molina put the #66 Ferrari on the top spot with a laptime of 1.42.765 and closed the gap to the leading Porsche down to 10,5 points.  Dennis Olsen in the #77 Proton Competition Porsche pipped Matteo Cairoli from a front row start with 0.026 seconds.  His time of 1.43.073 was just over three tenths of a second slower than Molina. Matt Griffin in the #55 Ferrari will start from fourth tomorrow.  As in the LMP3 class, anything is possible in the race tomorrow … 

Qualifying Results LMP2
Qualifying Results LMP3
Qualifying Results LMGTE

Free Practice 2

This morning in the second free practice session, Paul Loup Chatin set the pace in his #28 IDEC Sport Oreca 07.  His laptime of 1.33.097 was 0.227 seconds faster than Nico Lapierre in the #21 Dragonspeed. Another Oreca completed the morning session’s top 3, Jean-Eric Vergne setting the third quickest time in 1.33.614. 

Behind the 3 leading Oreca’s were 4 Ligiers, lead by local driver Filipe Albuqerque in the #22 United Autosports. Will Stevens in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition JSP2 and Will Owen in the second United Autosports LMP2 rounded out the top 6.  The leading Dallara was the #49 High Class Racing of Anders Fjordbach in ninth place. 

Lucas Légeret headed the LMP3 category in his #19 M.Racing-YMR Norma.  The Swiss driver posting a laptime of 1.40.145, holding off Mikkel Jensen in the #9 AT Racing Ligier with just over 0.4 seconds.  Third fastest was Giorgio Mondini in the #11 Eurointernational Ligier. 

In LMGTE it was Porsche - Ferrari - Porsche this morning. Matteo Cairoli quickest in his #88 Proton 911 RSR (1.41.786) ahead of Miguel Molina in the #66 JMW Ferrari and Riccardo Pera in the #80 Ebimotors Porsche.  

Apart from 2 short full course yellows - one early in the session when the #18 M.Racing - YMR Ligier went off in turn 3 and a second one mid session after the #47 Cetilar Villorba Corse ended up next to the track.  

The 4 Hours of Portimao will be green flagged tomorrow at 12h30 local time. 

FP2 Results

Kristof Vermeulen

Pictures: Kristof Vermeulen & Jellybaby.Media

ELMS: Duqueine Engineering sets the pace in opening practice session

Not exactly the weather we expected in the Algarve this morning with (heavy) overcast skies and rain treathening to fall down.  It did stay dry though during the first 90 minute practice session which ran without any notable incidents. 

Pierre Ragues in the #29 Duqueine Engineering Oreca set the fastest time this morning during the first free practice session for the 4 Hours of Portimao.  The Frenchman managed a best time of 1.32.846, just 74 thousands of a second faster than Filipe Albuquerque in the #32 United Autosports Ligier JSP2. Will Owen in the second United Autosports (#32) clocked the third fastest time. 

Felipe Nasr in the #47 Cetilar Villorba Corse Dallara was fourth fastest, 0.6 seconds behind the leading Oreca.  Another Dallara rounded out the top 5 with Henrique Chaves in the #30 AVF by Andrian Valles.  LMP2 champions G-Drive Racing had a quiet morning session, only managing tenth fastest after 90 minutes. 

In LMP3 it was Matthieu Lahaye who put the #17 Ultimate Norma on top of the timesheet with a laptime of 1.40.097. Nicolas Maulini in the #8 DKR Norma was second fastest, 0.290 seconds slower than the Frenchman.  Championship leaders RLR Sport took third place with Job Van Uitert’s best time of 1.40.427.  Another Norma was fourth quickest with Swiss youngster Lucas Légeret at the wheel of the #19 M.Racing-YMR, ahead of Matt Bell in the #3 United Autosports Ligier.  The #11 Eurointernational of Giorgio Mondini and Kay Van Berlo didn’t set a time during this morning’s session. 

Proton Competition dominated the LMGTE class, with Marvin Dienst in the #77 Porsche 911 RSR (1.43.301) ahead of Giorgio Roda in the #88 sister car with a margin of just over 0.4 seconds.  Championship challengers JMW Motorsport were third quickest, Miguel Molina giving in just 0.1 seconds to Roda. 

Bronze driver test

With (heavy) rain and thunderstorms coming in by the end of the Michelin Le Mans Cup practice early in the afternoon, the bronze driver test was driven in wet conditions and a tricky track.  

Only 11 cars turned a few laps round the soaked track, just 9 LMP3 and 2 LMGTE cars, as non of the LMP2 cars made their way out of the pitlane.  Quickest overall was Alexey Chulkin in the #5 NEFIS by Speed Factory Ligier in 1.53.434, just under 0.7 seconds faster than Kay Van Berlo in the #11 Eurointernational Ligier.  Jacopo Baratto in the #16 BHK Motorsport completed the top 3 in its class.  Just 2 Porsches went for a swim in LMGTE, Gianluca Roda the fastest in his #77 Proton Competition 911 RSR (1.57.985), almost a second faster than Gianluca Giraudi in the #80 Ebimotors.  Ironically, when all track action was over this afternoon, the sun broke back through the clouds … 

The second free practice session is scheduled for tomorrow at 09h25. Qualifying for the 4 hours of Portimao starts tomorrow afternoon 14h25 with the LMGTE cars on track first.

Results FP1

Kristof Vermeulen. 

ELMS: All set for the season finale in Portimao

39 cars will be on the grid for the final race of this years European Le Mans Series at the Autodromo do Algarve  in Portimao this weekend. With the team and drivers titles in LMP3 and LMGTE still to be decided, tension will be high in the beautiful Algarve region.  The weather forecast seems a bit unstable and even unpredictable (chance of rain on Friday and Saturday, dry on Sunday but cold), so could play its role again this weekend.  And as we know from previous years, nothing is for granted until the chequered flag falls down on Sunday afternoon, so we should be in for another thrilling weekend of endurance racing ! 

LMP2: Three way battle for the podium 

G-Drive Racing secured their overall and LMP2 title in a rain soaked Spa last month, when Roman Rusinov, Andrea Pizzitola and Jean-Eric Vergne scored enough points after a disastrous race for them.  Rusinov and Pizzitola claimed the drivers titles, Vergne missing out on what could have been his second title of the season due to not being able to race in Silverstone. 

Behind the 2018 champions, the battle for the remaining podium places will be fierce with 3 teams fighting for 2 spots.  Racing Engineering and IDEC Sport both scored 56 points so far and are completely tied up.  Norman Nato, Paul Petit & Olivier Pla (#24 Racing Engineering) and Memo Rojas & Paul Loup Chatin (#28 IDEC Sport) all scored the same amount of points so far.  The #24 crew mainly by winning the first race of the season in Le Castellet and with a podium in Austria, the #28 by scoring podiums in Monza and Silverstone, and finishing in the points all other races too.  Paul Lafargue will have to miss his second race in a row, still recovering from a nasty back injury which also kept him out of the car in Spa.  He will be replaced by Gabriel Aubry again. 

The third car chasing down that 2018 podium spot is the #21 Dragonspeed of Ben Hanley, Nicolas Lapierre and Hendrik Hedman.  After a disappointing start of the season, and remaining without a win so far, the American team showed some good form in the last races, scoring 50 points so far, just 6 points shy of second place.  

Further down in the standings are TDS Racing, who only raced up until the Red Bull Ring before strictly focussing on their FIA WEC entry, the #22 United Autosports Ligier of Phil Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque and the #23 Panis Barthez Competition of Julien Canal, Timothy Buret and Will Stevens.  Both Ligiers too far away though to challenge for the season’s podium.  One car is absent this weekend: the second IDEC Sport Ligier (#27).

  

LMP3: title showdown with 3 (or 5) teams

5 teams are mathematically still in the running for the 2018 LMP3 title and the auto invite in the LMP2 class at Le Mans next year.  On a more realistic view, the title fight is down to three cars, with the #15 RLR MSport of John Farano, Job Van Uitert and Rob Garofall in pole position after 5 of the 6 races.  With a total of 67,5 points so far, they have a lead of 14 points over Ross Kaiser and Terrence Woodward in the #6 360 Racing Ligier. Kaiser and Woodward didn’t win a race so far this season but were consistent in scoring points at every race, finishing on the podium in Monza and Spa. 

Anthony Wells, Gareth Grist and Matthew Bell in the #3 United Autosports are trailing 360 Racing with just 1 point, 15 points behind championship leaders RLR Sport.  They also still have a chance for the title, if RLR doesn’t make it to the top of the ranking on Sunday afternoon.  The #11 Eurointernational of Giorgio Mondini and Kay Van Berlo (46,75 points) and the #13 of Jakub Smiechowski and Martin Hippe (45,25 points) also could have a shot for the title, but they might have to pray for a miracle then.

As usual, there’s several driver changes to be noted in the LMP3 class.  Sean Rayhall apparently isn’t recovered fully yet and will be replaced again by Scott Andrews in the #2 United Autosports Ligier JSP3.  In the #4 Cool Racing Ligier, Iradj Alexander takes his place again after missing the deluge in Spa last month.  Another driver returning to his team is Mikkel Jensen in the #9 AT Racing of father and son Talkanitsa.  There's no sign anymore of last years Michelin Le Mans Cup winners Alexander Toril and Jean Glorieux at DKR Engineering.  The #8 Norma will be driven by Christian Vaglio, Marvin Klein and Nicolas Maulini.  Another new face in the LMP3 class is Vadim Meschcheryakov who joins James Dayson and Luca Demarchi in the #12 Eurointernational.  Romano Ricci won’t return to the #19 M.Racing-YMR Norma, his place is being taken by British driver Michael Benham who has been driving with Lanan Racing in the Michelin Le Mans Cup. 

LMGTE: The “Roda family” vs JMW and Spirit of Race

Everything is still to play for in the LMGTE class and with two auto invites for the 2019 Le Mans 24 hours the battle will be fierce and down to the wire on Sunday.  Leading the championship are father and son Gianluca and Giorgio Roda in the #88 Proton Competition Porsche.  With 80,5 points so far, they have a lead of 11,5 points over last years champions, the #66 JMW Ferrari of Miguel Molina, Alex MacDowell and Liam Griffin.  Matteo Cairoli - who also drives the #88 Porsche - has scored 70,5 points so far since he missed the race in Monza. Third in the championship, and also still in the running for the title is the #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, Aaron Scott and Matthew Griffin, who have a total of 67 points after 5 races. 

To secure the championship, the “Roda family” just needs to finish on the podium after Sunday’s 4 hour race.  JMW takes the title if they win and the #88 doesn’t get a podium result. The #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari also still has a shot for the title, but they need to take pole position, win the race and the #88 has to finish on 4th place or lower. Which would then give them a margin of just 1 point !! 

As said before, all to play for in Portugal this weekend, and we know from past seasons that the final race still might have some surprises up its sleeve …       

Track action will start tomorrow at 11h35 local time, with the first 90 minute free practice session.  The Bronze driver test is scheduled at 16h20 in the afternoon.  Qualifying on Saturday and the race on Sunday will be streamed live on the ELMS website (www.europeanlemansseries.com) and their social media channels.  

Timetable

Provisional Entry List 

Spotter Guide 

Text: Kristof Vermeulen. 

Pictures: Bob Ten Kley

ELMS 2017 - 4 Hours of Portimao: Dragonspeed sets the pace in FP1

The final weekend of the 2017 European Le Mans season kicked off this afternoon with the Bronze driver test and the first 90 minute free practice session.  The day started with fog and an occasional spot of (light) rain, but by the time track action was set to go, temperatures started to rise up and the sun broke through the clouds.

Nicolas Lapierre set the pace this afternoon in his #21 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 with a laptime of 1.34.182.  Second fastest was Nathanaël Berthon in the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier, 0.240 seconds behind Lapierre. The #27 SMP Racing Dallara of Matevos Isaakyan and Egor Orudhzev took third place, Isaakyan the fastest of the 2 Russian youngsters in 1.34.942. All three manufacturers were present in the top 3 this afternoon, within a margin of 0.760 seconds. 

Both title contenders were further down the order. Ryo Hirakawa drove the fifth fastest time in the #26 G-Drive Oreca: 1.35.897.  Challengers United Autosports didnt get higher than 12th position, Filipe Albuquerque going round in 1.36.810, just under a second slower than Hirakawa. 

Apart from a few spins and minor offs there were no noteable incidents in this afternoons sessions. There was one short full course yellow when the #49 High Class Racing Dallara stopped on track and had to be towed off to the pitlane. The session was shortly red flagged due to the #10 Oregon Norma which also stopped on track. 

In LMP3, Mikkel Jensen in the #9 AT Racing Ligier showed his speed again, setting the fastest time of the afternoon in 1.40.758. An excellent start of the weekend for the Austrian team who won their class in Spa last month. Second fastest was Anontin Borga in the #7 Duqueine Engineering Norma M30 in 1.41.555, 0.144 seconds faster than Dario Capitano in the Oregon Team Norma. 

United Autosports won the first battle with M.Racing-YMR for the title. Sean Rayhall set the fifth fastest time in his #2 Ligier in 1.42.093. Antoine Jung was quickest in the #18 M.Racing-YMR Ligier, but got no further than 1.42.897 in 13th place overall. Alexandre Cougnaud's times have all been cancelled though, due to a pitlane infringement by exceeding the maximum speed in the pitlane.

There's one last minute driver change to be noted in the LMP3 class: Davide Roda isn't able to drive this weekend due to an injury. He will be replaced by Toni Forne in the #10 Oregon Team Norma M30. 

Ferrari dominated in GTE, Matt Griffin putting the #55 Spirit of Race 488 GTE on top of the leaderboard in 1.43.760. Will Stevens was second fastest in the #66 JMW Ferrari, 0.616 seconds behind Griffin. Euan Hankey in the championship leading TF Sport Aston Martin completed the top 3 in 1.44.671, just under a second slower than the fastest Ferrari. 

Fabien Barthez was fastest this morning in the Bronze driver test in Portimao. His best time of 1.37.491 was 0.046 second faster than Hendrik Hedman in the #21 Dragonspeed Oreca. Third fastest was Roberto Lacorte in the #47 Cetilar Villorba Cose.  Martin Hippe set the fastest time in the LMP3 class with his #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier in 1:42.877. Quickest GTE driver was Gianluca Roda in the #51 Spirit of Race Ferrari (1.45.358). 

The second free practice session for the 4 Hours of Portimao is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9.50h.  Qqualifying will start at 14.40h in the afternoon.  The qualifs will be streamed live on the series website: www.europeanlemans.com. 

Results Bronze driver test

Results Free Practice 1

Kristof Vermeulen. 

Michelin Le Mans Cup: Launch in Portimão & second race at Le Mans

The Michelin Le Mans Cup will be launched at Portimão with a collective test session on April 22 and 23. 

© 2016 Gabi Tomescu / AdrenalMedia.com

All competitors in LMP3 and GT3 will be on track together for the first time in 2017 in preparation for the season opener at Monza on May 14th. This test will also give the teams a chance to discover the Portimão track on which the final race of the Michelin Le Mans Cup and the European Le Mans Series will be held in October.

The ELMS teams are also invited to take part in this collective test, one weekend after the opening round at Silverstone. With seven hours of practice available each day, this might help the teams in preparation for their second race in Monza and for those teams invited to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. 

© 2016 Gabi Tomescu / AdrenalMedia.com

After the success of the first Road to Le Mans race in 2016, the ACO announced the return of the Le Mans Cup and the addition of a second race as a curtain-raiser to the Le Mans 24 Hours. Two races will be reserved exclusively for LMP3 and GT3 cars, with an increased number of entries to 46 cars. 

The teams racing the full Michelin Le Mans Cup will be automatically accepted for the event at Le Mans. In the selection of the other participants, the selection committee will give priority to teams entered for the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Spring Cup and the WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. 

Last year, the Road to Le Mans race was held on Saturday morning, ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This year an additional race will be held on Thursday afternoon. The 2017 schedule will be as followed:

- Wednesday 14th June: Two one-hour practice sessions; 

- Thursday 15th June: Two 20-minute qualifying sessions + race 55 minutes (17h30);

- Saturday 17th June: Race 55 minutes (11h30).

2 drivers will be eligible to race, with a minimum driving time of 20 minutes in the race per driver and a pit stop lasting minimum one minute within a defined time window. To comply with the regulations of the Michelin Le Mans Cup, one gold driver is accepted in the driver line-up. The second driver has to be a bronze driver. 

The entries for the Michelin Le Mans Cup will close on March 7th.  Entries for the Road to Le Mans open on March 10th and close on April 6th. 

Kristof Vermeulen.