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ROAD TO LE MANS GRID MAXED OUT ONCE AGAIN WITH 58 ENTRIES

For the second year in a row the Road To Le Mans event has attracted a maximum grid of 58 cars, with 40 LMP3s and 18 GT3s due to take to the full 13.6km Circuit de la Sarthe next month in support of the 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The 39 Michelin Le Mans Cup full season entries will be joined by 12 race by race entries in the LMP3 category and a further 7 GT3 entries for the two 55-minute races on Thursday 13th and Saturday 15th June.

A total of 116 drivers and 35 teams, representing 23 different nations from all corners of the world, will compete in the 9th edition of the Road To Le Mans which began in 2016 with a single 55-minute race. Since 2017 there have been two 55-minute races, with the first on Thursday and the second race on Saturday a few hours before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The LMP3 field will consist of 40 cars, 34 Ligier JS P320s and 6 Duqueine M30-D08s, all powered by the same Nissan V8 engine.

The 28 full season entries are led by the current championship leader Adrien Chila and David Droux after winning last weekend in Le Castellet in the no97 COOL Racing Ligier. David Droux also won the second Road To Le Mans race in 2023 and Adrien Chila did the same in 2019, so they both know what it is like to stand on the top step of the podium at Le Mans.

COOL Racing are tied on 35 points with the no85 R-ace GP and their drivers Fabien Michal and Hadrien David, but the all French outfit are classified in second due to COOL Racing’s race win in Le Castellet.

Round 1 winners High Class Racing are on 33 points with Jens Moller and Tommy Foster finishing 6th in Le Castellet. Reigning LMP3 Champions Team Virage are fielding a total of four cars, with two race-by-race entries alongside their two full season cars, with the no44 Ligier Jamie Falvey and Mihnea Stefan in 5th overall thanks to the second-place finish in Le Castellet, one point behind the 4th placed no34 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Alex Bukhantsov and Rik Koen.

2023 Vice Champions Audunn Gudmundsson and Colin Noble are also on 18 points, but the Team Thor crew are classified as 6thoverall due to the no44 Team Virage’s podium finish in Round 2.

2022 LMP3 and 2023 GT3 Team Champions Racing Spirit of Léman return with an entry in each category. Other additional entries in LMP3 come courtesy of some of the other ELMS regulars with four-time MLMC champions DKR Engineering entering a single Duqueine, while 2021 team champions Nielsen Racing will field a second Ligier for Road to Le Mans.

WTM by Rinaldi Racing will join the grid with a single Duqueine, Eurointernational will field two Ligiers and Haegeli by T2 Racing will run a second Duqueine alongside their full season entry. The race-by-race entry no9 Graff Ligier that was seen at Le Castellet will also enter Road To Le Mans and the no50 Reiter Engineering Ligier that raced at Barcelona and Le Castellet is also entered for RTLM.

SIX GT3 MANUFACTURERS FOR ROAD TO LE MANS

The 11-car full season entry is booted to 18 for Road To Le Mans this season, with three teams racing the Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO alongside the season regulars – Aston Martin, Audi, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.

The GT3 entry is led by double race winners Matthew Kurzejewski and Alessandro Balzan, the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 having secured 51 points out of a possible 52 from the first two races in Spain and France. The two American drivers are 18 points ahead of their nearest rivals in the no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari, with Fran Rueda and Andrew Gilbert on 33 points thanks to two podium finishes in the first two races.

The no83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan is currently third with Célia Martin and Karen Gaillard on 25 points thanks mainly to the pole position and second place finish in Le Castellet. The no12 Kessel Racing Ferrari of David Fumanelli and Frederic Jousset is one point behind in 4th on 24 points and the no88 AF Corse Ferrari of Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini is on 21 points in 5thoverall after two rounds.

Full season entrants Steller Motorsport will run the only Audi R8 on the grid, while High Class Racing and Proton Huber Competition will run the two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs.

Kessel Racing will run a third Ferrari 296 GT3 along the Swiss teams two full season entries, while AF Corse will go one better and run two Ferrari 296s on a race-by-race basis alongside their two full season cars.

The two full season Aston Martin Vantage GT3s run by British team Blackthorn are due to be in Le Mans and the third Vantage will be run by reigning MLMC Team Champions Racing Spirit of Leman, with 2023 drivers’ champion Valentin Hasse Clot being joined by his 2024 ELMS teammate Derek Deboer.

Three Mercedes AMG GT3 EVOs will join the grid in Le Mans, two run by German teams Getspeed and Heart of Racing SPS, while the third Mercedes will be run by Team Motorpark from Austria.

The points awarded for each of the two 55-minute are reduced from the 25-18-15 points for first, second and third in the 110-minute races. The winner of each race in Le Mans will receive 15 points, 9 for second, 7 for third and then 6 points down to 1. Only the MLMC full season entries are eligible to score points in each race.

Qualifying for the two Road To Le Mans races will be held on Thursday 13 June, with Q1 at 10h30 CEST followed by Q2 at 11h05. Race 1 will be held the same day at 18h30 in the evening, while race 2 will be held at 10h35 on Saturday morning ahead of the 92nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

CLICK HERE for the entry list for the 2024 Road To Le Mans, Round 3 of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup.