The Road to Le Mans is a sports car race held annually at the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans, France. It serves as a support event for the main race, the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race was first run in 2016, as a one-hour event, forming part of the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup, in its inaugural season.
History The race was announced on 13 November 2015, a support race for LMP3 cars, competing in series sanctioned by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, and GT3 cars competing in the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup. It would by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest with the collaboration of Le Mans Endurance Management (promoter of the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup Series). It was announced to be a non-championship race for the LMP3 cars, while all full-season entrants of the GT3 Le Mans Cup would receive automatic invitations to the race. For the inaugural race in 2016, a total of 39 cars were entered, with 22 LMP3 and 17 GT3 cars. The race was the first time that GT3 and LMP3 cars had competed on the full Circuit de la Sarthe.
In 2017, the race was announced to be returning on the Le Mans support calendar, albeit with a number of changes. The event was expanded to comprise 2x 55 minute long races, with up to 46 cars competing, instead of 42 in the previous year.
Innovative Cars In 2018, the Road to Le Mans would follow the example of the race it was supporting and allow an innovative entry on the grid. YearRaceCarTeamImagePlacement20191Ligier JS P3SRT41 - Frédéric Sausset39th239th20221GreenGT H24H24 RacingDNF238th
Race winners
YearRaceDriversTeamCarDriversTeamCarDuration /DistanceRefLMP3GT3 2016 Alexandre Cougnaud Thomas Laurent DC RacingLigier JS P3 Aleksey Basov Viktor Shaytar SMP RacingFerrari 488 GT313 laps 20171 Sean Rayhall John Falb United AutosportsLigier JS P3 Ahmad Al Harthy Tom Jackson TF SportAston Martin V12 Vantage GT313 laps2 Alexander Toril Jean Glorieux DKR EngineeringNorma M30 Ahmad Al Harthy Tom Jackson TF SportAston Martin V12 Vantage GT313 laps 20181 Mikkel Jensen Kay van Berlo EuroInternationalLigier JS P3 Marco Cioci AF CorseFerrari 488 GT313 laps2 Michael Benham Duncan Tappy Lanan RacingNorma M30 Christoph Ulrich Maurizio Mediani Spirit of RaceFerrari 488 GT312 laps 20191 Adrien Chila Nicolas Schatz GraffNorma M30 Mikkel Mac Fabien Lavergne Luzich RacingFerrari 488 GT311 laps2 François Kirmann Laurents Hörr DKR EngineeringNorma M30 Mikkel Mac Fabien Lavergne Luzich RacingFerrari 488 GT314 laps20201 Jean Glorieux Laurents Hörr DKR EngineeringDuqueine M30 - D08 Andrea Caldarelli Hiroshi Hamaguchi FFF Racing TeamLamborghini Huracán GT313 laps2 Edouard Cauhaupé Nicolas Maulini Cool RacingLigier JS P320 Andrea Caldarelli Hiroshi Hamaguchi FFF Racing TeamLamborghini Huracán GT312 laps20211 Anthony Wells Colin Noble Nielsen RacingLigier JS P320 Rory Penttinen Logan Sargeant Iron LynxFerrari 488 GT3 Evo 202012 laps2 Moritz Kranz Ugo de Wilde Mühlner MotorsportDuqueine M30 - D08 Julien Andlauer Nicolas Leutwiler Pzoberer Zürichsee by TFT Porsche 911 GT3 R13 laps20221 Tom Dillmann Alexander Mattschull Racing Spirit of LémanLigier JS P320 Emanuele Busnelli Fabio Babini EbimotorsPorsche 911 GT3 R12 laps2 Michael Benham Duncan Tappy Cool RacingLigier JS P320 Kasper Jensen Kristian Poulsen GMB MotorsportHonda NSX GT3 Evo2211 laps20231 Manuel Espírito Santo Martin Rich Team VirageLigier JS P320 Max Hesse Tim Whale Team WRTBMW M4 GT311 laps2 Luis Sanjuan David Droux Cool RacingLigier JS P320 Jérôme Policand Valentino Rossi Team WRTBMW M4 GT3 11 laps20241 Torsten Kratz Leonard Weiss by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine M30 - D08 David Fumanelli Frédéric Jousset Kessel RacingFerrari 296 GT34 laps2 Christophe Cresp Maximus Mayer MV2S RacingLigier JS P320 Martin Berry Lorcan Hanafin Blackthorn Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo10 laps20251 Adrien Closmenil Theodor Jensen CLX Motorsport Ligier JS P325 Anthony Bartone Steve Jans GetSpeed PerformanceMercedes-AMG GT3 Evo14 laps2 Léna Bühler Matteo Quintarelli 23Events RacingLigier JS P325 Lukas Dunner Heiko Neumann Team Motopark Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo10 laps
References
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