Forty-seven cars and crews of the ACO rules Michelin Le Mans Cup Series will soon be making that long road trip down to southern Portugal in time for next weekend’s sixth and final round of the season with one Aston Martin Racing powered team with a class title to confirm by the end of that two-hour race.
As races at Barcelona, Paul Ricard, Le Mans, Spa Francorchamps and most recently at Silverstone, the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR Vantage GT3 of Philipp Sager still heads the GT3 class going into this final round after something of a disaster last time out which has now cut his championship lead to just five points.
Supported again this season by Valentin Hasse-Clot for all rounds bar Spa (for which the young Frenchman was pre-occupied with his IMSA commitments for which Marius Fossard stepped up the plate), the #10 crew secured three out of three podium finishes out of the first three races before finishing fourth in race five to muster a healthy lead going into the penultimate round of the season last time out.
Silverstone is clearly a circuit that the Austrian just does not like as he also suffered from multiple on track penalties that eventually saw him and Hasse-Clot finish with just two points whilst their nearest rival clawed back sixteen more points to cut their deficit to just five.
The #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn AMR Vantage GT3 of Claude Bovet and Tom Canning also feature again within the entry list as does the #11 Code Racing Development AMR but with another driver pairing.
Last time out on their home track of Silverstone, the #91 Blackthorn car secured their best qualifying to date with a second row start in class before returning a P7 finish for their efforts – only their second points scoring finish of the year unfortunately.
For the #11 Code Racing Developments entry, it was again class pole position at Silverstone (their third of the season so far) for their then crew of George King and Stephane Lemeret but that has again been changed for this last event. The team now list American registered racers Antoine Comeau and Nicky Hays within the car. Both drivers have Lamborghini Super Trofeo racing experience with Hays also competing within this year’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Series with Random Vandals.
Track action for this series will begin on Wednesday with private testing before going through two Free Practice and bronze driver tests before qualifying on Friday before the two-hour race is waved off at 09:30hrs local on Saturday.
Sunday will also see the ELMS and LMC rookie tests take place at the circuit before the annual awards ceremony later in the evening.
Podium Photo credit – Team
