UPDATE: The #78 M Racing Ligier, which originally finished third overall and won in LMP3 Pro/Am, and the #77 SMC Motorsport McLaren, which originally won in GT3, have both been disqualified after failing post race scrutineering. The #78 Ligier was found to have a skid block fitted below the minimum thickness, whilst the #77 Mclaren was found to have a diffuser height above the maximum allowed under ints homologation.
The #12 Brutal Fish by Campos won this year’s three-hour Road To Le Mans race from pole, marking a debut victory for drivers Arthur Rogeon and August Raber, as well as the Brutal Fish by Campos team at large at Le Mans this afternoon.
After escaping the chaos behind them, the team employed a long-run strategy to build a large and comfortable lead through the middle stages of the race and finished with a gap of 23.1 seconds.
The #20 High Class Racing Ligier finished second, ahead of the other Brutal Fish by Campos car #19, which finished over a minute behind their teammate in third in LMP3. The overall third-place finisher was the #78 M Racing LMP3 Pro/Am car, 1:23.843 behind the #12, and three whole minutes up the road from the next Pro/Am car, the #98 Motorsport98 Ligier in second. The #3 DKR Engineering rounded out the podium places.
Throughout the race, green flag running was few and far between.
Beginning from lap one, carnage ensued when the #29 Forestier Racing by VPS threw up a lot of smoke off the start as the pack squeezed its way through the Dunlop curve with plenty of contact between cars. The #99 More Motorsport ran off track and continued, as did the #68 M Racing car and the #51 AF Corse, but all resumed shortly after with minor damage, all on the first lap alone.
The first major full-course caution came when #70 Team Virage was beached in the deep gravel outside the Dunlop curve five minutes into the race, during which multiple cars came in to repair damage from the rough going along lap one.
16 cars retired from the race in the end, eight from the LMP3 class alone, and four within the final 40 minutes of racing, a deeply chaotic race for the Michelin Le Mans Cup field.
A standout performance from the #77 SMC Motorsport car came on a risky alternative strategy that saw them extend their first stint much longer than the rest of the GT3 field, climbing up the timing sheets and, at one point, occupying third position just before their first pit stop.
The gamble paid off when they were forced to make their two remaining mandatory pit stops within the final hour of the race, coming out third in class with fresh tyres and fuel to take the fight to the leading #95 United Autosports McLaren.
Big drama struck on the final lap of the race when the leading #95 moved across the track to cover off a move from the #77. It collided with the lapped #29 Forestier Racing By VPS Ligier, spinning both cars and letting the #77 through to the lead completely unscathed.
The #77 won in the end in GT3, finishing 15th overall, with the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin finishing second in class, benefitting from #95’s shunt, followed by the #14 Getspeed Mercedes on the third step of the podium.
Image courtesy of Peter May
