R-ace GP’s #85 Duqueine D09 – Toyota has extended its LMP3 championship lead in the 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup this afternoon, after Daniel Frost and Enzo Peugeot won an incident-filled race at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Frost ran third during an opening stint where green flag running was kept to a minimum, before handing over to Peugeot under a Full Course Yellow just before the halfway mark.
Peugeot then passed the #29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier JS P325 – Toyota of Roee Meyuhas for second on the restart, before a Safety Car brought him onto the tail of the pole-sitting #9 ANS Motorsport Ligier of Maxwell Dodds, aboard which Louis Iglesias led the opening stint.
Peugeot passed Dodds around the outside of La Source on the restart, before Arthur Rogeon climbed from fifth to second down the Kemmel Straight in the #12 Brutal Fish Campos Racing Ligier.
Rogeon, though, failed to get the car stopped into Les Combes, and picked up a five-second penalty for gaining a lasting advantage by going off-circuit.
This meant that Peugeot retained the effective lead when Rogeon passed him on the run to Eau Rouge on the final restart of the race with 17 minutes to go, with the Frenchman simply tasked with staying close enough to Rogeon that the positions would reverse themselves.
He managed this comfortably, finishing 1.340 seconds back, which converted into a 3.660-second margin of victory.
It’s R-ace GP’s second win of the season, as it seeks to defend the LMP3 title it won last year.
“There was a lot of incidents, and our goal was that we keep the car clean,” Frost said.
“It’s a long race and anything could happen, so we let the race come to us, and it paid off. It’s unfortunate that I only got pretty much one lap to race, but in the end we executed on all the restarts, never got in any trouble and fought for more positions forward.”
With two races to go, the #85 Duqueine now has a 30-point advantage over the Road to Le Mans-winning #12 Ligier, aboard which Rogeon did enough to secure second for himself and August Raber. The #9 Ligier completed the podium.
The #92 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier finished fourth, ahead of the #4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine, which climbed through from 14th on the grid to finish fifth despite a 10-second time penalty.
The #29 Forestier Racing by VPS, #99 More Motorsport, #20 High Class Racing and #50 23Events Racing Ligiers completed the top eight. It was a strong salvage job for the #50 Ligier, as Colin Queen salvaged a points finish after starting his stint in 35th overall as the car was the only lead-lap runner not to pit under FCY conditions, instead staying out and making its pit stop under a later Safety Car.
In LMP3 Pro/Am, reigning champion Motorsport98 scored its third consecutive victory with its #98 Ligier of Eric De Doncker and Gillian Henrion, which climbed through from seventh on the grid despite picking up damage after contact between De Doncker and the #66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Steve Parrow.
Henrion started his stint in third, and fought past the #34 Inter Europol Competition and #71 Rinaldi Racing Ligiers in quick succession to secure victory.
The #71 Ligier finished second, with the pole-sitting #34 Ligier ending up third after George King was shuffled out of the lead at the Bus Stop in traffic.
De Doncker/Henrion now have a 27-point lead in the championship with two races to go, over the #66 Ligier, which finished fifth.
And in GT3, Kessel Racing claimed a 1-2 finish, headed by the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo of Oscar Ryndziewicz and Lorenzo Ferrari.
The pole-sitting #21 Ferrari was only headed by the #77 SMC Motorsport McLaren GT3 Evo during the two-hour affair, but the McLaren had to serve a drive-through penalty for a start infringement. The Ferrari is, however, under investigation for not following race directors instructions post-race.
The #17 Ferrari finished second, ahead of the #11 Code Racing Development Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo. A fourth place finish means that the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin has retained its championship lead, although the #21 Ferrari has reduced its advantage to 21 points.
Sadly, this was another Michelin Le Mans Cup race heavily impacted by poor driving standards and too many incidents. The opening one hour and 20 minutes completed without a full lap of green flag running, as five Safety Cars, two Full Course Yellows and double yellow flags interrupted proceedings.
The #51 AF Corse Ferrari of Alessandro Cozzi went off on the opening lap, with the Italian hitting the wall after loosing control on the exit of Les Combes. The car retired on the spot, and as such Cozzi and Eliseo Donno’s hopes of defending their GT3 drivers’ title are effectively over.
The #6 ANS Motorsport Ligier of Mikkel Kristensen Illan also ended up in the gravel at Turn 8, with this pair of incidents bringing out the first Safety Car.
On the restart lap, a spin for Ajith Kumar at Pouhon left his #16 Ajith RedAnt by Virage Ligier stranded in the gravel, triggering another Safety Car.
The next restart again saw the Safety Car called to action almost immediately, as contact between the #15 Vector Sport RLR Ligier of Enea Frey and #97 CLX Motorsport Ligier of Romain Boeckler whilst fighting over fifth saw the latter spin across the road at Les Combes, with Jude Peters’ #70 Team Virage Ligier unable to miss the spinning JS P325.
And then Andrew Ferguson went off at Les Combes in the #27 P4 Racing Ligier, getting stranded and bringing out a Full Course Yellow, under which the majority of field pitted.
The FCY was withdrawn with 59 minutes to go, but the Safety Car was rapidly needed again, as Matus Ryba pulled off on the Kemmel Straight aboard the #19 Brutal Fish by Campos Ligier which headed to Spa second in the LMP3 standings, and Matteo Franco Segre separately spun the #5 23Events Racing Ligier on the entry to Les Combes.
The final Safety Car was then triggered by a pair of incidents. Narain Karthikeyan spun the #36 Ajith RedAnt Racing Ligier at Turn 12 as he attempted to overtake GT3 cars, bringing out a FCY which was converted into a Safety Car when Tom Canning pulled off at Les Combes with a fire at the front of his #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin.
The 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup continues at Silverstone on 11th and 12th September 2026.
Image courtesy of Michelin Le Mans Cup
