The Michelin Le Mans Cup has already provided the fans of endurance racing with some great racing action at the opening round of the 2019 season at Le Castellet last month and with 31 cars on the grid more of the same is promised at Monza.
Sixty two drivers and twenty three teams from thirteen different nations will compete at the ‘Temple of Speed’, the Autodromo Internazionale di Monza.
Five Manufacturers in GT3
The GT3 grid will feature five different manufacturers with Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes and Porsche all represented in the 2019 lineup.
Reigning champions Sergio Pianezzola and Giacomo Piccini got the defence of their 2018 title off to the best start by taking victory in a hard fought race at the Circuit Paul Ricard last month. The Italians will be looking for to repeat the home success they enjoyed last season at Monza in the no8 Kessel Racing Ferrari F488. The Swiss team will be running another Ferrari alongside the F488s run by Spirit of Race and Luzich Racing.
Mercedes will be represented by Scuderia Villorba Corse, Krypton Racing and SPS Automotive Performance. Italian team Scuderia Villorba Corse will also run a Lamborghini Huracan, while another Italian outfit, 2017 Michelin Le Mans Cup GT3 Champions Ebimotors, will run the grid’s single Porsche 911. The GT3 category is completed by the welcome entry by 2017 ELMS LMGTE Champions Beechdean AMR with the new Aston Martin Vantage GT3.
Norma v Ligier
The LMP3 category is once again filled by 21 entries split between French chassis manufacturers Ligier and Norma. 2018 Champions DKR Engineering also return to defend the title they have won the past two seasons, the team from Luxembourg entering two Norma M30s. In 2018 DKR won the race in Monza with Jens Petersen and Leonard Hoogenboom standing on the top step of the famous podium.
The first victory of the 2019 season went to Duncan Tappy and Michael Benham in the all British Lanan Racing teams Norma-Nissan and they will be looking to maintain the momentum they achieved in Le Castellet last month.
There are six Italian drivers on the LMP3 grid. Andrea Dromedari and Marzio Moretti will form the first of two all Italian driver line ups in the no12 Eurointernational Ligier, the other being Jacopo Baratto and Francesco Mannino in the no16 BHK Motorsport Ligier-Nissan.
Marco Cencetti is the silver rated driver alongside Switzerland’s Marcello Marateotto in the no5 DKR Engineering Norma, while the highly experienced Michele Rugolo joins German Claudio Sdanewitsch in the no55 Spirit of Race run Ligier-Nissan.
The 2019 Michelin Le Mans Cup will once again provide plenty of on track action and with more cars and drivers than ever before the race at Monza will be one of the highlights of a great weekend of racing.
Source: Le Mans Cup Media
