LMP3 teams and drivers focus on season highlights

News | May 30, 2022

  • Participants of Prototype Cup Germany in action in Le Mans Cup and ELMS at Imola
  • LMP3 cars part of the FIA Motorsport Games for the first time

A lot to do for the teams and drivers of the Prototype Cup Germany: Reiter Engineering, Wochenspiegel Team Monschau and Nielsen Racing competed in the Michelin Le Mans Cup at Imola. In addition, Nielsen Racing, Mühlner Motorsport and Inter Europol Competition completed the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) race on the same weekend and at the same venue. For these teams, it is now time for the final preparations for the two Road to Le Mans rounds, which will be held in mid-June as part of the 24-hour race on the 13.626-kilometre Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans. In addition, James Winslow, who competes in the Prototype Cup Germany under the flag of Inter Europol Competition, travelled to Italy; he shared a Duqueine entered by DKR Engineering with Alexander Bukhantsov. And in the USA, Mühlner Motorsport and its US offshoot Mühlner Motorsports America took on their LMP3 rivals in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, which was held at Mid-Ohio.

 

Wochenspiegel Team Monschau, known in the Prototype Cup Germany with the driver duo Torsten Kratz / Leonard Weiss, obtained second place in the qualifying at Imola. Reiter Engineering with drivers Freddie Hunt / Mads Siljehaug, Nielsen Racing with Anthony Wells / Colin Noble as well as James Winslow also reached the top ten in qualifying for the Le Mans Cup. In the 110-minute race, bad luck struck Kratz / Weiss. Immediately after a safety car phase, the leading Jérôme de Sadeleer spun and took out Weiss, who was in second place at the time and currently leads the Junior classification in the Prototype Cup Germany. The Nielsen duo John Melsom / Matthew Bell only made it one round further; the pairing, which also competes together in the Prototype Cup Germany, dropped out after 19 laps. 

For Reiter Engineering, on the other hand, things looked very positive for a long time, and the Ligier even held the lead. Only 20 minutes before the end Siljehaug was pushed out of the lead, he finally saw the chequered flag on 16th position. The best position of the teams that are also involved in the Prototype Cup Germany was taken by Nielsen Racing with sixth position, which was secured by Wells and Noble. In eleventh place, Winslow just missed out on the top ten after celebrating a podium finish with his partner Damian Ciosek at the opening round of the Prototype Cup Germany. Ciosek and his team, Inter Europol Competition, have secured one of the last places on the grid for the Road to Le Mans rounds, which feature 36 LMP3 entrants; he will compete in France together with Noam Abramczyk. 

 

Abramczyk, along with Mateusz Kaprzyk and James Dayson in the Ligier run by Inter Europol, competed in the ELMS round at Imola, but after qualifying third among the LMP3 cars, ultimately had to settle for LMP3 ninth place in the race. One place ahead of him was the second LMP3 car from Inter Europol with Nicolas Pino, Charles Crews and Guilherme Oliveira, with Nielsen Racing with Anthony Wells / James Littlejohn crossing the finish line one position behind. Meanwhile, in North America, Mark Kvamme and Dilon Machavem climbed into the Mühlner Motorsport LMP3 Duqueine and took to the track at Mid-Ohio. From eleventh on the grid, they improved by one position in the 90-minute race and crossed the finish line in tenth place. 

In addition to the two Road to Le Mans rounds as part of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, another highlight awaits the teams and drivers in the LMP3 class this season, as it is part of the FIA Motorsport Games for the first time. At this event, national teams compete against each other in various motorsport disciplines, with the three best participants receiving gold, silver and bronze medals, just like at the Olympic Games. For LMP3, the 2022 edition of the Motorsport Games will feature a 150-minute race; the Games will take place from 26 to 30 October around the southern French port city of Marseille.

Calendar Prototype Cup Germany 2022

22 – 24 April                      Spa-Francorchamps (B), 24h Series
15 – 17 July                        Nürburgring, ADAC Truck Grand Prix
19 – 21 August                  DEKRA Lausitzring, Family & Friends Festival
21 – 23 October                Hockenheimring, ADAC GT Masters

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