With three races completed and three left to run, the second half of the season will start at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, which hosts the fourth round of the 2023 European le Mans Series.
At 7.0039km Belgium’s premier racetrack is also the longest on the calendar, with a mammoth 41 car-grid with 26 teams and 120 drivers from 30 different nations for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday 24 September.
Belgium has three drivers on the grid, including 2020 LMGTE Champion Alessio Picariello, who leads the LMGTE Championship in the no16 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 alongside his North American teammates Ryan Hardwick from the USA and Zacharie Robichon from Canada.
Ulysse De Pauw will also be competing in the LMGTE category for his home event in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO. Tom Van Rompuy is the third Belgian driver on the grid competing with DKR Engineering in the LMP2 Pro/Am class.
LMP2
There are seven cars entered in the LMP2 class, with Round 1 winners Neel Jani, Nico Pino and René Binder holding a slender one point championship lead in the no30 Duqueine Team Oreca-Gibson, with Round 2 winners Alex Lynn, James Allen and Kyffin Simpson hot on their heels in the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca.
Former LMP2 Champions IDEC Sport are just 8 points behind the leaders, with Laurents Hörr, Paul Lafargue and Paul Loup Chatin on 43 points, three ahead of Round 3 winners Marino Sato, Oliver Jarvis and Phil Hanson in the no22 United Autosports USA Oreca. Hanson has won four times at Spa since 2018 for the Anglo-American team and also holds the LMP2 lap record.
LMP2 Pro/Am
The LMP2 Pro/Am field consists of 10 cars, with the no23 United Autosports USA entry having withdrawn due to injury to Jim McGuire. After victory in Aragon last time out the no83 AF Corse Oreca leads the championship, with François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxiviere on 58 points, just three ahead of the winners of the first two races, Louis Delétraz, Salih Yoluç and Charlie Eastwood in the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca.
LMP3
The no17 COOL Racing Ligier trio of Adrien Chila, Alejandro Garcia and Marcos Siebert won their second race of the season in Aragon and head to Belgium with a 26-point advantage over Round 2 winners Antoine Doquin and Jacques Wolff in the no31 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier. Their race winning teammate Jean-Ludovic Foubert is currently 7th in the standings after missing the opening race of the season in Barcelona.
Oscar Tunjo, Torsten Kratz and Leo Weiss are on 37 points, just three behind the second placed car, in the no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine after two second place finishes in Le Castellet and Aragon.
LMGTE
4 Hours of Barcelona winners Alessio Picariello, Ryan Hardwick and Zacharie Robichon bounced back to the top of the LMGTE points standings after finishing second in Aragon. The no16 Proton Competition Porsche starts the second half of the season with 45 points, just two points ahead of the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari after Takeshi Kimura and Scott Huffaker won the 4 Hours of Aragon with Ferrari works driver Davide Rigon. Rigon is replaced in Spa by former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Daniel Serra.
Round 2 winners Christian Ried, Giammarco Levorato and Julien Andlauer are on 38 points in the no77 Proton Competition Porsche, just seven behind their championship leading teammates and two points ahead of the no60 Iron Lynx Porsche of Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni and Matteo Cairoli.
Entry to the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps event is from Friday 22 until Sunday 24 September and is absolutely free for everyone on all three days. There is a limited pass for the autograph session, pit walk and grid walk, which is available from the ELMS Village at the track on a first come-first served basis for just 15€.
CLICK HERE for the provisional entry list for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
At 7.0039km Belgium’s premier racetrack is also the longest on the calendar, with a mammoth 41 car-grid with 26 teams and 120 drivers from 30 different nations for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday 24 September.
Belgium has three drivers on the grid, including 2020 LMGTE Champion Alessio Picariello, who leads the LMGTE Championship in the no16 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 alongside his North American teammates Ryan Hardwick from the USA and Zacharie Robichon from Canada.
Ulysse De Pauw will also be competing in the LMGTE category for his home event in the no51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE EVO. Tom Van Rompuy is the third Belgian driver on the grid competing with DKR Engineering in the LMP2 Pro/Am class.
LMP2
There are seven cars entered in the LMP2 class, with Round 1 winners Neel Jani, Nico Pino and René Binder holding a slender one point championship lead in the no30 Duqueine Team Oreca-Gibson, with Round 2 winners Alex Lynn, James Allen and Kyffin Simpson hot on their heels in the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca.
Former LMP2 Champions IDEC Sport are just 8 points behind the leaders, with Laurents Hörr, Paul Lafargue and Paul Loup Chatin on 43 points, three ahead of Round 3 winners Marino Sato, Oliver Jarvis and Phil Hanson in the no22 United Autosports USA Oreca. Hanson has won four times at Spa since 2018 for the Anglo-American team and also holds the LMP2 lap record.
LMP2 Pro/Am
The LMP2 Pro/Am field consists of 10 cars, with the no23 United Autosports USA entry having withdrawn due to injury to Jim McGuire. After victory in Aragon last time out the no83 AF Corse Oreca leads the championship, with François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxiviere on 58 points, just three ahead of the winners of the first two races, Louis Delétraz, Salih Yoluç and Charlie Eastwood in the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca.
LMP3
The no17 COOL Racing Ligier trio of Adrien Chila, Alejandro Garcia and Marcos Siebert won their second race of the season in Aragon and head to Belgium with a 26-point advantage over Round 2 winners Antoine Doquin and Jacques Wolff in the no31 Racing Spirit of Leman Ligier. Their race winning teammate Jean-Ludovic Foubert is currently 7th in the standings after missing the opening race of the season in Barcelona.
Oscar Tunjo, Torsten Kratz and Leo Weiss are on 37 points, just three behind the second placed car, in the no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine after two second place finishes in Le Castellet and Aragon.
LMGTE
4 Hours of Barcelona winners Alessio Picariello, Ryan Hardwick and Zacharie Robichon bounced back to the top of the LMGTE points standings after finishing second in Aragon. The no16 Proton Competition Porsche starts the second half of the season with 45 points, just two points ahead of the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari after Takeshi Kimura and Scott Huffaker won the 4 Hours of Aragon with Ferrari works driver Davide Rigon. Rigon is replaced in Spa by former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Daniel Serra.
Round 2 winners Christian Ried, Giammarco Levorato and Julien Andlauer are on 38 points in the no77 Proton Competition Porsche, just seven behind their championship leading teammates and two points ahead of the no60 Iron Lynx Porsche of Claudio Schiavoni, Matteo Cressoni and Matteo Cairoli.
Entry to the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps event is from Friday 22 until Sunday 24 September and is absolutely free for everyone on all three days. There is a limited pass for the autograph session, pit walk and grid walk, which is available from the ELMS Village at the track on a first come-first served basis for just 15€.
CLICK HERE for the provisional entry list for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
