> 41-car field to compete as part of inaugural Le Mans Classic Legend
> GT3 Revivals Series to run two races at iconic Circuit de la Sarthe
> Entry List: Le Mans Classic Legend
The GT3 Revival Series will tackle one of the most famous venues in global motor racing on 3–5 July when the new championship joins a remarkable line-up of retro machinery at Le Mans Classic Legend.
Launched in 2002 by Peter Auto and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, Le Mans Classic quickly established itself among the highlights of the international calendar. Run biennially since its inception, it becomes an annual affair this year and will alternate between Le Mans Classic Heritage for cars from 1923 to 1975, and Le Mans Classic Legend for prototypes and GTs spanning 1976 to 2020. More info on the event can be found here.
The GT3 Revival Series falls into the latter category, joining a programme that spans the beginnings of the turbo era to 21st century GT cars and prototypes. Here’s what you need to know ahead of the event.
Three classes will compete for victory at Le Mans
The third round of the new series has attracted a 41-car grid and follows events at Circuit Paul Ricard – where it joined GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS – and Spa Classic. The field is once again split into three classes, with a single Pro-Am grid and separate Am categories covering Gen I and Gen II.
There will be separate podiums for all three classes, as well as for the Iron Cup which rewards the best-finishing crew with a combined age of 100 and over, or the best solo driver aged 60 and over. As was the case at Spa, there's also an invitational entry which previously competed with different technical specifications in IMSA.
In terms of machinery, there are 10 manufacturers represented on the grid. German heavyweights Audi (R8 LMS & R8 LMS Ultra), BMW (Z4), Mercedes-Benz (SLS AMG GT3) and Porsche (997 GT3R) will face Italian supercar marques Ferrari (458 & 458 Italia) and Lamborghini (Gallardo LP560 FL2 & LP600), as well as British firms Aston Martin (DBRS9 & V12 Vantage) and McLaren (MP4-12C) and American brands Corvette (Callaway Z06R) and Ford (GT Matech).
The Am Gen II grid stands at 29 cars
The most competitive field is Am Gen II, with a field of 29 cars set to compete at Circuit de la Sarthe. The class is open to machinery homologated between 2010 and 2013 and features either one or two Bronze-graded drivers per entry.
The competitive advantage swung between the first two events, making for a close contest at the top of the standings. The opener at Circuit Paul Ricard was dominated by the Ferrari 458 of Benjamini Ricci (Storic and Race Cars), who goes solo once again at Le Mans after being joined by his father Mauro at Spa.
When the action moved to Spa-Francorchamps, Jonathan Mitchell (Scott Sport) swept to a brace of wins in his Aston Martin V12 Vantage. This sent the Brit to the top of the class standings, though his advantage over Ricci is a slender 4.5 points.
Should anyone else wish to contend for the title, they will need to bridge the gap at Le Mans. The pairing of Franz Wunderlich and Pascal Huteau (Fanta Racing Legend by Code Classic) are the closest challengers in their Aston Martin V12 Vantage, while Heiko Neumann (Team Motopark Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG) and the Porsche 997 GT3 R of Nathan Luckey and David Harrison (Lionspeed GP) have also finished among the podium positions.
There's plenty of competition among the other classes
A further 12 cars will compete at Le Mans Classic Legend. Six of them are entered in Pro-Am, which has thus far been dominated by the Ferrari 458 of Storic and Race Cars. Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Jim Pla have three wins from four races and could put one hand on the title with a strong weekend at La Sarthe. Their closest rival this season has been the Audi R8 LMS Ultra shared by Mark Cole and Alvaro Parente (Quinntech Racing), though they are 39 points off the lead.
With further entries including examples of the Ford GT Matech (Klausen Racing), BMW Z4 (Classic & Speed) and Porsche 997 GT3 R (Maxted-Page Motorsport), as well as another Ferrari 458 (Michelotto), there's plenty of variety among the Pro-Am challengers.
Five cars will compete in Am Gen I, which is reserved for machinery homologated between 2006 and 2009. There is a noteworthy new addition as leading international squad Barwell Motorsport fields an Aston Martin DBRS9 – one of the original GT3 cars – for Robert Hissom and SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stéphane Ratel.
The Debard Automobiles by Racetivity squad has won all four races thus far, albeit with different drivers: the Ford GT triumphed in the hands of Philippe Giauque at Paul Ricard, while Eric Debard swept the board at Spa. They will team up at Le Mans Classic Legend to form a formidable duo.
There will also be three examples of the Callaway Corvette Z06R, two from Seiler Racing and another from Scott Sport. Dan Henry will pilot the latter and currently tops the drivers' standings, having finished each race as runner-up to the dominant Ford. The lone invitational entry comes from Equipe Europe, which will field a Ferrari 458 Italia GTD for the father-son pairing of Pierre-Alain and Erwin France.
There are a few newcomers – and some Le Mans veterans – on the entry list
As the season hits mid-distance the grid is largely made up of drivers who have contested at least one GT3 Revival Series event, though a few debutants will join for the Le Mans Classic Legend weekend. They include Keith Frieser (Scott Sport) in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 and Franck Labescat, who links up with Christian Philippon in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG for Espace Racing.
It’s also worth noting that a number of the drivers competing this weekend have contested the contemporary 24 Hours of Le Mans, including Stéphane Ratel, Joe Macari and Alvaro Parente. The most experienced among them is Philippe Gache, who entered 10 editions between 1987 and 2002, driving prototypes and GT cars for a variety of teams.
The weekend format is a little different
Le Mans Classic Legend takes place one week after the biggest GT3 race in the world, the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which runs this weekend (24–28 June) at the famed Belgian venue. Jim Pla enjoys the distinction of being the only driver on the entry list for both, while Saintéloc Racing, Lionspeed GP and Team Motopark will enter cars in each event.
The format for the Le Mans Classic Legend weekend is slightly different from what we saw at Paul Ricard and Spa. The GT3 Revival Series will be on track at Circuit de La Sarthe from Friday (3 July) with two combined practice and qualifying sessions scheduled for 11:10 and 20:27. Race 1 gets underway at 09:15 on Saturday morning, while Race 2 takes place at 14:15 on Sunday. Both can be watched live via the GT World YouTube Channel.