Spa-Francorchamps 20 September 2019
The historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit hosts the penultimate round of the Le Mans Cup this weekend with five 488 GT3s set to start and two fully engaged in the title battle.
After notching up their second win of the season at the last race in Barcelona, Sergio Pianezzola and Giacomo Piccini, at the wheel of the 488 GT3 of Kessel Racing, cut the lead of the Ferrari of Luzich Racing to seven lengths. Fabien Lavergne and Mikkel Mac currently top the standings on 87 points. The Spirit of Race crew of Christoph Ulrich and Maurizio Mediani is in third place, on 44 points. The pair have had a decent season so far, securing several podiums such as in Race-1 at the Road to Le Mans. John Hartshorne and Oliver Hancock will also start, again in the colours of Kessel Racing. The pair enjoyed a positive return to the GT Open in the recent round at Silverstone. In support of Piccini and Pianezzola’s comeback, the Swiss team will deploy a third 488 GT3. It will be crewed by Claudio Schiavoni and Andrea Piccini, who like Pianezzola and Lavergne have a dual commitment this weekend as in all previous events.
The weekend programme includes a free practice session on Friday. Then on Saturday at 10:50 am local time a qualifying session will decide the starting grid for the two-hour race that sets off at 3:55 pm on the same day.