The 4th Road to Le Mans was an automobile endurance event composed of two 55-minute races contested by 49 teams of two drivers each racing Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) and Group GT3 (GT3) cars. It took place on 13 and 15 June 2019 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France, as a support event for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans and it was the third round of the 2019 Le Mans Cup. The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) organised the fourth Road to Le Mans race along with the Le Mans Cup promoter Le Mans Endurance Management.
A Norma M30-Nissan car shared by Adrien Chila and Nicolas Schatz of Graff won the first race after starting from fifth position and taking the lead when the Lanan Racing team of Michael Benham and Duncan Tappy were penalised for an unsafe release during the mandatory pit stops. The DKR Engineering pair of Marco Cencetti and Marcello Marateotto finished in second and Colin Noble and Anthony Wells of Nielsen Racing were third. The GT3 category was won by the Luzich Racing duo of Fabien Lavergne and Mikkel Mac from SPS Automotive Performance's Tom Onslow-Cole and Valentin Pierburg. The second race was won by the DKR duo of Laurents Hörr and François Kirmann after overtaking Jacques Wolff in the final four laps. Benham and Tappy repeated their first race result in second and Chila and Schatz completed the overall podium in third. Lavergne and Mac led every lap in GT3 and completed a victory sweep at Le Mans by 1.2 seconds ahead of Beechdean AMR's Ross Gunn and Andrew Howard.
Background The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) organised the 2019 Road to Le Mans for Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) and Group GT3 (GT3) cars along with the Michelin Le Mans Cup promoter Le Mans Endurance Management, the ACO's event organisation branch. It took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France on 13 and 15 June 2019. This was the fourth running of the race, the third round in the 2019 Le Mans Cup and it served as a support event for the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Michael Benham and Duncan Tappy led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship with 50 championship points following victories at Paul Ricard and Monza. They were 13 championship points ahead of the second-placed Laurents Hörr and François Kirmann and 20 in front of Colin Noble and Anthony Wells in third. Sergio Pianezzola and Giacomo Piccini led the GT3 Drivers' Championship with 44 championship points and one class victory, three ahead of the second-placed Fabien Lavergne and Mikkel Mac. The 25 Lanan Racing team led the LMP3 Teams' Championship with 50 championship points, leading the No. 3 DKR Engineering squad by 13 championship points. With 44 championship points, the No. 8 Kessel Racing team led the LMP3 Teams' Championship by three championship points over the No. 71 Luzich Racing squad.
Regulations and entrants Entry to the race was open from 11 March to 4 April 2019 and a maximum of 50 cars could participate. A selection committee invited all current Le Mans Cup entrants and selected one-off entries to the race. All full-time Le Mans Cup entrants automatically earned invitations. Teams competing in Le Mans-based endurance racing series such as the Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS), the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup, the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and the IMSA SportsCar Championship received priority in getting invitations. Each car was piloted by two drivers and each team had to sign a Bronze-rated driver and either a second Bronze-rated or a Silver or Gold-rated racer. A driver was permitted no more than at least 20 minutes to drive on the track and the race regulations dictated a change of driver during the mandatory pit stops. According to the race's regulations, all teams had to make a mandatory pit stop lasting no less than two minutes between the 22nd and 32nd minutes of both races. All full-time Le Mans Cup competitors in both classes were eligible to score championship points provided they finished anywhere from first and below. The two pole position winners for each of the two races in each class received one championship point.
The entry list was published by the ACO on 23 April 2019. The 50-car entry list included 33 LMP3 and 17 GT3 vehicles. In addition to the 34 guaranteed Le Mans Cup entries, there were 11 ELMS entries, one each from the ALMS and the FIA World Endurance Championship while the rest of the field was filled with one-off entries only competing at Le Mans. There were two manufacturers represented in the LMP3 and they were Ligier and Norma with Adess and Ginetta cars absent. There were six manufacturers (Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche) who were represented in the GT3 category. Ferrari was the most represented manufacturer in GT3 with nine cars while Lamborghini and Porsche were represented by just one team each. A crew of three disabled drivers sharing a modified Ligier JS P3-Nissan was entered by Filière Frédéric Sausset by SRT41 as preparation for a potential future entry to the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans. Pianezzola was the only driver and Graff, Inter Europol Competition, Kessel Racing, RLR Msport, Spirit of Race, TF Sport and United Autosports were the seven teams to participate in both the Road to Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There were four entries that were listed as reserves.
Practice Two one-hour practice sessions were held on the evening of 12 June and the morning of 13 June. Noble set the fastest time of the first practice session with a lap of 3:54.896 done in the No. 2 Nielsen Racing Norma M30 car. The No. 24 United Autosports Ligier entry driven by Wayne Boyd was second, ahead of Hörr's No. 3 DKR Norma vehicle. The session was temporarily stopped when the No. 74 Cool Racing Ligier went off the circuit and crashed into the wall. Mac aboard the No. 71 Luzich Ferrari lapped fastest in the GT3 class with a time of 3:58.083 that was good enough for sixth overall. Valentin Pierburg in the No. 40 SPS Automotive Performance Mercedes was second-quickest. The No. 95 Bentley Team Africa Le Mans car stopped on the circuit, necessitating a short Slow Zone period for its recovery.
The circuit was declared wet for the beginning of the second practice session and rain fell on Le Mans to create a slippery surface for drivers and squads. Matt Bell was the pace setter in the No. 22 United Autosports Ligier car with a lap time of 4:00.120, more than five seconds slower than the previous day's pace. Bell was almost a second faster than Benham's No. 25 Lanan entry in second. Pianezzola led the GT3 category with a 4:09.140 lap set in the No. 8 Kessel Ferrari and was fast enough for sixth overall. Flick Haigh's No. 97 TF Aston Martin was 0.120 seconds slower in second.
Qualifying There were two 20-minute qualifying sessions held on the afternoon of 13 June to set the starting order for both races. The first session saw any one driver be allowed by their teams to participate and determine the starting grid for the first race. Each team's Bronze-rated driver partook in the second session to set the starting order for the second race. In dry weather conditions, Hörr carried the No. 3 DKR Norma entry to provisional pole position early in the first qualifying session until Tappy's No. 25 Lanan car lapped faster than him. Hörr set the fastest first and second sectors to set a LMP3-category lap record of 3:49.570 to achieve pole position. Tappy's effort was good enough to secure second place. Yann Ehrlacher qualified the No. 19 M Racing vehicle in third position, ahead of Noble's No. 2 Nielsen entry and Nicolas Schatz's No. 39 Graff car. Ross Gunn took the maiden Le Mans Cup pole position of his career with a lap time of 3:55.887 in the No. 99 Beechdean AMR Aston Martin. The No. 97 TF Aston Martin of Tom Gamble was second in class. Mac carried the No. 71 Luzich Ferrari to third.
The second qualifying session took place in dry weather conditions. It saw Benham's No. 25 Lanan Norma car achieve pole position with a lap time of 3:54.308 set at the conclusion of the session. Kirman's No. 3 DKR entry was three-tenths of a second slower in second place. Freddie Hunt's No. 15 RLR Msport entry set the third-quickest lap, followed by Marcello Marateotto's No. 5 DKR car and Nicolas Mélin's No. 11 Racing Experience car. Lavergne put the No. 71 Luzich Ferrari on pole position in the GT3 category with a 3:59.877 lap set at the end of qualifying. Pierburg aboard the No. 40 SPS Automotive Mercedes was 3.6 slower in second and the No. 99 Beechdean Aston Martin driven by Andrew Howard was third. Qualifying was stopped after nine minutes to recover a vehicle that was stuck in the first chicane's gravel trap and to remove debris, resulting in the quickest lap times being set at the conclusion of the session.
Qualifying results Teams who set the pole position lap time in each class in the two qualifying sessions are denoted in bold and by a .
First qualifying session +Final classification of the first qualifying sessionClassTeamQualifying 1 LMP3 3 DKR Engineering 3:49.570 1 2 LMP3 25 Lanan Racing 3:51.432 2 3 LMP3 19 M Racing 3:51.556 3 4 LMP3 2 Nielsen Racing 3:52.149 4 5 LMP3 39 Graff 3:52.473 5 6 LMP3 5 DKR Engineering 3:53.729 6 7 LMP3 22 United Autosports 3:54.615 7 8 LMP3 24 United Autosports 3:54.722 8 9 LMP3 18 Nielsen Racing 3:55.003 9 10 LMP3 9 Graff 3:55.297 10 11 GT3 99 Beechdean AMR 3:55.887 11 12 LMP3 23 United Autosports 3:56.073 12 13 LMP3 4 Cool Racing 3:56.302 13 14 LMP3 20 Grainmarket Racing 3:56.307 14 15 LMP3 90 AT Racing 3:56.478 15 16 LMP3 43 Keo Racing 3:57.364 16 17 LMP3 74 Cool Racing 3:57.377 17 18 LMP3 14 RLR Msport 3:57.724 18 19 GT3 97 TF Sport 3:58.118 19 20 LMP3 11 Racing Experience 3:58.241 20 21 GT3 71 Luzich Racing 3:58.864 21 22 LMP3 55 Spirit of Race 3:59.506 22 23 GT3 40 SPS Automotive Performance 3:59.540 23 24 GT3 8 Kessel Racing 3:59.602 24 25 GT3 82 Kessel Racing 3:59.911 25 26 GT3 54 SPS Automotive Performance 4:00.130 26 27 LMP3 65 Viper Niza Racing 4:00.178 27 28 LMP3 69 Monza Garage 4:00.225 28 29 LMP3 91 Graff 4:00.266 29 30 LMP3 30 CD Sport 4:00.285 30 31 GT3 51 Spirit of Race 4:00.304 31 32 GT3 52 Spirit of Race 4:00.488 32 33 LMP3 72 Graff 4:01.144 33 34 GT3 62 Kessel Racing 4:01.148 34 35 LMP3 27 United Autosports 4:01.704 35 36 LMP3 15 RLR Msport 4:02.416 36 37 GT3 35 Krypton Motorsport 4:02.577 37 38 GT3 53 Spirit of Race 4:03.161 38 39 GT3 83 Scuderia Villorba Corse 4:03.311 39 40 GT3 7 Scuderia Villorba Corse 4:08.456 40 41 LMP3 29 DKR Engineering 4:09.440 41 42 GT3 88 Ebimotors 4:12.264 42 43 LMP3 13 Inter Europol Competition 4:12.962 43 44 GT3 95 Bentley Team Africa Le Mans 4:13.949 44 45 LMP3 60 CD Sport 4:14.452 45 46 LMP3 17 Nielsen Racing 4:16.510 46 47 GT3 50 Kessel Racing 4:18.829 47 48 INV 84 SRT41 - Frédéric Sausset No time 48 49 LMP3 96 Cool Racing No time 49 50 GT3 17 Pablo Clark Racing Team LeMans No time 50 51 GT3 20 Pablo Clark Racing Team LeMans No time 51Source:Second qualifying session