2020 Road to Le Mans

The Road to Le Mans doubleheader for Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) and Group GT3 (GT3) vehicles was set to be held on 13 and 14 June but was postponed to 18 and 19 September by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France.^[1][2] It was held behind closed doors at the 13.626 km (8.467 mi) Circuit de la Sarthe, near Le Mans, France.^[3] It was the fifth edition of the event,^[3] the fourth round of the 2020 Le Mans Cup and was a support race for the 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[4]

Jean Glorieux and Laurents Hörr led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship with 56 championship points with one race victory and a pole position. The duo were 12 championship points ahead of the second-placed Matthias Kaiser and Rory Penttinen and 15 in front of Maurice Smith in third.^[5] Rino Mastronardi led the GT3 Drivers' Championship with 67 championship points and two class victories and two pole positions, 15 championship points in front of Giacomo Piccini in second.^[6] The No. 3 DKR Engineering squad led the LMP3 Teams' Championship with 56 championship points, leading the No. 26 Graff team by 12 championship points.^[7] With 67 championship points, the No. 8 Iron Lynx team led the LMP3 Teams' Championship by 22 championship points over the No. 67 Kessel Racing squad.^[8]

The ACO's 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, the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup, the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) and the IMSA SportsCar Championship received priority in getting invitations.^[9] Each car was piloted by two drivers and each team was required to sign at least one bronze-rated driver (that is a gentleman driver) and their second driver could hold either a silver or gold-rated licence.^[10] All racers were given a mandatory on-track time of at least 20 minutes for the race. Every car had to make a mandatory pit stop to change drivers during both races.^[9] Championship points were awarded to all entrants in both classes 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.^[3]

The entry list was published by the ACO on 10 September 2020.^[4] The 34-car entry list included 23 LMP3 and 11 GT3 cars, the fewest number of entrants in the race's history.^[11] There were 68 drivers from 21 different countries who were signed by 22 separate teams.^[12] In addition to the 23 guaranteed Le Mans Cup entries, there were five ELMS entries, two from the GT World Challenge Europe while the rest of the field was filled with one-off entries only competing at Le Mans.^[4][13] There were two manufacturers that were represented in LMP3 and they were Duqueine and Ligier. Many of the LMP3 entries came from the Le Mans Cup and all but eight fielded Ligier JS P320-Nissans with the remaining eight entering Duqueine D08 cars.^[13] There were three manufacturers (Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche) who were represented in the GT3 category. A total of eight Ferrari 488 GT3s, two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs and a single Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo were the three vehicles entered in the class.^[11][12] Julien Andlauer, Garett Grist, Rino Mastronardi, Andrea Piccini, Paolo Ruberti, Claudio Schiavoni and Anthony Wells were the seven drivers who participated in both the Road to Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[14]

Two one-hour practice sessions were held on the morning of 17 September and later that evening.^[1] Niko Kari in the No. 14 EuroInternational Ligier car set the fastest lap time of 3:50.145 in the first practice session,^[15] eight-tenths of a second slower than the series's LMP3 class record.^[16] Kari was almost four-tenths of a second quicker than the second-placed No. 15 RLR Msport entry of Malthe Jakobsen.^[16] Wayne Boyd's No. 23 United Autosports car was third-fastest.^[15] Mastronardi's No. 8 Iron Lynx Ferrari was fastest in the GT3 class with a lap time of 3:58.172.^[15] He was ahead of Andrea Caldarelli's No. 63 FFF Racing Team by ACM Lamborghini and Andlauer's No. 2 Pzoberer Zürichsee by TFT Porsche.^[15][16] Practice was stopped when a car spun into the gravel trap and causing the race director to prematurely end the session. Marshals extricated the car from the gravel and it was driven to the pit lane.^[16]

Kari continued to set the outright pace in the second practice session with the quickest lap time of 3:47.054, almost seven-tenths of a second faster than the second-placed No. 21 Mühlner Motorsport Duqueine car of Gilles Magnus. Jakobsen in the No. 15 RLR Msport car was third-fastest overall. The fastest GT3 car was Andlauer's No. 2 Pzoberer Zürichsee Porsche with a 3:55.355 lap that was 0.676 seconds faster than the second-placed No. 63 FFF Lamborghini of Caldarelli. David Perel's No. 74 Kessel Ferrari was third in class.^[17][18]

There were two 20-minute qualifying sessions held on the morning of 18 September to set the starting order for both races.^[1][19] 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.^[19][20] Boyd's No. 23 United Autosports car recorded the fastest qualifying lap time of 3:47.025 on his final timed lap at the conclusion of the first qualifying session to achieve his third pole position of the season.^[20][21] He was 0.711 seconds quicker than Kari's second-placed No. 14 EuroInternational entry, which held pole position for a majority of qualifying until Boyd's lap. Hörr's No. 3 DKR Duqueine vehicle completed the top three overall starters.^[20] In GT3, Calderelli achieved the category pole position in the No. 63 FFF Lamborghini with a 3:54.716 lap.^[21] Perel set the second-fastest lap time in the No. 74 Kessel Ferrari, ahead of Giamcomo Piccini's No. 8 Iron Lynx Ferrari.^[20] The No. 51 Spirit Ferrari ran off the circuit close to the pit lane exit and the session was stopped before resuming with 17 minutes remaining when the car was extricated.^[20][21]

The second qualifying session saw the No. 37 Cool Racing entry of Nicolas Maulini secure pole position with a lap time of 3:49.079.^[20] Maulini was 2.8 seconds faster than Glorieux No. 3 DKR vehicle in second place after closing the gap from four seconds late in the session. The No. 26 Graff car of Penttinen was third on the grid.^[22][23] CD Sport's No. 5 entry driven by Michael Jensen ran off the circuit and qualifying was ended three minutes early as a result.^[22][23] Mastronardi secured pole position in the No. 8 Iron Lynx Ferrari with a time of 3:56.532.^[20] The No. 63 FFF Lamborghini driven by Hiroshi Hamaguchi qualified second in class, ahead of Michael Broniszewski's No. 74 Kessel Ferrari in third.^[22]