‘LMP3 Cup changes haven’t yet worked’
To quote ‘if you build it, they will come’. One year in, LMP3 Cup can claim to have built everything for a strong series, yet it still awaits the arrival of a grid size to match.
Last season the fields varied between five and 10 cars. Much was changed for 2018 to boost numbers – Michelin rubber to match European series, freeing up driver categories, adding a secondary PT4 class – and hopes were high for double figures. Yet in the Donington season opener there were seven LMP3S plus one PT4 machine.
Series boss Chris Haynes cannot explain the paucity. “As far as we’re concerned there’s no excuses left [not to participate],” he says.
“Everything is in place, we have invested for the future and we’re still committed to LMP3 Cup. In theory it’s a fantastic championship, we just need the cars. We believe we’re providing the best environment nationally for their racing and we’re always listening to our customers. We’ve listened and made those changes.
“We can only provide the environment – we can’t do the racing as well. We can’t sustain a race championship with eight cars on the grid.
“The teams are telling us that the drivers are just being a bit coy, holding out for deals. We’ve targeted Brands Hatch [round two] as an important round, we’re expecting more cars there.”
Haynes believes another possible reason for the slow start is down to the stormy weather that hit the UK earlier this year and could have curtailed teams’ preparation.
Among existing LMP3 Cup competitors there is virtual unanimity that it’s a high-quality series – in teams, drivers and cars – as well as being competitive, well run and cost effective.
“There’s nothing that would put us off competing,” confirms United Autosports’ Richard Dean. “I keep reading about what a success LMP1 is and they’ve only got eight cars.”
Experienced driver Jamie Spence believes that more drivers should try the P3 car, and they could be surprised in terms of value for money.
“I look at the GT Cup [sister series] and I believe the budgets are very similar and these are head and shoulders above them,” he explains.
Haynes thinks that could be a doubleedged sword: “The P3 is a proper racing car. I think some of the other racing cars out there make it a lot easier with their trickery. That might have an influence.”
“It’s chicken and egg,” adds United Autosports driver Bonamy Grimes, “you’ve got to have the grids to get the people, but if you don’t get the people you don’t get the grids.
“It always takes a while with these things. And if you look at Europe and how LMP3 is going great guns I’m sure it will ramp up. It’s just a matter of getting a good UK scene going.”
Many LMP3 Cup drivers and teams agree with Grimes’ position. “There is a lot of interest in the series, it’s just getting people across the line,” says Speedworks Motorsport team principal Christian Dick.
The best explanation seems that it’s all just a matter of time.
Nielsen Racing took a 1-2-3 in the first Donington race after all its cars started on slicks in damp-but-drying conditions, with newcomer Christian Olsen winning in only his second ever LMP3 race and with no prior dry running in the car.
Driving alone, he was around 10 seconds off team-mate Colin Noble, leading the first stint, and hounding his other stable-mate Johnny Mowlem in second. Olsen had a 10s shorter pitstop than either of the mandatory stop times, with Noble’s car losing a further 15s due to a pitstop problem. This gave Olsen a handy 23s lead after the stops, which he extended to 40s by the end.
“It would be a bit blase to say that winning is not a surprise!” says Olsen.
Tony Wells brought the Noble/wells pairing home second and Grimes held off a late attack from Spence’s 360 Racing entry to take third alongside his team-mate Mowlem.
Bradley Smith/duncan Williams, making Norma’s (UK) LMP3 Cup debut with the Mectech Motorsport team, was one of three cars to finish a lap down after starting on wet tyres in mixed conditions. But they made amends by winning the second race comfortably.
Smith’s pole mark was 0.9s clear of the rest, and while Williams spun when running among the leaders – losing around 15s just before half distance – Smith recovered to win by 16 seconds.
“Mectech have put together a fantastic car,” Smith said. “We’ve had fantastic help from Norma in terms of set-up too.”
Noble/wells were ahead of United Autosports’ Charlie Hollings and Andrew Bentley, with Noble passing Hollings at Coppice late on.