The third season of the Michelin Le Mans Cup gets under way next weekend in Le Castellet and will feature twenty-two LMP3 cars and seven GT3’s for the opening race.

Three chassis manufacturers are represented in LMP3 with Ligier JS P3, Norma M30 and Ginetta P3-15 all being powered by the Nissan engine.

2017 Michelin Le Mans Cup champions DKR Engineering are back to defend their title, this year with a new line up of Léonard Hoogenboom and Jens Petersen, they will face tough competition from 2017 vice champions Ecurie Ecosse / Nielsen, 2016 champions United Autosports and from French teams such as Graff, CD Sport, DB Autosports and N’Race.

In GT3 the seven-car field is made up for five Ferrari 488 GT3’s, one Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 and a lone Porsche 911 GT3 from 2017 champions Ebimotors as they switch away from the Lamborghini that took them to the title last season.

A total of fifty-eight drivers across twenty teams represent seventeen nations around the globe, British drivers for the opening race include John Hartshorne, Oliver Hancock, Anthony Wells, Matthew Bell, Richard Meins, Christian England, Michael Benham, Duncan Tappy, Ross Warburton, Alex Kapadia, Alasdair McCaig, Colin Noble and Andy Meyrick.

A place on the 2019 24 Hours of Le Mans grid is the main prize of the championship, so expect this to be a fiercely fought competition throughout the year.

Click here to see the entry list for the opening round.