The Automobile Club de l’Ouest has this morning confirmed that they are to add a second race on the full Le Mans 24 Hours circuit to the Road to Le Mans event supporting the 2017 Le Mans 24 Hours.

The pair of 55 minute races for LMP3 and GT3 spec cars with two drivers apiece will be held on Thursday 15th June at 17:30, and the second on Saturday 17th June at 11:30 before the start of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Again organised together with FIA WEC and ELMS race promoters Le Mans Endurance Management the maximum number of entries has been increased number of entries has been increased to 46 (from 42 last year)

It has also been confirmed that Thursday’s race will form part of the calendar for the Michelin Le Mans Cup with the other Five events will be on the same weekends as the 2017 European Le Mans Series and Road to Le Mans will be a special event as a curtain-raiser of the Le Mans 24 Hours with teams entered for the full Michelin Le Mans Cup will be automatically accepted for the La Sarthe event.

Two 1-hour free practice sessions will take place on Wednesday 14th June followed by two 20-minute qualifying sessions on Thursday 15th June in which the grid positions for the two races will be decided.

The format of the event for two drivers will impose a minimum driving time of 20 minutes in the race per driver, and a pit stop lasting one minute minimum fixed by the regulations within a defined time window.

In compliance with the Michelin Le Mans Cup regulations a Gold driver is accepted in the driver line-up. Free choice is left to the entrants to select the driver taking part in the first qualifying session, while the second one is for Bronze drivers only.

The following driver combinations are permitted: Bronze/Bronze, Bronze/Silver, Bronze/Gold (no Silver/Silver).

Entries for the Road to Le Mans open on 10th March 2017 and close on 6th April 2017.

The list of entries for the 2nd Road to Le Mans will be announced mid-April.

Entrants who want to race in the Road to Le Mans only will have to pay an entry fee of 15 000 € (tax not included) to be included in the selection process.

The selection committee will give priority (at its discretion) to teams entered for the European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup and the Weathertech Sportscar Championship.