Marking a significant change to recent tradition, the public road sections of the 14km, 8.47-mile Le Mans circuit will remain closed between the Wednesday and Thursday qualifying sessions for this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans, round 3 of the FIA World Endurance Championship.
The Mulsanne Straight and the run from Mulsanne Corner to the Porsche Curves will not reopen to traffic on Thursday as usual, which will allow more track time for cars taking part in the two support races for the Le Mans week which culminates in the big event on June 18/19.
Vincent Beaumesnil, sporting manager of the ACO, told Britain’s Autosport magazine: "This will allow us to have more free practice for the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup and also to give a little bit more track time to the Ferrari Challenge."
From 2016 the Michelin GT3 Le Mans Cup has been established as a rung on the ACO’s "endurance pyramid", and this year LMP3 prototypes will also be allowed to take part in the additional one-hour race on the Saturday morning prior to the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Track activity will begin at 4pm on Wednesday with a four-hour session of practice prior to the first two hours of qualifying at 10pm, followed by further practice and qualifying on Thursday.
The public roads that make up approximately two thirds of Circuit de la Sarthe, which include the route nationale between the city of Le Mans and Tours to the south, will be open to traffic on the Friday of Le Mans week when there is no on-track activity.
With grateful thanks to Autosport
Photo: 24 HOURS OF LE MANS 2013 (LE MANS, SARTHE, FRANCE), 19 JUNE 2013
