21 September 2026 – Press release Arthur Rogeon
Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3, round 5, Silverstone, 11 & 12 September 2026
With half-an-hour to go to the chequered flag at Silverstone, Arthur Rogeon was in 30th place after three tyre changes. He managed to fight his way up to fifth spot in the fifth round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup. The drivers in the # 12 Brutal Fish by Campos Ligier can no longer win the championship, but they will defend their second place with the same unflinching courage at Portimao on 10th October!
Like at Spa-Francorchamps, Arthur set the fastest time in the first free practice session. As usual he was designated to qualify the car and he ended up in second place. Finally, he had to make do with fifth place on the grid “I was on cold tyres on the out lap (first lap after leaving the pits, Ed) and I arrived in the Vale chicane behind a car that was much slower than me. I flashed my lights and moved over to the inside to overtake him. But he stuck to his line as if I wasn’t there. In fact, he just didn’t see me. There was minor contact, he spun and I was handed a three-place grid penalty!”
August Raber, Arthur’s team-mate set off from fifth place on the grid. “He made a good start to the race and on the first lap he was already third. The pace was there even if the tyres suffered. But August managed to stay in the wake of the team’s other car in fourth place just a few seconds behind the leader.” At that moment it looked like victory was a strong possibility.
In the Michelin Le Mans Cup 2-hour races, the mandatory pitstop takes place between the 50th and 70th minute. Arthur was asked to pit at the 63rd minute. What happened next was rather more complicated in the true sense of the word.”
“We stopped before our two main rivals which threw a spanner in the works as it began to rain. I went back out on slick tyres in light rain which quickly turned into a downpour. I had to stop a second time to shod wet weather rubber. We really lost the race because of that stop as a car that had retired in front of the pit just behind us hindered the manœuvre We had to put the car on the skates to get it pointing straight as required by the regs and we lost 4 or 5 seconds. At the moment we restarted, the leader made his only stop in the race. He slotted in between the team’s two Ligiers and I found myself a lap behind the lead car.”
At exactly that same moment the safety-car was deployed as the rain had caused a few incidents. The neutralisation lasted for half-an-hour during which it was obviously impossible to move up the lap chart! Then the rain stopped so once again a choice had to be made: Arthur pitted for the third time to put on slicks. “That gamble paid off! Sector 1 and sector 3 were dry while sector 2 was still wet. When the race restarted I was able to lap some 5 seconds quicker than the front-runners who had stopped only once and were still on wets. I got back on the leading lap overtaking around 20 cars and I finished fifth. But we could have won that race.”
Let’s turn the page and project ourselves into the future and the marvellous Portimao circuit. Arthur and August will arrive there in second place in the championship with the firm intention of holding onto that enviable position – the runner-up spot!
