2009 Formula Le Mans Cup Explained

The 2009 Formula Le Mans Cup season was the only season of the Formula Le Mans Cup, a support series for the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. All competitors utilized the Oreca FLM09 spec prototype. The season featured ten races held over six events from 10 May to 20 September 2009. Nico Verdonck claimed the title ahead of Gavin Cronje, despite the drivers sharing a car all season. Verdonck benefitted from points awarded for pole positions and fastest laps, giving him a four-point advantage of Cronje. Their team, DAMS, also won the teams championship.

Race calendar and results

The Formula Le Mans Cup schedule consisted of several types of events. Four events, held in support for the Le Mans Series, featured two races of 60 minutes each. A fifth event at the 24 Hours of Le Mans utilized only a single 60 minute race. The final event of the season at Magny-Cours featured three 60 minute races in succession with a winner determined only at the end of the third race.

Round	Circuit	Date	Winning Drivers	Winning Team
1	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	May 9	Nico Verdonck Gavin Cronje	DAMS
2		May 10	Nico Verdonck Gavin Cronje	DAMS
3	Circuit de la Sarthe	June 13	Nico Verdonck Gavin Cronje	DAMS
4	Autódromo Internacional do Algarve	July 31	David Zollinger Damien Toulemonde	Applewood-LD Autosport
5		August 1	Nico Verdonck Gavin Cronje	DAMS
6	Nürburgring	August 22	Nico Verdonck Gavin Cronje	DAMS
7		August 23	Nico Verdonck Gavin Cronje	DAMS
8	Silverstone Circuit	September 11	Nico Verdonck Gavin Cronje	DAMS
9		September 13	Mathias Beche Valle Mäkelä	Hope Polevision Racing
10	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	September 20	Mathias Beche Valle Mäkelä	Hope Polevision Racing

Championship standings

Points are awarded to the top ten finishers in the order 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1.

Drivers' standings

An additional bonus point was available for individual drivers at each race; these could be earned by winning pole position or by setting the fastest lap of the race. A championship was also awarded to the best amateur driver over the season.

Pos Driver Team Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total 1 Nico Verdonck DAMS (21) 20 20 13 20 20 (21) 21 15 0 171 2 Gavin Cronje DAMS 20 20 20 12 20 20 20 20 15 0 167 3 Mathias Beche Hope Polevision Racing 12 15 16 10 15 (16) 3 (16) (22) 21 146 4 Valle Mäkelä Hope Polevision Racing 12 15 15 10 15 15 3 15 20 20 140 5 David Zollinger Applewood-LD Autosport 2 13 0 (21) 12 6 15 12 10 15 106 6 Damien Toulemonde Applewood-LD Autosport 2 12 0 20 12 6 15 12 10 15 104 7 Gary Chalandon Boutsen Energy Racing 15 2 6 15 10 12 10 8 3 8 89 8 Christophe Pillon Hope Polevision Racing 8 8 12 4 6 8 12 3 6 20 87 9 Dimitri Enjalbert Boutsen Energy Racing 16 2 15 (11) 13 10 67 10 Natacha Gachnang Hope Polevision Racing 12 4 6 8 13 3 6 52 11= Luca Moro DAMS 4 0 0 2 8 4 8 6 4 12 48 11= Wolfgang Kaufmann DAMS 4 0 0 2 8 4 8 6 4 12 48 13 Dominik Kraihamer Boutsen Energy Racing 6 8 1 10 0 8 3 10 46 14 Lionel Robert Boutsen Energy Racing 10 12 10 32 15 Richard Mori Ibañez Racing Service 0 3 3 0 3 6 2 2 6 25 16 Luke Hines Boutsen Energy Racing 10 12 22 17= Johan-Boris Scheier Boutsen Energy Racing 1 1 0 8 2 8 20 17= William Cavailhès Ibañez Racing Service 4 3 0 3 6 2 2 20 19 Philippe Haezebrouck Applewood-LD Autosport 3 6 4 2 4 19 20 Thor-Christian Ebbesvik Hope Polevision Racing 8 8 16 21= Jean-Michel Martin Boutsen Energy Racing 10 4 14 21= Maxime Martin Boutsen Energy Racing 10 4 14 23= Michaël Rossi Exagon Engineering 3 10 13 23= Mehdi Bennani Exagon Engineering 3 10 13 23= Marc Faggionato Applewood-LD Autosport 3 6 4 13 26= Damien Charveriat DAMS 4 8 12 26= Charles Hollings DAMS 4 8 12 26= Stéphane Lemeret DAMS 6 6 12 26= Vincent Vosse DAMS 6 6 12 30 Fabien Rosier DAMS (11) 11 31= Vincent Capillaire DAMS 10 10 31= Mathieu Cheruy Boutsen Energy Racing 10 0 10 33 François Desprez Ibañez Racing Service 0 3 6 9 34= Julien Canal Graff Racing 8 8 34= Ludovic Badey Graff Racing 8 8 36= José Ibañez Ibañez Racing Service 6 6 36= Linus Ohlsson Applewood-LD Autosport 2 4 6 38 Thomas Duchene Exagon Engineering 0 0 1 1 2 0 1 5 39= Frédéric da Rocha Ibañez Racing Service 4 4 39= Tom Cloet Applewood-LD Autosport 4 4 39= Jean-Philippe Belloc Applewood-LD Autosport 4 4 39= Raymond Narac Applewood-LD Autosport 4 4 43= Kosta Kanaroglou Escuela Española de Pilotos 0 3 3 43= Oliver Campos-Hull Escuela Española de Pilotos 0 3 3 43= Damien Chanard Boutsen Energy Racing 1 2 3 46= Anthony Beltoise Boutsen Energy Racing 2 2 46= Gabriël Abergel Boutsen Energy Racing 2 2 46= Pascal Ballay Boutsen Energy Racing 1 1 0 2 49= Franck Lagorce Exagon Engineering 0 (1) 1 49= Keiko Ihara Exagon Engineering 1 1

Key   Rookie Bold Pole position (Brackets) Fastest Lap

Teams' standings

Pos	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Total
1	DAMS	26	26	30	14	28	24	28	26	23	12	237
2	Hope Polevision Racing	20	23	27	14	21	23	15	18	26	21	208
3	Boutsen Energy Racing	25	6	8	23	12	22	10	18	15	19	158
4	Applewood-LD Autosport	2	12	3	26	16	8	19	12	10	19	127
5	Ibañez Racing Service	0	3	4	3	0	3	6	2	2	6	29
6	Exagon Engineering	3	10	1								14
7	Graff Racing			8								8
8	Escuela Española de Pilotos				0	3						3

External links

• Official website