The #18 IDEC Sport Oreca scored its second overall victory of the season as the European Le Mans Series marked a hugely successful return to the UK for the first time in six years.
A bumper weekend crowd of 110,000 witnessed a race disrupted by multiple major accidents and poor weather. Initially moved forward by an hour in anticipation of an approaching weather front, the race was twice red-flagged due to crashes, stretching its duration almost back to the original schedule. The organisers’ caution proved justified when torrential rain brought a final, race-ending red flag with around ten minutes to go.
IDEC Sport drivers Jamie Chadwick, Daniel Juncadella and Mathys Jaubert ramped up their title credentials with a confident win. As the series heads into the final round of the season at Portimão, the trio now trail championship leaders VDS Panis Racing by just six points.
After a strong opening stint from Chadwick, the team opted to put silver-rated driver Jaubert in second, before the worst of the weather was forecast to arrive. The decision proved to be an inspired one, as platinum-rated Juncadella was on hand to steer the car home at the close.
Second place went to long-time leaders Inter Europol Competition – their fifth race in succession in the runner-up spot – who go into the season finale with a major shot at championship glory just one point behind IDEC Sport and seven down on VDS Panis Racing.
The #43 Oreca piloted by Tom Dillmann, Jakub Śmiechowski and Nick Yelloly held a significant lead of almost a minute before the bad weather arrived. However, a spin by Yelloly on a damp track cost the team valuable time. Rounding out the overall podium was the #10 Vector Sport Oreca of Ryan Cullen, Pietro Fittipaldi and Vladislav Lomko, who recorded their first overall podium of the season.
Two in two for Algarve Pro Racing in LMP2 Pro-Am
Olli Caldwell, Kriton Lendoudis and Alex Quinn posted their second victory in as many races behind the wheel of the #20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca 07. Star of the show for the Portuguese-registered team was 24-year-old Brit Alex Quinn, who expertly drove the Oreca prototype in the closing stint, keeping pro driver Louis Deletraz in the #99 AO by TF Oreca for much of it.
The class battle was also shaped by a collision involving two LMP2 Pro-Am contenders – the #83 AF Corse machine and the #77 Proton Competition entry – that resulted in one of two red flags. Driver of the AF Corse entry François Perrodo made contact with a LMP3 car on the back straight, which speared into the #77 driven at the time by Giorgio Roda and caused the silver-liveried car to collide at speed with the wall. Roda was fortunately unhurt by the wreck, while Perrodo received a drive-through penalty for the indiscretion.
Championship glory for CLX Motorsport in LMP3
The #17 CLX Motorsport Ligier HS P325 closed out the LMP3 championship with one race remaining after another dominant performance in the category. Paul Lanchere, Adrien Closmenil and Theodor Jensen put the disappointing final-hour retirement of Spa behind them to secure their fourth win in five races.
Second were Quentin Antonel and Stéphane Tribaudini in the #68 M Racing Ligier, just a couple of seconds ahead of the #35 Ultimate machine of Louis Stern, Jean-Baptiste Lahaye and Matthieu Lahaye.
GR Racing ahead at the close in LMGT3 but lose win to Richard Mille AF Corse
The class battle in LMGT3 went right down to the wire as the #50 Richard Mille AF Corse and #86 GR Racing Ferraris went all out for the win. Riccardo Pera in the GR Racing machine caught and passed Lilou Wadoux’s Richard Mille AF Corse entry just before the race was red flagged and appeared to have secured GR Racing’s first class win in a number of years.
However, the final classification was taken from the lap prior to Pera’s overtake, meaning that the win went the way of Wadoux and her teammates Riccardo Agostini and Custodio Toledo. As a result, the trio lead the championship by 12 points going into the final round in Portugal. Completing the podium was the TF Sport Corvette of Rui Andrade, Charlie Eastwood and Hiroshi Koizumi.
The season finale of the 2025 ELMS – the 4 Hours of Portimão – takes place on 12 October.
All images: Photo©JEP – www.jakobebrey.com