European Le Mans - Last lap drama seals the championship

The final race of the European Le Mans Series delivered excitement and drama, with non-stop action from lights out to the chequered flag - collisions, penalties, and full course yellows kept teams and drivers on their toes as championship titles were decided in dramatic fashion across all four categories.

Photo: Jan Patrick Wagner

QUALIFYING

As the sun shone down on a busy set of qualifying sessions, drivers in the European Le Mans Series pushed to their limit to secure the positions for race day. Each class delivered drama, spins, and tight competition, leaving fans eager for the upcoming race, which happened to be the season finale, and the championship fights.

The LMGT3 session kicked off in dramatic fashion as the #97 Grid Motorsport by TF Sport Aston Martin went off track just forty seconds after it began, suffering from a spin on cold tyres. Fortunately, the incident didn’t cause any damage, but this provided a challenging start for the team. Sarah Bovy in the #85 Iron Dames Porsche 992 GT3 R set the early pace, laying down a blistering 1:42.408. As the rest of the field’s times began to trickle through, Bovy’s dominance was evident, with the #59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin making its way up to third, and the #50 Formula Racing Ferrari in second. As the session approached its conclusion, the #97 Grid Motorsport Aston Martin recovered significantly, and improved its position to third place, just over a second behind the Iron Dames. The #50 Formula Racing Ferrari managed to close the gap to the Dames, but was still 0.969 seconds adrift. The Iron Dames held on for a commanding pole position, boosting them as favourites for the race.

LMP3 saw its own drama from the outset, as Wyatt Brichacek in the #4 DKR Engineering Duqueine span on his out-lap, but despite this the lap times began to fall thick and fast with the #35 Ultimate Ligier JS P320 setting the fastest time of 1:41.675, however the pace would escalate rapidly. The #15 RLR MSport Ligier responded with a 1:39.529 to claim the top spot briefly before the #35 Ultimate to fire back with a 1:38.877. A back-and-forth duel ensued between the two teams, with the RLR MSport entry eventually claiming the top spot once again.

Yellow flags suddenly appeared at turn three, following a spin from the #8 Team Virage entry, which briefly slowed the session down a touch, before returning to green and the battle for pole continued to boil. The #35 Ultimate team snatched pole, before being displaced by the #17 COOL Racing Ligier, who stormed to the top with a 1:37.498, and an impressive 0.942 seconds ahead of the Ultimate team. The championship leaders of #11 EuroInternational struggled to find any pace during the session, and were only quick enough for P10.

The LMP2 Pro-Am class saw a highly contested qualifying session, with once again early drama caused by a spin from the #29 Richard Mille by TDS entry at the Torre Vip hairpin, but it didn’t take too long for the competition to heat up, with the #20 Algarve Pro Racing entry setting the early benchmark for the other teams with a 1:38.987, but this time was soon smashed by the #77 Proton Competition entry with Giorgio Roda at the wheel. With ten minutes left in the session, #29 returned to the top with a 1:34.387, but the gap at the top was constantly shifting. Roda in the #77 responded, putting himself ahead of Rodrigo Sales in the #29, before striking again. In the dying moments, Roda delivered a phenomenal 1:32.919, which no one else could match. The #83 AF Corse with François Perrodo made a late push to secure second place, 0.798 seconds behind Roda. 

In the LMP2 class, COOL Racing’s #37 car held the top position for the majority of the session, but in the closing minutes the battle intensified. With just six minutes remaining, Charles Milesi in the #65 Panis Racing car moved up to second, applying pressure on the COOL Racing entry. Then, with the clock in the final few minutes Milesi delivered a 1:30.727 lap, which snatched pole position from the #37 team, who settled for second position. A fantastic performance by Milesi in the Panis Racing Oreca 07, as well as a perfectly executed qualifying strategy meant they would start on pole, giving them a solid chance in the championship fight too.

Photo: Marcel Wulf

RACE

The race got off to a chaotic start as the field roared away from the grid. Just moments after the lights went out, contact between the #34 Inter Europol Competition LMP2 and #51 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 at the Torre Vip hairpin brought out an early virtual safety car, which then evolved into a safety car. The race was over for the #51 Ferrari, however the #34 Inter Europol was able to get back to the pits and repair the little damage it had. The race was resumed quickly, but the action kept coming. In the early stages, the #59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin and the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini made contact at turn twelve, which resulted in the Lamborghini being sent into the gravel, while the Aston Martin continued but with a damaged rear screen. The #63 Lamborghini received a drive-through penalty for causing the collision. Shortly after, the #50 Formula Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 made contact with the other Aston Martin of #97 Grid Motorsport by TF, and subsequently gained the position. The early drama set the tone for what would be a challenging day for many of the teams, including teams poised for a potential championship title.

As the race progressed, the full course yellows became a regular occurrence, with debris at turn eleven triggering a FCY. As soon as the race resumed, more incidents followed, with contact between the Oreca 07’s of #25 Algarve Pro Racing and #10 Vector Sport, as well as spins for the #21 United Autosports Pro-Am LMP2 added to the mayhem. The #10 was handed a drive-through penalty for its collision with the #25, but that was only the beginning of a cascade of incidents. Throughout the middle phase of the race, contact frequency increased, as the #28 IDEC Sport Oreca 07 came together with the #86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 at Portimão, causing yet another VSC. This also meant the #28 IDEC machine, which previously led the race, would drop a couple laps behind the class leaders, taking them out of any shot at the championship. Shortly after the restart, the #21 United Autosports went off at turn three, while the #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari spun at turn twelve, making contact with the championship leader #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari. 

Penalties came thick and fast as track limits and on-track incidents continued, the #57 and #86 Ferrari’s were both handed drive-through penalties for their separate collisions, while others struggled to stay clean amid the chaos. As the race entered its final stages, the tension continued to rise, with the #31 Racing Spirit of Léman LMP3 suffering from suspension damage, which slowed dramatically, forcing the car to pit. Just moments later, the #21 United Autosports LMP2, which seemed to be caught up in every bit of contact throughout the race was yet again catching up with the #59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, which saw the #21 ending up in the gravel at turn fifteen. Footage showed contact with the Aston Martin, which resulted in the #59 pitting for repairs as the race briefly went under VSC once more. 

With less than an hour of the final race of the season remaining, debris at turn eight prompted race control to throw yet another full course yellow, which after resumption the battles across all classes reached an all-time high, with championships on the line in each category. The #65 Panis Racing LMP2, which was doing well earlier on in the race hit trouble, unable to disengage its pit limiter, before making contact with the #10 Vector Sport car, resulting in heavy damage for both cars, forcing them into the pits. 

​As the race neared its conclusion, the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini was on the tail of the #85 Iron Dames Porsche, making a late charge for the LMGT3 championship. The tension was palpable as the #63 closed in quickly, but further FCY periods kept everyone guessing until the final moments. The final minutes of the race saw one final twist, with just seconds to go, at the final corner the #63 Lamborghini passed the Iron Dames’ Porsche while being lapped by the overall leader. This crucial move from the Lamborghini crew not only secured the race win, but also clinched the LMGT3 championship in a heart-stopping finish, separated by only 0.195 seconds. Meanwhile, the overall finishing order saw the #37 COOL Racing Oreca 07 claim victory in LMP2 after leading a fiercely contested battle throughout the race. The #77 Proton Competition LMP2 Pro-Am car took the win in class, while the #17 COOL Racing Ligier JS P320 triumphed in LMP3. 

Photo: Jan Patrick Wagner

CHAMPIONSHIP WINNERS CROWNED

After a thrilling and unpredictable race, the final championship standings were confirmed.

LMP2: The #14 AO by TF team, consisting of Louis Delétraz, Jonny Edgar and Robert Kubica secured the championship by finishing the race in second place. The race winning #37 COOL Racing team took third place in the championship standings, meanwhile the sister #47 COOL Racing team took third position on track, giving the Swiss outfit a double podium in the final race. The #43 Inter Europol Competition team took second in the championship, just twelve points behind.

LMP2 Pro-Am: The #83 AF Corse team won the Pro-Am title, adding to the teams’ historic legacy, while the #20 Algarve Pro Racing team took second in the championship by just two points after taking second position in the race, with the race winning #77 Proton Competition team taking third in the championship, one point behind second. Furthermore, the fourth place team in the championship standings were just four points behind first, so the Pro-Am competition was tighter than ever in 2024.

LMP3: #15 RLR MSport take the LMP3 title, in another close battle, just one point ahead of the #11 EuroInternational team, who have been consistent throughout the entire season. The #17 COOL Racing crew, with two Portuguese drivers at home, took the win in class, but only managed to finish fifth in the championship. 

LMGT3: With the nail-biting battle to the end in the LMGT3 class, the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 took the championship by two points over the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 GT3. The #59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin rounded out the third position in the championship, after what was an unfortunate turn of events in the final race of the season, although were the highest team to finish every race in the season, with the Iron Lynx and Kessel Racing teams retiring at Spa-Francorchamps and Le Castellet respectively. 

EUROPEAN LE MANS RETURNS TO SILVERSTONE

The European Le Mans Series will gear up for another year of exciting multiclass racing in 2025, while returning to the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom after a six year absence. A promising reintroduction of the event, which has been well-attended in the past, will show the firm establishment that the ELMS has as the leading European endurance series.

Round 1: 4 Hours of Barcelona - Spain, 5th - 6th April 2025

Round 2: 4 Hours of Le Castellet - France, 3rd - 4th May 2025

Round 3: 4 Hours of Imola - Italy, 5th - 6th July 2025

Round 4: 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps - Belgium, 23rd - 24th August 2025

Round 5: 4 Hours of Silverstone - United Kingdom, 13th - 14th September 2025

Round 6: 4 Hours of Portimão - Portugal, 17th - 18th October 2025