24h Le Mans
The no43 Inter Europol Competition returned to the top step of the ELMS podium for the first time since Le Castellet in 2024 after a dramatic 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps which saw six Safety Car periods in the first half of the race.
After taking their second 24 Hours of Le Mans victory in a row in June and finishing second on the ELMS podium no less than six times in the past two seasons, Jakub Smiechowski, Nick Yelloly and Tom Dillmann were all smiles as they held up their winners’ trophies, having taken the chequered flag just 3.3 seconds ahead of the no10 Vector Sport Oreca.
However, Pietro Fittipaldi had driven 1m15.791 below the minimum driving time. The no10 Oreca was given a post-race penalty of 1:50.791 sec (Stewards Decision no71), which dropped the car to 17th overall and 9th in LMP2. This promoted the no29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca into second place and the no18 IDEC Sport Oreca to third.
GR Racing secured their first ELMS victory since 2015, with Mike Wainwright, Mex Jansen and Lorcan Hanafin winning the LMGT3 category. Hanafin brought the no86 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 home just 2.7 seconds ahead of the no77 Proton Competition Porsche, with the no62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG securing a second podium in a row.
The LMP2 Pro/Am win went to the no83 AF Corse Oreca of François Perrodo, Antonio Fuoco and Matthieu Vaxiviere. Vaxiviere was battling hard with Louis Delétraz in the no99 AO by TF Oreca in the final stages of the race when the pair clashed at Les Combes. Delétraz span off, with Vaxiviere taking to the escape road and was able to keep his lead. The no83 Oreca took the chequered flag 3.3 seconds ahead of Malthe Jakobsen in the no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, with Delétraz finishing third 5 seconds further back.
The no5 Rinaldi Racing Ligier took the chequered flag in LMP3, with Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen finishing 54 seconds ahead of the rest of the class field. However, a post race penalty led to the car being disqualified due to non compliance with the maximum capacity of the fuel tank (Steward’s Decision no76). This promoted the no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier to first place, with the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine in second and the no11 Eurointernational Ligier completing the top three.
CLICK HERE for the result of the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
CLICK HERE for the championship positions after 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Round 5 of the 2026 European Le Mans Series will be the Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone, which will take place on Sunday 13 September.
