The qualifying session of the 4 Hours of Imola (Italy), the second round of the 2016 European Le Mans Series, was very exciting, with the top 4 gathered in less than 5 thousands of a second in the LM P2 class. The #21 Dragonspeed Oreca driven by Nicolas Lapierre, Henrik Hedman and Ben Hanley took pole.

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Young Frenchman Théo Pourchaire will make his maiden appearance at the wheel of the Peugeot 9X8 at the 2025 8 Hours of Bahrain before officially joining Team Peugeot TotalEnergies for the 2026 FIA World Endurance Championship.

The burgeoning career of 22-year-old Th&eacute;o Pourchaire has reached another milestone. The current development driver will replace Stoffel Vandoorne&nbsp;in the #94 Peugeot&nbsp;9X8 from the final round of the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship campaign in Bahrain before stepping up to official works driver next season.

The 2022 FIA Formula Two champion discovered the French hypercar during the 2024 Rookie Test in Bahrain. His analytical capacity, rigorous approach and strong commitment convinced Peugeot Sport to appoint him as a test driver in 2025. This year has seen Pourchaire notch up numerous private tests and simulator sessions at the team&rsquo;s Satory facility. He also made his endurance d&eacute;but in LMP2, taking pole position at Imola (ELMS) and an eighth place in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

&ldquo;Th&eacute;o continues his learning process with the 9X8, and this race represents a logical step in his integration into the Hypercar program,&rdquo;&nbsp;said Peugeot Sport Technical Director&nbsp;Olivier Jansonnie.&nbsp;&ldquo;After a strong season in ELMS and steady progress, Th&eacute;o has shown that he has the qualities required to perform at the highest level of endurance racing.&nbsp; Making his WEC d&eacute;but in Bahrain naturally fits with his journey alongside the team.&rdquo;

Vandoorne will vacate his position after the 2025 6 Hours of Fuji.&nbsp;&ldquo;On behalf of Team Peugeot TotalEnergies, I would like to thank Stoffel for his professionalism, commitment, and all the experience he has shared with us over these two years. The whole team wishes him the very best for the future of his career,&rdquo;&nbsp;said Jansonnie.

Pourchaire will join Lo&iuml;c Duval&nbsp;and&nbsp;Malthe Jakobsen in the #94 Peugeot&nbsp;9X8.&nbsp;&nbsp;&ldquo;I am super happy &mdash; thank you to Team Peugeot TotalEnergies for making my dream of becoming a professional racing driver come true,&rdquo;&nbsp;beamed Pourchaire.&nbsp;&ldquo;I am proud to represent Peugeot, a brand with a rich motorsport history that has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. I can&rsquo;t wait to take the start of this legendary race in the top category behind the wheel of the Peugeot 9X8.&rdquo;

With this appointment, Peugeot is continuing its policy of encouraging budding talent. Pourchaire is the second driver named for 2026 after Nick Cassidy.

Peugeot picks Pourchaire for 2026 Hypercar seat

The entry list for the upcoming Asian Le Mans Series that begins in Sepang this December will feature a mammoth 48 full season entries across the three classes, the largest ever for the ALMS, with all three championship winning teams returning to defend their titles.

The LMP2 class has increased by nearly 50%, with 16 entries compared to 11 in the 2024/25 season.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s a similar story in LMP3 with 10 entries this year compared to 6 last season. The GT category will feature an impressive 22 cars with seven manufacturers represented - Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Porsche. The 48 strong entry will see 33 teams representing 18 different nations, including two from China, one from Japan, one from Thailand, two cars from Malaysia and one from New Zealand.

<h2>LMP2</h2>

The 16 entries in the LMP2 field includes champions both past and present.&nbsp; Reigning champions Algarve Pro Racing will run two cars in defence of their 2024/25 crown in addition to running the returning 2023/24 championship winning car Crowdstrike Racing by APR. Former champions Nielsen Racing and DKR Engineering will enter a car each. 
All Japanese team Ponos Racing steps up to LMP2 for the first time with a single entry.&nbsp; Reigning LMP2 24 Hours of Le Mans winners Inter Europol Competition will enter a single car in the LMP2 category. 
RD Limited, ARC Bratislava, Cetilar Racing, Vector Sport RLR and High Class Racing will all run a single car entry, while United Autosports and Proton Competition will field two cars each for the six race series.

<h2>LMP3</h2>

The latest generation of LMP3 cars will be seen in the Asian Le Mans Series for the first time in Sepang with nine Toyota powered Ligier JS P325s and one Duqueine D09 featuring on the ten strong grid. 
Defending champions Bretton Racing return with a single car, as do 2023/24 champions CLX Motorsport (COOL Racing).&nbsp; 
Polish team Team Virage, will enter a pair of Ligier-Toyotas, as will French team 23Events as they make their ALMS debut this season.&nbsp; 
Forestier Racing by VPS and R-ace GP will also make their series debuts in Sepang this December, with R-ace GP running the only Duqueine D09 on the grid. 
LMP3 front runners Inter Europol Competition and High Class Racing will each enter a single car to bring the entry for LMP3 up to 10 cars.

<h2>GT</h2>

The impressive line-up of 22 cars for the upcoming season includes six Ferrari 296 GT3s, five Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, four Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, two Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVOs, two BMW M4 GT3s, two Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3s and one McLaren 720S GT3. 
Manthey returns to the ALMS to defend their hard won 2024/25 Team title on their series debut and will, once again, field a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs. 
Multiple championship winning Belgian outfit Team WRT will make its ALMS debut in Sepang with a pair of BMW M4 GT3s, one under the Team WRT banner and one under UNX Racing by Team WRT. 
TF Sport returns to the Asian Le Mans Series with a pair of Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, while Malaysia will be represented by the welcome return of the JMR team, which is also running a pair of Corvettes. 
New Zealand team EBM will enter an Aston Martin Vantage on the 2025/26 grid, while Thai team Americasian Fragrance by AFRacing will be on the grid with a Ferrari 296. 
To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Ecurie Ecosse&rsquo;s Le Mans win in 1956, British team Blackthorn is running a single Aston Martin Vantage under the Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn banner. 
China will be represented by two teams in 2025/26, with Phantom Global Racing making their ALMS debut with a Porsche 911 GT3 R and Origine Motorsport returns, also running a single Porsche 911. 
German team Getspeed will enter a pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3s and Anglo-American team United Autosports will run the only McLaren 720S alongside their two LMP2 entries.&nbsp; Proton Competition will also run a single GT entry, a Porsche 911 GT3 R, alongside their two LMP2 cars. 
As well as running the Americasian Fragrance by AFRacing entry and the Cetilar Racing Oreca in LMP2, AF Corse will run a further trio of Ferrari 296s, the Italian team running two under the AF Corse banner and the third under Vista AF Corse.&nbsp; The 22 strong grid is completed by a pair of Ferrari 296 GT3s run by Swiss team Kessel Racing.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l&rsquo;Ouest: &ldquo;It is very encouraging to see the Asian Le Mans Series continue to grow with a record breaking 48 car grid. It is also encouraging to see more Le Mans Prototypes being entered, including Ponos Racing, the first all Japanese team in LMP2, and an impressive ten strong LMP3 field with the new generation cars being seen in Asia for the first time.

&ldquo;The series beings with the first double header in Sepang in just three months&rsquo; time. Then it&rsquo;s off to the UAE at the end of January for Rounds 3 and 4 in Dubai before concluding with a double header at Yas Marina a week later.&nbsp; It&rsquo;s going to be an exciting season, and we are all looking forward to the first event in Malaysia in December.&rdquo;

Frederic Lequien, ALMEM and LMEM CEO: &ldquo;We are very pleased to announce another record-breaking 48 car grid for the Asian Le Mans Series underlining the importance of the series in promoting endurance racing in Asia.&nbsp; We are encouraged to see more Asian teams, both returning to the ALMS and new to the series, entered for this season.

&ldquo;We received many more applications above the 48-car maximum and, while it is encouraging to see the level of interest in the Asian Le Mans Series grow, it is also disappointing that we have to turn some very good entries down.&nbsp; We would like to thank every team that applied for a place on the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series grid for their interest.

&ldquo;We are looking forward to seeing another great season of racing in Asian starting in Sepang in a few months time.&rdquo;

Stephane Ratel, SRO Motorsports Group Founder and CEO: &ldquo;The Asian Le Mans Series has once again delivered a sell-out multi-class entry list. This undoubtedly underlines the championship&rsquo;s appeal but also the region&rsquo;s increasingly important and influential role across global sportscar and GT racing. Between the continued success of GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS, imminent return of the Suzuka 1000km this weekend, and Asian Le Mans Series&rsquo; oversubscription, we can rightly celebrate a continent now at the very forefront of our sport.&rdquo;

<a href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/kbxwtsja7c2fxna1lg6xm/_2025-2026-Asian-Le-Mans-Series-Provisional-Entry-List-As-At-10-Sep-2025.pdf?rlkey=bulxelq1heu2d7fkahq3oqehq&amp;e=1&amp;st=uyzson4u&amp;dl=0" target="_blank">CLICK HERE</a> for the full season entry list for the 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series.

Record Breaking Entry for 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series

The 4 Hours of Silverstone marks the return of the ELMS to the UK. The fifth round of the 2025 season could prove decisive in several classes as the competition progresses towards the final round in Portugal. With 16 British drivers and 7 British teams on the entry list at the birthplace of motorsport, the atmosphere promises to be electric!

<h2>LMP2: VDS Panis Racing sets the pace</h2>

Thanks to victories at&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/fr/actualites/elms-vds-panis-racing-remporte-les-4-heures-d-imola-59851" target="_blank">Imola</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/fr/actualites/elms-victoire-pour-vds-panis-racing-lors-des-4-heures-de-spa-francorchamps-59903" target="_blank">Spa-Francorchamps</a>, the VDS Panis Racing #48 Oreca 07-Gibson comes to Silverstone with a comfortable 20-point lead. Ollie Gray will be racing in his home country, alongside teammates Charles Milesi and Esteban Masson. 
Their rivals include Inter Europol Competition (Nick Yelloly, Jakub Smiechowski and Tom Dillmann) who won LMP2 at this year&rsquo;s 24 Hours of Le Mans, and IDEC Sport, who had a spectacular start to the season. 
British teams Vector Sport, United Autosports and Nielsen Racing will also benefit from a home crowd. The LMP2 field comprises 13 celebrated cars and drivers such as Jamie Chadwick, Ben Hanley and Tom Blomqvist.

<h2>LMP2 Pro/Am: a close-run competition</h2>

So far this season every race has been won by a different team, so the class remains well and truly open. Algarve Pro Racing leads the points table, with drivers Alex Quinn and Olli Caldwell, both British, teamed with Kriton Lentoudis. However, AO by TF and three-time champion Louis Del&eacute;traz are only three points away.

<h2>LMP3: CLX Motorsport has the title within reach</h2>

In LMP3, Theodor Jensen, Adrien Closmenil and Paul Lanch&egrave;re stand head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Despite retiring at Spa, CLX Motorsport still has a 31-point lead, which could see the team clinch the championship at Silverstone. 
Briton Timothy Creswick and his team Inter Europol Competition stand in line for second place, and local fans will also be pleased to see British manufacturer Ginetta back in the ELMS.

<h2>LMGT3: Aston Martin, the darling of the home crowd</h2>

The heat is on in LMGT3 too, where again, each round has seen a different winner. Racing Spirit of L&eacute;man&rsquo;s Aston Martin Vantage AMR ranks first coming into the home round, under pressure from Iron Dames (Porsche) and Richard Mille AF Corse (Ferrari). 
Trackside, all eyes will be on the four British teams &ndash; TF Sport, JMW Motorsport, GR Racing and United Autosports &ndash; and seven British drivers.

Check out the <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/doc-prod/ChqqP8BB5cJOrr2ARebMh35C.pdf" target="_blank">full entry list</a> for the 2025 4 Hours of Silverstone.

Tune into <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@EuropeanLeMansSeriesOfficial/featured" target="_blank">the European Le Mans Series&rsquo; YouTube channel</a>&nbsp;for live action of the race. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQrniQ3IiMU" target="_blank">Qualifying</a>&nbsp;is from 14:00 on Saturday and and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ceks4Rtw_2Q" target="_blank">the race</a>&nbsp;starts at 11:30 on Sunday.

For more news on the European Le Mans Series, head to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.europeanlemansseries.com/" target="_blank">championship website</a>.

4 Hours of Silverstone: the return of the ELMS to the UK gathers a 44-car grid

Late last month, Genesis Magma Racing conducted a first full test on its GMR-001 hypercar. This exercise marked the real starting point of an ambitious development programme that will bring Genesis to the FIA World Endurance Championship table and the 94th 24 Hours of Le Mans (10-14 June 2026).

The first test of a hypercar is not just a matter of taking it out for a jaunt around the track. It&rsquo;s the culmination of months of patient work in the design office and the assembly shop, where each component is scrutinised. The <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/genesis-takes-the-wraps-of-its-gmr-001-hypercar-59196" target="_blank">Genesis GMR-001</a>, driven by a 3.2-litre twin-turbo V8, is the result of a collaboration between Genesis Magma Racing and chassis manufacturer Oreca. &ldquo;We had a programme that we were able to follow, so that&#39;s very promising for the whole team,&rdquo; explained the team&rsquo;s Technical Director Fran&ccedil;ois-Xavier Demaison. &ldquo;At the moment, we&rsquo;re purely focused on software, especially on the powertrain. It&rsquo;s a hybrid car with many features that we need to manage properly.&rdquo; The team&rsquo;s engineers worked on calibrating the mechanical and electronic systems &ndash; a vital step in delivering power and ensuring reliability.

<h2>Firing up a&nbsp;Hypercar</h2>

When a development team rolls out a car for its first outing, it has a single aim in mind : to check that everything is working. But behind this apparently simple objective lies meticulous organisation and a lengthy job sheet. Checklists, telemetry sensors, driver briefing &ndash; nothing is left to chance.

For Genesis Magma Racing, these tests also provided an opportunity to move on from <a href="https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/genesis-fires-up-the-gmr-001-for-the-first-time-59881" target="_blank">the initial engine running test</a> to a real session on a circuit that is far more representative of those encountered in the FIA WEC. &ldquo;On our first shakedowns, there were just baby steps to see that the car could move under its own power, could shift its own gears,&rdquo; said Chief Engineer Justin Taylor. &ldquo;Now we&#39;ve been trying to push more towards being a real race car.&rdquo;

To bring a Hypercar to life, nothing beats feedback from seasoned racing drivers. Three-time Le Mans winner Andr&eacute; Lotterer and endurance specialist Pipo Derani took turns at the wheel of the GMR-001. Both offered their impressions of all the systems and suggested ways in which the car&rsquo;s performance could be further enhanced. &ldquo;The GMR-001 is obviously well born &mdash; the feedback is very natural, instinctive and it&#39;s fun to drive, but we are still working on everything,&rdquo; said Lotterer. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always an unknown when you jump into a new car,&rdquo; added Derani. &ldquo;You have high expectations, but with the GMR-001 we have a good base to start working from.&rdquo;

<h2>A technical challenge</h2>

Genesis Magma Racing&rsquo;s engineers pinpointed a few issues, as expected on any first test.&nbsp; &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a new car and a new engine,&rdquo;&nbsp; explained Demaison. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s normal to have issues, but we have a good team of engineers to solve them as quickly as possible.&rdquo; 
The breaks between the sessions offered the engineers a window to work closely with their colleagues at Oreca to come up with solutions, and then put them into practice on their return to the track. Such to-ing and fro-ing between the workshop and the circuit is inevitable during any adjustment operations.

This first test run wrapped up the initial phase of Genesis Magma Racing&rsquo;s development programme. The next stage will be to test the reliability of the GMR-001 over long distances, optimise its performance and hone the team&rsquo;s organisation.

The Sound of the GMR-001 Hypercar

Découvrez le son de la Genesis GMR-001 Hypercar

<h2>Photo gallery: Hypercars&rsquo; first outings</h2>

First runs are an endurance racing tradition. All the Hypercars entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans have negotiated this crucial step. Enjoy a look back through our selection of images captured when some of them made their eagerly awaited maiden outings.

A first test under the microscope: how the Genesis GMR-001 sprung to life

Three other cars are very close to the pole sitters: the #46 Thiriet by TDS Racing Oreca, the #23 Panis Barthez Competition Ligier JS P2, and the Krohn Racing-entered Ligier (n&deg;40). These three cars will also take part in the forthcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 18-19). 
	 
	More excitement to come when the green flag of 4 Hours of Imola will be waved at 2pm!

	<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p7q5o1nif54?feature=oembed" width="480"></iframe>

	Click here for the full report of the qualifying of the 4 Hours of Imola.

	David Bristol / ACO 
	Video source: YouTube - European Le Mans Series official 
	&nbsp;

24H LE MANS

ELMS - Qualifying Session LMP2 at 4 Hours of Imola (video)

Related News

Peugeot picks Pourchaire for 2026 Hypercar seat

Record Breaking Entry for 2025/26 Asian Le Mans Series

4 Hours of Silverstone: the return of the ELMS to the UK gathers a 44-car grid

A first test under the microscope: how the Genesis GMR-001 sprung to life

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