2025 European Le Mans Series
European racing season
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The 2025 European Le Mans Series was the twenty-second season of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) European Le Mans Series. The six-event season began at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 6 April and finished at Algarve International Circuit on 18 October.[1][2]
The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes, divided into the LMP2 and LMP3 classes, and grand tourer-style racing cars in the LMGT3 class. This season marked the debut of the new, third-generation LMP3 cars.[3]
Calendar
The provisional calendar for the 2025 season was announced on 2 October 2024. Silverstone Circuit returned to the calendar for the first time since the 2019 season, replacing the round at Mugello Circuit as the penultimate race of the season.[1][2]
| Rnd | Race | Circuit | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prologue | Montmeló, Spain | 31 March/1 April | ||
| 1 | 4 Hours of Barcelona | 6 April | ||
| 2 | 4 Hours of Le Castellet | Le Castellet, France | 4 May | |
| 3 | 4 Hours of Imola | Imola, Italy | 6 July | |
| 4 | 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps | Stavelot, Belgium | 24 August | |
| 5 | Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone | Silverstone, United Kingdom | 14 September | |
| 6 | 4 Hours of Portimão | Portimão, Portugal | 18 October | |
| Sources:[4] | ||||
Entries
LMP2
All cars in the LMP2 class use the Gibson GK428 V8 engine and Goodyear tyres. Entries in the LMP2 Pro-Am class, set aside for teams with a Bronze-rated driver in their line-up, are denoted with icons.
- Logan Sargeant was scheduled to compete for the Genesis Magma Racing-backed IDEC Sport effort, but withdrew prior to the start of the season.[33] He was replaced by Daniel Juncadella.[12] Months later, in an interview with Dailysportscar, Sargeant stated that he had never signed a contract with the team.[34]
- Fabio Scherer was scheduled to compete for Nielsen Racing, but withdrew prior to the start of the season.[5]
- Harry King was scheduled to compete for CLX – Pure Rxcing,[26] but was replaced by Tristan Vautier.[27]
LMP3
All cars in the LMP3 class use the Toyota V35A-FTS 3.5 L twin-turbo V6 engine and Michelin tyres.[3]
| Entrant/Team | Chassis | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ginetta G61-LT-P3 Evo | 4 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| All | ||||
| Ligier JS P325 | 8 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| 1–3 | ||||
| 4–6 | ||||
| Ligier JS P325 | 11 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| Duqueine D09 | 12 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| All | ||||
| Ligier JS P325 | 15 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| All | ||||
| Ligier JS P325 | 17 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| All | ||||
| Ligier JS P325 | 31 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| All | ||||
| Ligier JS P325 | 35 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 2–6 | ||||
| Ligier JS P325 | 68 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| Ligier JS P325 | 88 | All | ||
| All | ||||
| All |
- Matthew Richard Bell was scheduled to compete for EuroInternational, but withdrew prior to the start of the season. He was replaced by Fabien Michal, originally named in a reserve entry for R-ace GP.[5][37]
- Óscar Tunjo was scheduled to compete for WTM by Rinaldi, but withdrew prior the start of the season. He was replaced by Griffin Peebles, originally named in a reserve entry for R-ace GP.[5][39]
- Yann Ehrlacher was scheduled to compete for his uncle Yvan Muller's M Racing team, but did not appear at any rounds.[5]
LMGT3
All cars in the LMGT3 class use Goodyear tyres.[44]
| Entrant/Team | Chassis | Engine | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren 720S GT3 Evo | McLaren M840T 4.0 L Turbo V8 | 23 | All | ||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| Ferrari 296 GT3 | Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Turbo V6 | 50 | All | ||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| 51 | All | ||||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| 55 | All | ||||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| Ferrari 296 GT3 | Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Turbo V6 | 57 | All | ||
| All | |||||
| 1, 3, 5–6 | |||||
| 2, 4 | |||||
| 74 | All | ||||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo | Aston Martin M177 4.0 L Turbo V8 | 59 | All | ||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) | Porsche M97/80 4.2 L Flat-6 | 60 | All | ||
| 1–4 | |||||
| 1–2[b] | |||||
| 2–3[b] | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 5–6 | |||||
| 5–6 | |||||
| 85 | All | ||||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo | Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 | 63 | All | ||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| Ferrari 296 GT3 | Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Turbo V6 | 66 | All | ||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R | Chevrolet LT6.R 5.5 L V8 | 82 | All | ||
| All | |||||
| All | |||||
| Ferrari 296 GT3 | Ferrari F163CE 3.0 L Turbo V6 | 86 | All | ||
| All | |||||
| All |
- Marvin Kirchhöfer was scheduled to compete for United Autosports, but withdrew prior to the start of the season.[5]
- Gustavo Menezes was scheduled to compete for Iron Lynx, but withdrew prior to the start of the season.[50] He was replaced by Fabian Schiller.[51]
- Cédric Sbirrazzuoli was scheduled to compete for Richard Mille AF Corse at three rounds due to Lilou Wadoux's Super GT commitments.[55] However, Wadoux eventually stepped down from her Super GT duties to focus on ELMS, and Sbirrazzuoli was not called upon.[56]
Results and standings
Race results
Bold indicates overall winner.
| Rnd. | Circuit | Pole | LMP2 Winning Team | LMP2 Pro-Am Winning Team | LMP3 Winning Team | LMGT3 Winning Team | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMP2 Winning Drivers | LMP2 Pro-Am Winning Drivers | LMP3 Winning Drivers | LMGT3 Winning Drivers | ||||
| 1 | Report | ||||||
| 2 | Report | ||||||
| 3 | Report | ||||||
| 4 | Report | ||||||
| 5 | Report | ||||||
| 6 | Report | ||||||
| Source:[57] | |||||||
Season report
Barcelona
The ELMS season began with the 4 Hours of Barcelona, where Reshad de Gerus took overall pole in the No. 30 Duqueine Team entry.[58] Laurents Hörr took an early overall lead in the No. 3 DKR Engineering Pro-Am entry, overtaking the full LMP2 field, but later received a penalty for jumping the start. The No. 48 VDS Panis Racing entry briefly took the lead, before being overtaken by the No. 47 CLX Motorsport entry, who led the race until the final hour before losing out to the No. 18 IDEC Sport entry. The No. 47 later retired ten laps from the finish with a mechanical issue.[59] A late safety car resulted in a two-lap sprint to the finish. Having taken fresh tyres, the fourth-placed LMP2 Pro-Am No. 83 AF Corse entry driven by Matthieu Vaxivière was able to take the lead and the overall win. The No. 18 and No. 48 rounded out the overall podium.[60] In LMP3, the No. 17 CLX Motorsport entry won after running in the top three for most of the race. In LMGT3, the No. 85 Iron Dames all-female entry led all but three laps to take victory.[59]
Le Castellet
Following a maiden LMP2 pole position for Nick Yelloly and Inter Europol's first pole in the ELMS, the 4 Hours of Le Castellet became dominated by changing weather conditions.[61] Despite a lap 1 spin for Jamie Chadwick, the No. 18 IDEC crew came out on top in a race involving two safety car periods.[62] The team finished less than two seconds ahead of Pro-Am winners Nielsen Racing (No. 27), who had gained an early advantage as starting driver Anthony Wells was one of few to begin the race on wet tyres.[63] Two late overtakes handed Louis Delétraz, driver of the No. 99 AO by TF Pro-Am entry, third on the overall podium.[63] Though Spirit of Race took a dominant lead early on in LMGT3, with Duncan Cameron having been the only wet tyre runner at the start, the win was taken by Lilou Wadoux's #50 Richard Mille AF Corse after fending off Fabian Schiller in the closing laps.[63] LMP3 saw CLX Motorsport take back-to-back wins, with Adrien Closmenil making the deciding pass on Quentin Antonel (No. 68 M Racing) with 40 minutes left.[63]
Imola
In a rain-plagued qualifying session at Imola, No. 25 Algarve Pro Racing's Théo Pourchaire claimed a dominant pole position on a drying track.[64] The race itself was red-flagged after an hour following a four-car incident at Tamburello which eliminated the LMGT3 polesitters Iron Lynx, among others.[65][66] Having led before the interruption, the No. 43 Inter Europol crew dropped behind the No. 48 VDS Panis car despite an off for Esteban Masson during a mid-race shower, and itself escaped penalty when Tom Dillmann collided with the No. 10 Vector Sport.[67] Charles Milesi pulled away from Dillmann in the final stint and took Panis's first win of the year, finishing ahead of the No. 43 and No. 25, the latter benefiting from a stop under Full-Course Yellow and a drive-through penalty for the #9 Iron Lynx.[67][68] The championship-leading No. 18 finished outside of the points after an accident for Daniel Juncadella.[67] In LMP2 Pro-Am, Dane Cameron in the No. 99 AO by TF defended his lead from Olli Caldwell (#20 APR) during the third hour, before Delétraz beat the recovering No. 77 Proton Competition crew to the class win.[68] Despite late contact with Mathias Beche's No. 29 TDS Racing car, Alex Quinn held on to third for Algarve Pro.[68] Despite a drive-through penalty for spinning the No. 68 M Racing car at the start, CLX Motorsport continued its LMP3 dominance with another victory from pole position.[68] Célia Martin's spin in the second hour handed the LMGT3 lead to TF Sport's No. 82, which held on to GM's first ELMS LMGT3 victory.[67]
Spa-Francorchamps
Wet weather played a role at Spa-Francorchamps too, as Ferdinand Habsburg claimed his maiden ELMS pole for No. 24 Nielsen Racing on a greasy track surface.[69] After Oliver Gray had taken the lead during the race's first stint, the race became the No. 48 Panis crew's to lose. Esteban Masson quickly gapped the field following a safety car in hour two, and Charles Milesi drove home to a commanding victory.[70] The second-placed No. 18 IDEC car was penalised for entering the pit lane under FCY conditions, promoting the No. 43 Inter Europol and No. 24 Nielsen cars to second and third respectively.[70] Fourth overall was the No. 20 Algarve Pro entry of Lendoudis, Caldwell, and Quinn, which benefited from a late FCY period to jump the No. 21 of United Autosports in the final pit stop phase.[71] Third in class was the No. 99, with the No. 29 TDS Racing car having pitted from second after a collision on the penultimate lap.[70][71] A chaotic race for the No. 17 CLX crew, including multiple penalties and an eventual off for Closmenil, resulted in the No. 8 Team Virage of Gerbi, Nogales, and Koen picking up the LMP3 win.[70] After a pit stop battle in the closing laps, the No. 59 Racing Spirit of Léman of Valentin Hasse-Clot beat the No. 63 Iron Lynx of Schiller to the LMGT3 victory.[71][70]
Silverstone
For the first time since 2019, the ELMS returned to Silverstone, where Esteban Masson scored pole position in his first LMP2 qualifying session.[72][73][74] The race was red-flagged thrice, first following a crash for Martin Berry's Iron Lynx No. 63 caused by Alex Malykhin, then for collision between Giorgio Roda, François Perrodo, and Nick Adcock, before being ended early due to heavy rain.[75][76] With early leader Oliver Gray receiving a penalty for jumping a red light on pit exit, the No. 18 IDEC car was able to switch to wet-weather tyres at the correct moment and drive home to its third victory of the season, with the No. 43 Inter Europol entry taking another second place and the No. 10 Vector car finishing third.[77][76] The LMP2 Pro-Am battle was decided in the final laps, as an initially charging Alex Quinn was overtaken by Louis Delétraz; a driving standards penalty caused Quinn's No. 20 Algarve Pro car to win by just over a tenth of a second over the No. 99 AO by TF crew.[78][76] In the LMP3 class, the No. 17 CLX lineup won dominantly, earning itself the championship with one race to spare.[79] Drama headlined the LMGT3 lead battle, where GR Racing's Riccardo Pera had passed the No. 50's Lilou Wadoux just before the race was ended with a red flag; however the No. 50 was classed as the winner due to the count back rule, results being taken from the last completed lap before the red flag.[77]
Portimão
Ahead of the Portimão season finale, all but the LMP3 titles were up for grabs.[80] In qualifying, Matteo Cairoli took pole in the No. 9 Iron Lynx – Proton.[81] The race was controlled by the No. 48 Panis VDS entry, which took the lead in the opening stint at the hands of Oliver Gray before driving to an unchallenged title at the hands of Esteban Masson and Charles Milesi.[82][83] The podium mirrored the overall LMP2 table, as the No. 43 Inter Europol outfit finished second and the No. 18 IDEC Sport crew claimed third.[83][84] Drama unfolded in the LMP2 Pro-Am category, with the No. 99 AO by TF team claiming the title by finishing second after a collision caused Algarve Pro to finish last in class; the race was won by the No. 29 TDS Racing team.[83] CLX Motorsport again dominated LMP3 to win their fifth race of the season, meanwhile the No. 82 TF Sport Corvette won LMGT3 from pole position, allowing it to clinch the class title ahead of the No. 50 Richard Mille by AF Corse Ferrari.[85][82]
At the end-of-season awards banquet, several drivers received personal accolades: Mathys Jaubert and P. J. Hyett were named Rookie of the Year and Gentleman of the Year respectively, while Tom Dillmann, Mathias Beche, and Conrad Laursen received the Goodyear Wingfoot Awards in their classes for having the best average stint times in their classes across the campaign.[86][87]
Drivers' Championships
Points are awarded according to the following structure:[88]
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
LMP2 Drivers' Championship
|
Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LMP2 Pro-Am Drivers' Championship
|
Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LMP3 Drivers' Championship
|
Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LMGT3 Drivers' Championship
|
Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Teams' Championships
Points are awarded according to the following structure: [88]
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | Pole |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
LMP2 Teams' Championship
|
Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LMP2 Pro-Am Teams' Championship
|
Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LMP3 Teams' Championship
|
Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
LMGT3 Teams' Championship
|
Bold - Pole Italics - Fastest lap | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
- Lomko is Russian, but he competes under a French licence as Russian national emblems were banned by the FIA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Malykhin is Belarusian, but he competes under a British licence as Belarusian national emblems were banned by the FIA following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.