SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — The fourth round of the European Le Mans Series delivered a chaotic edition of the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. A frantic opening half dominated by five safety cars eventually gave way to a green-flag sprint, where calculated pit strategy and traffic navigation proved decisive across all three major classes
LMP2: Inter Europol Masterclass Amid Post-Race Drama
Inter Europol Competition broke a two-year ELMS victory drought as the trio of Jakub Śmiechowski, Nick Yelloly, and Tom Dillmann guided the #43 Oreca 07-Gibson to a clean, highly tactical victory.
The opening hour was marred by chaos, starting with a La Source collision triggered by the sister #34 Inter Europol car hitting Griffin Peebles’ United Autosports entry. After surviving the initial safety car interruptions, Inter Europol short-fueled and skipped a full tire change during the second round of pit stops, leaping ahead of early pace-setters IDEC Sport and United Autosports. Tom Dillmann managed his tire wear during a tense final stint, taking the checkered flag ahead of Vector Sport's #10 machine.
However, post-race scrutiny reshuffled the podium. Vector Sport’s #10 Oreca—which took second on the track—was hit with a severe 1m50s penalty after Pietro Fittipaldi fell short of his minimum drive time, dropping them to 17th overall.
LMP2 Class Results:
#43 Inter Europol Competition (J. Śmiechowski / N. Yelloly / T. Dillmann)
#29 Forestier Racing by Panis (L. Rousset / O. Gray / E. Masson)
#18 IDEC Sport (J. Chadwick / V. Rinicella / L. Hörr)
LMP3: Rinaldi Racing Executes Clean Fuel Strategy
In the LMP3 prototype ranks, precision beating chaos was the theme of the day. Rinaldi Racing took top honors with the #5 Ligier JS P325-Toyota driven by José Fernandes Cautela, Alvise Rodella, and Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen.
While multi-car tangles swept through the field during yellow-flag restarts, Rinaldi Racing ran an alternate pit cadence. By completing one fewer pit stop than their direct competitors over the final green-flag stretch, Pedersen pulled away to secure a commanding 54.4-second victory, consolidating Rinaldi Racing’s lead in the LMP3 championship standings.
LMP3 Class Results:
#5 Rinaldi Racing (J. Fernandes Cautela / A. Rodella / M. Gaarde Pedersen)
#17 CLX Motorsport (P. Lanchère / A. Closmenil / T. Jensen)
#88 Inter Europol Competition (D. Dedecker / Team)
LMGT3: GR Racing Ferrari Prevails in Thrilling Strategic Duel
The LMGT3 class featured non-stop wheel-to-wheel battles through Spa's high-speed sectors. Breakthrough victory went to GR Racing’s #86 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, marking a long-awaited return to the top step of the podium for Michael Wainwright’s squad alongside co-drivers Mex Jansen and Lorcan Hanafin.
Wainwright completed his required Bronze-driver minimum time prior to the final safety car deployment, allowing the team to unleash Hanafin on fresh rubber for the run to the flag. Hanafin held off relentless late pressure from Alessio Picariello in the #77 Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R to take the victory by just 2.7 seconds.
LMGT3 Class Results:
#86 GR Racing (M. Wainwright / M. Jansen / L. Hanafin) — Ferrari 296 GT3
#77 Proton Competition (M. Berry / H. van Eijndhoven / A. Picariello) — Porsche 911 GT3 R
#62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx — Mercedes-AMG LMGT3
