4 Hours of Silverstone qualifying: Iron Dames, WTM by Rinaldi, AO by TF and VDS Panis Racing on pole
- Ghazlan Atqiya Firmansyah
- Sep 13
- 5 min read
The European Le Mans Series (ELMS) returned to Silverstone after a six-year absence. The qualifying session got underway with the LMGT3 class at 14:20 BST, followed by LMP3 (14:45), LMP2 Pro/Am (15:10), and LMP2 (15:35).
The Iron Dames team secured pole position for LMGT3, with WTM by Rinaldi taking the top spot in LMP3. AO by TF's 'Spike the Dragon' claimed pole in LMP2 Pro/Am and VDS Panis Racing earned its first pole position of the year in LMP2.
LMGT3: Iron Dames beats Iron Lynx to pole
The start of the 4 Hours of Silverstone qualifying session was declared 'wet' by the race directors with around 75% humidity. The cars entered the track with wet tyres since there is no intermediate compound for ELMS.
The No.23 United Autosports McLaren was the first car to enter the track, with the No.82 TF Sport Corvette behind. The warm-up lap showed water on the track, yet there were parts of the track that were dry.
In the earlier phase of the session, the No.63 Iron Lynx's Martin Berry went the fastest with 2:16.293 while the No.57 Kessel Racing's Takeshi Kimura had his Ferrari tail outside the track. Nonetheless, the Japanese driver kept it under control and avoided further problems.
With seven minutes left on the clock, the No.85 Iron Dames' Célia Martin recorded the fastest lap in her Porsche 911 before Berry bested her best lap time. The No.57 Kessel Racing sat third with quite a gap separating it from the second-placed Iron Dames.
Martin then improved her lap time greatly, with 0.222 seconds behind Berry, as the conditions improved. The No.23 United Autosports sat third with the No.74 Kessel Racing in fourth. At 14:28, the No.59 car's fourth lap time was deleted by the race directors.
Martin went all-purple for her final lap attempt as she bested Berry for pole of the LMGT3 class, nearly a second ahead of her Singaporean rival. Kimura in the No.57 Kessel Racing rounded the trio. At 15:24, the No.51 Ferrari was under investigation for speeding in the pit lane.
LMGT3 qualifying - Top 5
1st No.85 Iron Dames - Martin, Bovy, Gatting
2nd No.63 Iron Lynx - Berry, Hanafin, Schiller
3rd No.57 Kessel Racing - Kimura, Tuck, Serra
4th No.59 Racing Spirit of Léman - Mateu, Bastard, Hasse-Clot
5th No.23 United Autosports - Birch, Ward, Patterson
LMP3: Thrilling battle in qualifying
Similar to the conditions during the LMGT3 qualifying session, the race directors continue to declare the track conditions "wet". The LMP3 qualifying session started on time at 14:45.
Ian Aguilera in the No.11 Eurointernational car started the proceedings by going 1:55.865 ahead of No.68's M Racing and No.35 Ultimate. At 14:50, the No.88 Inter Europol's lap time was deleted.
With the track improving, Aguilera continues to extend his lead, but not much separates the Briton from Griffin Peebles in the No.12 WTM by Rinaldi. The latter went the fastest afterwards.
With two minutes left, Peebles' lead was toppled by the No.17 CLX Motorsport's Theodor Jensen. The No.15 car inherited the provisional pole but was only faster by 0.013 seconds. Meanwhile, Aguilera continues to improve, but would only be tied to Peebles' best lap.
The chequered flag went out at 15:00, and all eyes were glued to the broadcast footage of the pole shootout as Peebles had a chance to take pole. The Australian driver managed to do so in front of the No.15 RLR M Sport and the No.17 CLX Motorsport, who failed to maintain their perfect pole position record.
LMP3 qualifying - Top 5
1st No.12 WTM by Rinaldi - Peebles, Weiss, Kratz
2nd No.15 RLR M Sport - Henrion, Adcock, M. Jensen
3rd No.17 CLX Motorsport - T. Jensen, Closmenil, Lanchère
4th No.11 Eurointernational - Aguilera, Michal
5th No.8 Team Virage - Gerbi, Zielonka, Nogales
LMP2 Pro/Am: 'Spike the Dragon' flies to pole position
Despite the improving conditions, the race directors continued to declare the track 'wet' for the LMP2 Pro/Am's qualifying session. At 15:10, the No.29 TDS Racing car was the first one to enter the track, with the No.21 United Autosports behind.
At 15:13, the race directors allowed drivers to turn off their rain lights. Giorgio Roda in the No. 77 Proton recorded the first lap before the No.20 Algarve Pro Racing (APR) went the fastest.
With nine minutes left on the clock, drivers traded the provisional pole. Roda went the fastest once more, ahead of the No.27 Nielsen Racing's John Falb and the No.99 'Spike the Dragon' AO by TF's P. J. Hyett. Rodrigo Sales in the No.29 TDS Racing took his car to third.
Hyett went fastest by 0.017 seconds after setting the fastest first and third sectors, successfully toppling Roda's lead, with just four minutes left.
The chequered flag was waved at 15:25, and Hyett was officially declared the pole-sitter, earning his second pole position of the season. Roda had to contend with second, with Sales in third, 0.910 seconds behind Hyett's time.
LMP2 Pro/Am qualifying - Top 5
1st No.99 AO by TF - Hyett, Cameron, Delétraz
2nd No.77 Proton Competition - Roda, Binder, Viscaal
3rd No.29 TDS Racing - Sales, Beche, Novalak
4th No.27 Nielsen Racing - Falb, Allen, Sette Camara
5th No.3 DKR Engineering - Kolovos, Hörr, Laurent
LMP2: VDS Panis Racing secured its first pole of the year
The final qualifying session for the LMP2 class went green at 15:35. Esteban Masson in the championship-leading No.48 VDS Panis seemed eager to get things underway. Daniel Juncadella was given the nod in the No.18 Genesis Magma Racing-branded IDEC Sport car.
Masson was the first to set a lap, but it was quickly deleted after the Frenchman went off at Turn 16. The No.43 Inter Europol's Nick Yelloly went the fastest before Théo Pourchaire in the No.25 APR went fastest.
Pourchaire was soon bested by the other improving drivers and dropped down to fifth. Elsewhere, Masson finally set a lap and went fastest ahead of the No.30 Duqueine's Roy Nissany. Pourchaire improved to second ahead of the No.34 Inter Europol's Luca Ghiotto.
With seven minutes left, Pourchaire sat on the provisional pole with a 1:43.088. The Peugeot-bound driver was ahead of his compatriot Masson by only 0.083 seconds. The No.47 CLX Motorsport and the No.9 Iron Lynx-Proton were not far away from pole either.
Three minutes to go, cars fitted with fresher tires seemed to have the advantage. Matteo Cairoli in the No.9 went fastest, 0.384 seconds ahead of Pourchaire's best lap. Less than a minute left, Masson set the fastest second and third sectors, going even faster by 0.361 seconds ahead of Cairoli.
The chequered flag was waved at 15:50. Masson had the advantage, but it was still all to play for. Yelloly took third. Track limits for Cairoli denied him the chance for pole as the Italian had to settle for second. This is VDS Panis' first pole position of the year.
LMP2 - Top 5
1st No.48 VDS Panis Racing - Masson, Milesi, Gray
2nd No.9 Iron Lynx-Proton - Cairoli, Capietto, Ried
3rd No.34 Inter Europol Competition - Yelloly, Dillman, Śmiechowski
4th No.25 APR - Pourchaire, Fluxa, Kaiser
5th No.47 CLX Motorsport - Fittipaldi, Espirito Santo
The race organisers announced that tomorrow's 4 Hours of Silverstone race would start at 11:00 BST, an hour ahead of schedule in anticipation of inclement weather.
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