No.18 IDEC Sport wins the 4 Hours of Silverstone after a late red flag ends the race with nine minutes remaining
- Ghazlan Atqiya Firmansyah
- 4 hours ago
- 8 min read
IDEC Sport's No.18 car returned to winning ways after a difficult patch in the last two European Le Mans Series (ELMS) rounds. The French team won the treacherous 4 Hours of Silverstone race, which ended nine minutes earlier with a red flag.
The No.17 CLX Motorsport side won the race in LMP3 and is officially crowned the LMP3 champions.
First hour: Incident hour
The 4 Hours of Silverstone started at 11:00 BST, an hour ahead of schedule due to weather concerns. Oliver Gray in the No.48 VDS Panis Racing led the grid before a yellow flag was thrown after an LMP3 went outside the track.
The No.9 Iron Lynx-Proton fell from second to fourth after being overtaken by the No.43 Inter Europol Competition car and the No.25 APR. The Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed at 11:03 after the No.31 Racing Spirit of Léman (RSL) LMP3 was spotted outside the track.
At 11:05, cars No.31, No.8, and No.85 were under investigation for contact at Turn 17. With the field neutralised, the marshals entered the track to clear it from debris. Several LMP3 and LMGT3 cars opted to pit while the VSC was out.
With the VSC out for some time, other cars also pitted, including the No.99 AO by TF 'Spike the Dragon'. At 11:12, the full Safety Car was deployed, and the pit entry was closed.
At 11:16, under the safety car, the order was the No.48 VDS Panis, No.9 Iron Lynx-Proton, and No.30 Duqueine in LMP2. The No.27 Nielsen Racing led the LMP2 Pro/Am, followed by the No.4 DKR Engineering and the No.85 Iron Dames in LMP3 and LMGT3, respectively.
At 11:19, a green flag came out once more, and the No.48 maintained its lead ahead of the No.9 Iron Lynx-Proton and immediately made a considerable gap. LMP3's No.12 WTM by Rinaldi had a shocking moment when the car slipped, but Leonard Weiss had it under control.
An incident involving the No.99's P. J. Hyett and the No.37's CLX-Pure Rxcing was under investigation by the officials. A big spin for the No.50 Ferrari at the hands of Custodio Toledo. The American driver then opted to pit for tyres.
Jamie Chadwick in the No.18 IDEC Sport car had her eyes locked on 11th, occupied by the No.10 Vector Sport's Ryan Cullen. The No.31 car was once again tangled in an incident after the No.21 United Autosports LMP2 went a bit late for a gap, but both drivers were able to continue the race.
Penalties began to be dished out at 11:31, with 10 seconds added to the next pit stop for cars No.27 and No.51 for start infringement. Jonas Ried in the No.9 ran out of space defending the No.24 car.
The race directors deemed Hyett to be at fault for the collision with the No.37 CLX-Pure Rxcing, which resulted in a drive-through penalty and a penalty point. The American driver immediately dashed the pit lane.
At 11:37, the No.37 CLX-Pure Rxcing hit the rear of Martin Berry's No.63 Iron Lynx-Mercedes and sent it to the wall and out of the race on the spot. This prompted the safety car's deployment, and the pit entry was closed.
Four minutes later, the condition on the track was deemed severe enough to warrant a red flag. The race control prioritised the safety of everyone involved.
At 11:47, the race control estimated the race would resume at 12:15 behind the safety car when the condition was deemed safe, but they seemed to change their mind when they announced they would go green at 12:05. They changed their mind again when the suspension time would be added.
At the second hour mark, the race directors ordered the team manager of car No.37 to push their car to the pit lane.
The race was resumed under safety car at 12:10 and went green five minutes later. Gray maintained the lead at the restart as the IDEC Sport cars had a little contact with one another. Rodrigo Sales in the No.29 TDS Racing faced the wrong side of the track.
At 12:21, the race directors imposed drive-through penalties and a penalty point for the No. 21 and No. 3 cars, respectively, for causing a collision and a VSC infringement. Meanwhile, the No.8 car earned itself an additional 10 seconds for its next pit stop.
Additional misery for the No.37 car, as it was awarded a drive-through and two penalty points. The battle for third in the LMP2 class heats up as Manuel Espirito Santo in the No.47 car is chasing the No.9 Iron Lynx-Proton. Favourites No.12 WTM by Rinaldi pulled over at the end of the Hamilton Straight.
At the Hangar Straight, François Perrodo attempted to avoid the No. 15 RLR M Sport, but it sent the No.15 into the path of the No. 77 Proton Competition car, as both cars collided and their race ended there. The safety car was deployed once more.
Championship leaders No.48 VDS Panis pitted as the No.43 Inter Europol inherited the lead. At 12:30, the race directors waved the red flag once more owing to the debris.
Second hour: Battles in each class
The race was resumed under safety car at 12:50, but it was not green for a while. At 13:01, cars pitted for the second half of the race. The race was green again at 13:08 with the No.24 Nielsen Racing leading the restart from the No.47 CLX Motorsports car.
Esteban Masson in the No.48 VDS Panis Racing car successfully made his move on Manuel Maldonado for third. However, the Frenchman received a 17-second stop-and-go penalty for pit exit infringement.
At 13:12, the No.85 Iron Dames touched the No.66 JMW Motorsport's Scott Noble and sent the American spinning and facing the wrong side of the track. Cars No.83 and No.20 received drive-through penalties and a penalty point for causing a collision.
Masson entered the pit to serve his penalty at 13:16 and emerged in 12th, last in the LMP2 class. Michael Birch in the No.23 United Autosports overtook Toledo for second in the LMGT3 class, with the No.82 TF Sport leading. Birch pitted not long after.
Espirito Santo fancied a chance to take the lead from Filipe Albuquerque for the lead of the LMP2, but the latter driver is not giving the former an easy time.
Dane Cameron in the No.99 AO by TF overtook the No.28 IDEC Sport for seventh overall despite the traffic around them. No.18's Mathys Jaubert also had to defend from the No.9 and No.34 cars.
At 13:24, Paul Lanchere in the No.17 car took the lead of the LMP3 class from No.68's Stéphane Tribaudini. Meanwhile, Noble recovered from his earlier spin and was in pursuit of fellow Ferrari entrant, the No.74 Kessel Racing for fourth in LMGT3.
The race directors dished out a heavy 58-second stop-and-go penalty for the No.23 United Autosports for pit exit red light infringement. Noble received a warning from the officials for track limits.
Nick Yelloly in the No.43 car used the traffic to his advantage, surprising Espirito Santo, as the Briton moved to second in LMP2. Another United Autosports was penalised by the race directors, this time the No.21 car, a pit exit red light infringement meant Oliver Jarvis had to serve a drive-through penalty.
At 13:36, the No.85 Iron Dames car, the LMGT3 pole-sitter, received a drive-through penalty for its involvement in the earlier collision with Noble's Ferrari. Seven minutes later, the track was declared "wet" with some parts of the track raining.
Third hour: Conditions worsen
The third hour began with a black and white flag for cars No.59 and No.60. Battles continue to rage on as the track condition gets worse.
No.18's Jaubert overtook his teammate Job van Uitert, as the Frenchman looked the faster among the duo. This time, both cars successfully switched positions without any collision, unlike the previous hour.
No.11 Eurointernational's erratic antics in the pit lane earned it a drive-through and a penalty point. It has been an epic stint from Yelloly as the 34-year-old had an outstanding 27-second lead from the No.47 CLX Motorsport.
With 90 minutes left on the clock, No.18's Daniel Juncadella took the lead of the LMP2 class ahead of No.43 and No.24 cars. The water sprays became more of an issue by the minute. Cem Bölükbaşı attacked Tom Dillmann for second in LMP2 with less than 0.500 seconds separating them.
Big spin from the No.25 APR at the hands of Théo Pourchaire, but thankfully, the Frenchman did not hit anybody. The conditions continue to worsen, but there were plenty of battles for positions, particularly for the midfield of the LMP2 class.
At 14:38, the No.9 car received a drive-through penalty following Matteo Cairoli's spin and unsafe rejoin. Five minutes later, Dillmann continued to reduce his gap to Juncadella, now 12 seconds behind.
Final hour: Premature end, a champion crowned
'Spike the Dragon' seemed to enjoy the wet conditions as it moved to second in LMP2 Pro/Am after overtaking the No.29 TDS Racing. In LMGT3, No.50's Lilou Wadoux led by 14 seconds from the No.86 GR Racing.
At 15:00, Ben Tuck in the No.57 forced Matteo Cressoni in the No.60 Porsche into an error as the former overtook the latter for third in LMGT3 when he went wide.
With 45 minutes left on the clock, the race leader, the No.18 IDEC Sport, pitted with Dillmann moving to the lead. Other cars followed suit, but Juncadella emerged from the pit lane in second, a minute behind.
It was reported that the rain had stopped in some parts of the track, but it continues to rain in some parts, and the conditions appear treacherous. Juncadella retook the lead when Dillmann pitted. Marius Fossard in the No.31 RSL seem to have an issue with his rear-left tyre as he went wide.
30 minutes on the clock, and it seems we are bound for a thrilling conclusion to the 4 Hours of Silverstone with Juncadella leading Dillmann by 1.5 seconds. Louis Delétraz leads for No.99 AO by TF, followed by the No.17 CLX Motorsport in LMP3 and No.50 Ferrari in LMGT3.
Juncadella breathed a little easier when he learned that Dillmann's No.43 car was under investigation for pit stop infringement. The leading duo then entered their 100th lap at 15:25.
At 15:28, the No.99 AO by TF is on the verge of losing the class win of the race when the race director imposed a 5-second time penalty for its next stop. The field was neutralised with full course yellow (FCY) due to debris on the track, and all cars were directed to bear to the right.
The race went green once more at 15:34, Wadoux had to defend her lead from No.86's Riccardo Pera in LMGT3. The Italian driver overtook her for the lead, and the water spray presented Wadoux with added trouble.
With less than 10 minutes remaining, the No.31 car received a black and orange flag. Juncadella continue to stretch his lead by five seconds ahead of the No.34 car. Standing water and lack of visibility got significantly worse this late, and another red flag was thrown.
With a red flag this late, the race did not resume, meaning that the No.18 IDEC Sport won this round and is back in the LMP2 championship fight. No.20 APR won in LMP2 Pro/Am, No.17 CLX Motorsport in LMP3 and the No.50 AF Corse in LMGT3.
The celebrations can begin for the No.17 CLX Motorsport as the team is officially crowned the LMP3 champions. No.18 IDEC Sport now only trails the No.48 VDS Panis Racing by six points as the series returns next month in Portimão.
