ELMS Preview: 4 Hours of Le Castellet
- Ghazlan Atqiya Firmansyah
- Apr 29
- 7 min read
The European Le Mans Series returns this weekend at France's Circuit Paul Ricard for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet. The 15th edition of the race is set to welcome 47 cars and 140 drivers.
Among those, eight French teams and 28 French drivers will be on the grid for their home race, including the reigning LMP2 champion and championship leader Forestier Racing by Panis and last year's winner IDEC Sport.
Forestier Racing by Panis keen to extend championship lead at home in the LMP2 class
The LMP2 grid features 11 cars. The No.29 Forestier Racing by Panis car will be looking to extend its championship lead over its Polish rival, the No.34 Inter Europol Competition, and the No.22 United Autosports, not too far behind.
IDEC Sport once again returned with its two-car entry with the GMR-branded No.18 car and the No.28 car. Valerio Rinicella and Laurents Hörr join Jamie Chadwick in the former car, while the latter car featured the same lineup as last year: Paul Lafargue, Paul-Loup Chatin and Job van Uitert.
Team Principal Nicolas Minassian summed up what he thinks of the competition and how his team aim to regain momentum: "As seen in Barcelona, the competition is extremely strong.
"Details and consistency will be key on a track that puts the tyres through a gruelling test. Since the first round in Spain, we’ve analysed our performance against the competition to pinpoint exactly where we need to improve.
"We need to execute our race cleanly, just like in Barcelona with the No.18 car. I have complete confidence in the team and the drivers, who know this circuit well, our home track at IDEC Sport."
Nick Yelloly will not take part in the No.43 Inter Europol car due to conflicting IMSA duty this weekend. Replacing the Briton would be Luca Ghiotto, teaming up with Le Mans LMP2 winner Jakub Śmiechowski and Tom Dillmann. The sister No.34 car featured an intact lineup with Frenchman Reshad de Gerus and Bijoy Garg.
Dillmann is confident of the team's chances in his home race: "Paul Ricard usually suits us as a team.
"We won there in 2024, and last year we believed we lost it due to a penalty. The pace is always very strong, whereas Barcelona has not been an easy track to master for us; in fact, P5 is our best result in the last 3 seasons, even though this year, we clearly had the pace for more"
The upcoming Le Castellet race would be the first time last year's LMP3 winner Adrien Closmenil would be racing in LMP2 before the home fans. The 19-year-old would be joined by his last year's teammate, Theodor Jensen, and Ian Aguilera in the No.37 CLX Motorsport car.
Tristan Vautier will also be competing in front of his home fans alongside Jake Hughes and Mathias Kaiser in the No.25 Algarve Pro Racing (APR) car. Completing the grid would be the No.9 Proton Competition, the No.22 United Autosports, the No.24 Nielsen Racing and the No.10 Vector Sport.
12 cars battling for the top honours of the 4 Hours of Le Castellet in LMP2 Pro/Am
The LMP2 Pro/Am category consists of 36 drivers, with six of them being French. Duqueine and TDS Racing are among the teams that are based in France.
The No.20 APR car is the current championship leader after taking the victory in Barcelona, with Danish drivers Michael Jensen and Malthe Jakobsen, with their Italian teammate Enzo Trulli.
Second in the championship is the No.83 AF Corse, with former LMP2 Pro/Am champions François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxiviere racing at home with Hypercar Le Mans winner, Antonio Fuoco.
Fresh from her milestone Formula One test with Mercedes-AMG recently, Doriane Pin will be racing at home with a jubilant mood, joining her Duqueine co-drivers Giorgio Roda and Richard Verschoor.
Charles Milesi, reigning LMP2 Drivers' champion, will be racing for both his and the No.47 CLX Motorsport side's home race with Ferdinand Habsburg and the returning Georgios Kolovos from injury.
The reigning class champion, the No.99 AO by TF, had a change in its regular lineup. Louis Delétraz could not join "Spike" in its European adventure with P. J. Hyett and Dane Cameron due to competing with Wayne Taylor Racing in IMSA. Replacing the Swiss would be Jonny Edgar.
TDS Racing, No.7 Vector Sport, No.19 Rossa Racing by Virage, No.3 DKR Engineering, the No.21 United Autosports and the No.88 Proton Competition make up the rest of the grid.
Surprises ahead for the LMP3 class?
Surprises are staples in the highly competitive LMP3 class. Four French teams and six drivers call the upcoming race weekend their home race.
Reigning LMP3 Drivers' champion Frenchman Paul Lanchère will race for the No.17 CLX car with fellow Asian Le Mans Series champion Alexander Jacoby and Brazil's Bruno Ribeiro.
Championship leaders José Fernandes Cautela, Alvise Rodella and Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen of the No.5 Rinaldi Racing side are looking to extend their gap from their rivals in the standings.
R-ace GP finished second in Barcelona. French driver Fabien Michal, once again teaming up with Luxembourg's Pierre-Alexandre Provost and reigning Le Mans Cup LMP3 champion Hugo Schwarze, in the sole Duqueine D09 car.
The next French team on the list is M Racing, with two of its French drivers, Quentin Antonel and Thomas Imbourg, looking for glory at home. Joining them is the 2024 LMP3 champion Nick Adcock, bringing championship pedigree for the team.
Ultimate and Racing Spirit of Léman are the remaining two French teams on the LMP3 grid. Paul Ricard will be the home race for the No.4 DKR Engineering's Romain Favre and Louis Stern of the No.8 Team Virage.
No.13 Inter Europol and the No.11 Eurointernational cars wrapped up the LMP3 grid for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet.
14 LMGT3 cars to battle for the podium places
LMGT3 is the largest grid in this year's European Le Mans Series grid with one French team and six French drivers.
The current championship leader is the No.75 Proton Competition Porsche with Matt Kurzejewski, Tom Sargent and Richard Lietz. Joel Strum replaces Harry King in the other Proton car, the No.77. The German is joined by Japanese driver Bankcy and Dutchman Huub van Eijndhoven.
Last year's LMGT3 race winner and home hero Lilou Wadoux replaces Francesco Castellacci to rejoin her teammates Custodio Toledo and Riccardo Agostini in the No.50 AF Corse Ferrari.
French driver Mathys Jaubert, who took the win last year in LMP2, will be racing for the No.57 Kessel Racing Ferrari with Daniel Serra and Takeshi Kimura. The sister No.74 car also features a French driver in the lineup, with Romain Leroux joining Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda.
Racing Spirit of Léman is the only France-based team on the grid, entirely composed of French drivers: Valentin Hasse Clot, Clément Mateu and Marius Fossard. They will be hoping to bounce back at their home race with the No.59 Aston Martin car.
No.51 AF Corse Ferrari's Charles-Henri Samani will be racing at home alongside Denmark's Conrad Laursen and Italian driver Davide Rigon.
The No.23 United Autosports is the only McLaren team on the grid, and it will be piloted by Michael Birch, Garnet Patterson and Wayne Boyd, after taking second place in Barcelona last time out.
Iron Lynx enters two Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos, the No.62 and No.63 cars. The Team Qatar-branded former car took fourth in Barcelona after Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi became the first Qatari driver to secure an ELMS pole. Accompanying the 35-year-old is Belgian stalwart Maxime Martin and Julian Hanses.
Barcelona was a race to forget for the reigning LMGT3 champion, the No.33 TF Racing Corvette. Charlie Eastwood, Blake McDonald and Alec Udell are eager to bounce back in the second round of the 2026 ELMS.
The No.54 High Class Racing Porsche, the No.55 Spirit of Race Ferrari, and the No.86 GR Racing Ferrari complete the grid in LMGT3.
Schedule and where to watch
The 4 Hours of Le Castellet race weekend kicks off on Friday, 1 May at 11:50 CEST, with the first free practice. Saturday is the most packed agenda on the schedule, with the second free practice at 10:10 CEST, followed by the qualifying sessions from LMGT3 to LMP2 at 15:30 until 16:16 CEST. The main race starts on Sunday at 12:00 CEST.
Follow the action for free via the FIAWEC+ platform with a registered account.
Championship standings
LMP2 - Top 5
1st No.29 Forestier Racing by Panis - 25 pts
2nd No.34 Inter Europol Competition - 19 pts
3rd No.22 United Autosports - 15 pts
4th No.18 IDEC Sport - 12 pts
5th No.43 Inter Europol Competition - 10 pts
LMP2 Pro/Am - Top 5
1st No.20 APR - 25 pts
2nd No.83 AF Corse - 18 pts
3rd No.30 Duqueine Team - 16 pts
4th No.14 TDS Racing - 12 pts
5th No.19 Rossa Racing by Virage - 10 pts
LMP3 - Top 5
1st No5 Rinaldi Racing - 25 pts
2nd No.85 R-ace GP - 19 pts
3rd No.13 Inter Europol Competition - 15 pts
4th No.11 Eurointernational - 12 pts
5th No.8 Team Virage - 10 pts
LMGT3 - Top 5
1st No.75 Proton Competition - 25 pts
2nd No.23 United Autosports - 18 pts
3rd No.57 Kessel Racing - 15 pts
4th No.62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx - 13 pts
5th No.50 AF Corse - 10 pts
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