Inter Europol Competition’s Luca Ghiotto wasted no time in showing pace during the opening day of the official 2025 ELMS pre-season test in Barcelona today.
The Italian racer reeled off a 1:28.808 during the 30-minute LMP2/LMP2 Pro/Am-only session in the team’s #34 ORECA at the end of the day as the temperature trackside dropped into the high teens.
Tom Dillman slotted in second in the session in the team’s #43 sister car with a 1:28.809, making him the second of two drivers in the field to set a sub-1:29 time.
Matthieu Vaxiviere ran quickest of the drivers in LMP2 Pro/Am for AF Corse. The Frenchman’s best lap was the third fastest of the day and also came in the session reserved exclusively for LMP2 cars, a 1:29.121 in the #83.
Prior to that final run, reigning ELMS champion Louis Deletraz held the top spot in the combined rankings.
The Swiss set a 1:29.323 during the four-hour morning session aboard the #99 AO by TF ORECA – now liveried as ‘Spike’ – which he hopes to win the LMP2 Pro/Am title with alongside PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron.
Deletraz’s flyer was the headline from a productive day as a whole for the US-flagged team, which completed 144 tours of the circuit through the eight and a half hours of track time.
In the new-look Toyota-powered LMP3 class, the quickest time also came at the end of the day in the session designated for the LMP3 and LMGT3 cars. Quentin Antonel put the #68 Ligier JS P325 from M Racing on top with a 1:36.827.
That pipped the previous best from Sebastian Gravlund – a 1:36.966 – in Eurointernational’s Ligier JS P325 before lunch.
Rik Koen set the third best time with a 1:37.204 in the #8 Team Virage JS P325 as the teams pushed to gain as much mileage of possible to kick off the week.
The fastest time from the WTM Duqueine was a 1:37.204, which put the #12 D09 third in the final session of the day. DKR’s #4 Ginetta G61-LT-P325 EVO set a best time of 1:39.813 with Wyatt Brichacek installed during the morning.
In LMGT3, United Autosports’ Wayne Boyd reeled off a 1:40.870 in the team’s McLaren GT3 EVO to top the combined rankings from the day.
Daniel Serra, who was fastest in the class for Kessel Racing during the afternoon, set his best time in the morning to get within seven-tenths of the Briton.
There were a handful of red flags scattered throughout the running. In the morning session, the WTM by Rinaldi Duqueine had an off into the gravel with Leonard Weiss at the wheel an hour into the session.
The German team would then bring out a second red in the afternoon when Griffin Peebles was driving. The #12 ended up bringing out an extended stoppage after an incident at Turn 3 90 minutes into the four-hour run.
The car didn’t return to the track for the remainder of the Afternoon Session, though it did emerge for the 30-minute session held exclusively for P3 and GT3 runners at the end of the day.
Elsewhere, Paul Lafargue stopped at Turn 4 on his in-lap at the end of the morning, and DKR Engineering’s Ginetta ended up off-track at Turn 3 with under an hour of the afternoon session remaining.
The car’s left front wheel came off following a tyre change – thankfully, there was no impact or damage.
Scott Noble then brought out a fifth stoppage, which brought session two to a premature end, when he had an off at Turn 12 in JMW’s Ferrari 296 with six minutes remaining on the clock.
Track action continues tomorrow for the ELMS teams at 9:00 am local time.
- MORNING SESSION TIMES >>>
- AFTERNOON SESSION TIMES >>>
- LMP2 ONLY SESSION TIMES >>>
- LMP3 & LMGT3 ONLY SESSION TIMES >>>
Featured image courtesy of Inter Europol Competition
