Variety is a welcome theme to explore when looking over the 2025 European Le Mans Series entry. While the LMP2 fields are (unsurprisingly) made up entirely of ORECA 07 chassis, the other classes sport a fresh look.
The LMP3 category features three of the four chassis suppliers for the new era with the return of Ginetta via single-car effort from DKR racing alongside eight Ligiers and a single Duqueine. And the LMGT3 division welcomes six makes, all gunning for the title and increasingly important automatic invitation to the Le Mans 24 Hours.
This season Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche are back with high-quality teams and driver crews, joined by new efforts from Corvette, McLaren and Mercedes-AMG. It’s the first time the ELMS has been able to boast six GT manufacturers since the 2014 season when a sextet of makes featured across the GTE and GTC classes.
So, what can we expect from the three incoming brands?
For Corvette’s customer TF Sport, the 2025 ELMS season essentially marks the completion of its transition to racing with the GM brand after it became its representative in the FIA WEC’s LMGT3 class last year.
After competing with an updated Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in 2024 due to there being a limit on the availability of Corvette chassis, Tom Ferrier’s outfit brings a Z06 GT3.R to the party for two of its WEC drivers – Charlie Eastwood and Rui Andrade – plus Hiroshi Koizumi, who formed part of the team’s line-up on the world stage last year.
“It is easier working with one manufacturer than two, and adding it this year is sensible. Corvette is taking the right approach, not going too much too soon,” TF Sport owner Tom Ferrier explains.
“For us, we have two drivers doing this alongside WEC, which is great for driver mileage. The crew benefit, too, we have a roughly 50/50 split between staff here in ELMS that are also with us on WEC, with key engineers and a chief mechanic that is over both programmes. It all helps us get up to speed with the complexities of torque sensors and curves.”
With the team now up to speed with the Z06 GT3.R after a year of competition and fresh from a breakthrough win in the opening WEC race of the 2025 season in Qatar, expectations are high for the season ahead in the ELMS, though Ferrier admits that the team has lacked outright pace through testing and Free Practice 1 here in Catalunya.
It’s a similar story for United Autosports, which is also utilising this effort as an opportunity to gain more race experience with the McLaren GT3 EVO. It’s a programme that came together late, but according to team co-owner Richard Dean, it felt like the right time to diversify its presence in the series.
“You look at the GT field here, and after years of it being two to four brands and single digits in terms of entries, it’s suddenly gaining popularity and looks like a really nice class,” he tells DSC.
By getting a third GT3 Evo (of its fleet of five) racing, the hope is that the team will take further steps forward with the package, which it hopes will become a winner for the first time in the WEC this season.
“There are benefits doing it this way, with additional testing,” Dean said. “We still feel our WEC programme is new and our relationship with McLaren GT is new, and it’s difficult to test with WEC because your cars disappear for so much time and the preparation for Le Mans means your cars are often out of action.”
The team’s driver line-up is an intriguing one. With United stalwart Wayne Boyd joining Garnett Patterson and historic racer Michael Birch.
“What’s encouraging is we didn’t have any difficulty filling seats. We had a lot of inquiries,” Dean added. “And we have a line-up we are happy with. Michael is a capable driver – though his experience lies elsewhere. It’s a step because the difference is huge between historic cars and modern GT3s.
“But what’s encouraging is that we have assembled a trio that works perfectly as a unit. Garnet and Wayne are both fast and couldn’t be easier to deal with.”
With pre-season testing in the books, Boyd tells DSC that he feels United has the potential to spring a surprise this season, with all three drivers already feeling comfortable in the GT3 EVO.
“I’m really enjoying it. I was ready for a change and to explore the GT world after being in LMP3,” he says. “So, to get back to United and have this offer doesn’t get any better for me.
“We’re doing well considering we haven’t had loads of track time, but the team racing in WEC last year meant we have hit the ground running. I think we could be a dark horse here, I really do.”
Reigning ELMS LMGT3 champion Iron Lynx, on the other hand, is still very much in the weeds after its switch from racing with Lamborghini to Mercedes-AMG as it dives into the 2025 season.
This new-look ELMS effort for its title defence brings former TF Sport racers Lorcan Hanafin and Martin Berry to the grid, along with works driver Fabian Schiller.
The learning curve for all involved is steep at this stage, though Iron Lynx can draw from the experience gained in its visit to Qatar for the WEC opener and the track time from the pre-season test earlier this week, during which it gained an understanding of the car’s performance on the Goodyear tyres on long runs.
The Italian outfit can also lean on the experience Schiller brings to the programme after years spent putting the Three-Pointed Star’s flagship GT racer through its paces around the world. “He’s a good pro, and he’s so good with customers,” team principal Andrea Piccini tells DSC.
“The main issue with the WEC programme was that we moved to Mercedes late, so they had to develop the car (for LMGT3) pretty quickly. They were ready with the torque sensors for IMSA, but it wasn’t planned for WEC,” he added.
“We knew it wouldn’t be easy, and to be honest, Qatar was a dream; we didn’t even know if we would make it to that race. But we did.
“The team has worked so hard to get this all together, and by doing the WEC, it’s made the ELMS programme easier. For Mercedes, this is a new adventure because it hasn’t been working with the ACO really. The rules are different to SRO and more strict; technically, it’s more difficult.
“But we come here more prepared, we have worked hard since Qatar, and we’ve been able to test with both WEC and ELMS drivers. We did two days at Paul Ricard, for example, and that went very well.
“For us, it was always the plan to defend our title, and to do this we decided to downscale and leave out Le Mans Cup, World Challenge and IMSA and focus on LMGT3.
“Because of this focus, I think we have a chance here to fight for a podium or a top-five finish if we can learn enough about tyre wear, as it’s so crucial here.”
