There were several impressive performances during yesterday’s 4 Hours of Le Castellet, particularly in the first half of the race when the conditions were worsening.
On the right tyres at the right time, Tony Wells enjoyed perhaps his most impressive stint in a prototype for Nielsen Racing to set up the team’s Pro/Am win, Duncan Cameron built a minute lead LMGT3 with Spirit of Race and Kuba Smiechowski drove away from the field out front for Inter Europol Competition.
Meanwhile, on the wrong tyres at the wrong time, Celia Martin and Christian Ried also stood out, battling hard in LMGT3 for Iron Dames and Proton Competition with slicks as the rain intensified.
But in the second half, when the track surface transitioned from sodden to dry, it was the Genesis Magma Racing-backed IDEC Sport ORECA of Jamie Chadwick, Dani Juncadella and Mathys Jaubert that stole the show again. The trio claimed a second LMP2 win in a row to start the season and a first overall victory in fine style.
It was also IDEC Sport’s first trip to the top step of the podium at Le Castellet, a milestone result at home for the French-flagged team on its 10th anniversary.
Beyond Chadwick’s off at Turn 2 at the start of the race on slicks in tricky conditions, which she put down to overconfidence, it was a pretty flawless run on a day when many contending cars were involved in incidents, ran out of luck or fell foul of the rules.
Chadwick’s recovery was strong after coming in for wets, climbing from 11th to sixth before handing over to Daniel Juncadella. “My stint was a fight, throughout,” she said post-race. “But I enjoyed it after that scary first moment.”
Juncadella had to put in the hard yards when it was his turn. The team’s strategy saw him forced to fight with wet Goodyears on a drying track after those around him had switched back to the new and improved 2025 slick.
As the most experienced of the three drivers, having 33-year-old Juncadella in for the middle portion of the race again would prove to be the right call.
“I was calling for dry tyres, but the team was smart to keep me out,” he told DSC. “Even though I was losing like five seconds a lap to the guys on slicks, we extended the stint and made sure we could go on a one-stopper with Mathys at the end. It won us the race.”
It also enabled 20-year-old Jaubert to showcase what he seemingly does best: reel off a series of consistent lap times to secure a result.
“He seems like a 35-year-old with 15 years of endurance experience,” Juncadella said of Jaubert’s abilities. “He’s unbelievable, like a little diamond I discovered.”
Chadwick, Juncadella and Jaubert seem to be a natural fit as a trio. All three are new to racing with each other, and LMP2, yet here they stand, atop the championship standings with a 23-point lead and the halfway mark of the campaign in sight. And egos are not getting in the way.
“We are surprising many people,” Juncadella admitted. “I came into the season with little practice, then straight into my home race, and there was an expectation I’d be the leader with my experience. But I handed Mathys the chance to do Qualifying and at the end of these races, because he seemed to be in the best shape and had been testing more.
“Both he and Jamie have exceeded my expectations. It’s not just the results; let’s not get carried away with that. They’ve been phenomenal on and off the track, super mature and professional. It’s surprised me, it’s surprised everybody.”
Genesis Magma Racing’s decision to use the ELMS as a proving ground for staff and an arena to evaluate talent ahead of its first foray into the FIA WEC was always going to be an interesting storyline to follow. However, few could have predicted such a fairytale start to this initiative.
“In both races, and especially in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, every strategy decision had to be right, and the drivers had to handle some very difficult conditions on track, which they did really well,” Genesis Magma Racing team principal Cyril Abiteboul said in summary.
“From the outside, it could look easy, but I promise it has not been the case.”
Le Mans is now right around the corner. For Chadwick and Jaubert, who will be joined by Andre Lotterer while Juncadella is on Corvette duty, it represents another huge test.
If they pass that too, and the third ELMS race of the season at Imola in July also goes well, Genesis may find it’s not the only Hypercar manufacturer keeping a close eye on this crew’s progress.
