Spa weather delivers its usual variety
As always, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps has offered up all sorts of weather this week, ranging from bright sunshine to torrential downpours, and a dramatic double rainbow (above) following yesterday’s Michelin Le Mans Cup race.
This morning saw low-hanging fog delay the start of the Ligier European Series race, but this has already cleared, with the forecast looking good for this afternoon’s European Le Mans Series encounter.
Rinicella receives Marc van der Straten Pole Position Trophy
Overall pole-sitter Valerio Rinicella has become the inaugural recipient of the Marc van Der Straten Pole Position Trophy, which was created in tribute to the Belgian following his passing last month.
Rinicella was presented with the trophy by Olivier Lainé, team owner and team principal of Boutsen VDS, and his wife, Olivia Boutsen.
Iglesias loving “new world” of sportscar racing
CLX Driver Academy member Louis Iglesias is pulling double-duty for the first time this weekend, racing for ANS Motorsport in the Michelin Le Mans Cup before turning his focus to CLX Motorsport’s LMP3 title defence in the European Le Mans Series.
The 18-year-old has excelled in his first season of sportscar racing, having switched to LMP3 following a single season of Formula 4.
“It’s a new world for me, and for the moment, it’s going well,” he told DSC. “I love the car and the teams where I am.”
The plan for 2026, he explained, was to focus on the Michelin Le Mans Cup this year before progressing to the ELMS, but after his impressive start to the season, including pole at Le Castellet, when a seat opened in CLX Motorsport’s #17 Ligier JS P325 – Toyota for the last four races of the season, he was a natural choice to fill it.
“Normally it was planned for next year,” he said. “But it came early. It was an opportunity. So I take it, I enjoy it and I learn from it.”
On his ELMS debut at Imola, Iglesias scored pole position before going on to earn CLX Motorsport’s first win of the season alongside Paul Lanchere and Alexander Jacoby.
The result has firmly placed the defending champions back into title contention, with the #17 Ligier now third in the LMP3 standings, only nine points off the #5 Rinaldi Racing JS P325, which leads the way at the halfway stage of the season.
“It was a really great moment,” he reflected. “All week we set up the car well, we had great pace, and during the race we made good calls. Now we are back in the championship fight, so it’s been really good.”
So far this weekend, Iglesias has finished third in the Michelin Le Mans Cup round, and is well-placed to add further silverware having qualified third for the ELMS race.
Chadwick set to make ELMS history
The provisional starting drivers for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps have been published, with Jamie Chadwick set to lead the field to the green flag aboard the #18 IDEC Sport ORECA 07 – Gibson LMP2.
This means that Chadwick is set to become the first woman to start an ELMS race from outright pole position, since the series became known as the ‘European Le Mans Series’ in 2012.
Images courtesy of David Lord, JJ Media and European Le Mans Series
