#50 Ferrari withdrawn
The #50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo has been withdrawn following its accident in Free Practice 1.
Custodio Toledo left the track at Turn 3 during yesterday’s session, causing him to run wide and lose control at Turn 4. When rejoining, Toledo then made contact with the #99 AO by TF ORECA of PJ Hyett, causing both cars to hit the right-hand side barriers, with the following #34 Inter Europol Competition of Bijoy Garg also caught up in the incident.
The Ferrari sustained heavy damage, which means it will play no further part in this weekend.
This continues a difficult season for the #50 Ferrari, the reigning LMGT3 runner-up, which has also retired due to accidents in two of the four races so far this year.
Cox explains APR switch
Ben Barnicoat was a late addition to the line-up of the #25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA LMP2 this weekend, with the Briton replacing Tristan Vautier alongside Matthias Kaiser and Jake Hughes.
“We’ve been trying to track down what we think may be an issue with the car for most of the season,” team co-owner Stewart Cox explained. “The choice came to bring in a different driver to get their input and opinion. With Silverstone being our next race, and with Jake [Hughes] being a British driver, Tristan [Vautier] very graciously agreed to step aside and we’ve put Ben Barnicoat in the car to give us that feedback.”
DKR Engineering with major work to do after FP2 off
DKR Engineering is facing a race against time to ready its #3 ORECA for ELMS qualifying, following an off for Marlon Hernandez towards the end of Free Practice 2 on the exit of Copse.
The car has sustained significant rear-end damage, and given the busy timetable at Silverstone today, the team has faced difficulty in recovering the car to its garage to begin major repair work.
Silverstone announces Saturday sell-out
No tickets have been available at the gate today, with Silverstone declaring that Saturday was a sell-out yesterday evening.
The presence of two major Tamil actors, Michelin Le Mans Cup competitor Ajith Kumar and Michelin Le Mans Cup green flag waver C.Joseph Vijay, appears to be a major draw.
Fences have been resurrected around the awning of Kumar’s Ajith RedAnt by Virage squad, with large crowds and loud cheers accompanying wherever the 55-year-old goes.
It’s great to see so many first-time fans at a sportscar race, with the love and attention also being spread to several of Kumar’s Le Mans Cup rivals.
Tickets remain available for tomorrow.
Charity Run proves major success
The 2026 ELMS Charity Run took place yesterday evening, and once again the lap of the Silverstone circuit proved to be a major success, with an incredible £24,550.46 raised for the Luca Guintoli Foundation.
Over 1100 people participated, with fans, drivers, DSC and even ACO and LMEM management running and walking alongside one another. It was a significant increase on last year’s run, which saw just over 750 people take the start.
TNT Sports to show 4H Silverstone
For British fans who wish to watch tomorrow’s 4 Hours of Silverstone, the full race will be shown on TNT Sports 1 in the UK.
The race will also be available, for free and with no geo-restrictions, on FIAWEC+.
R-ace GP extends championship lead with Michelin Le Mans Cup pole
R-ace GP has taken another step towards successfully defending its Michelin Le Mans Cup LMP3 titles, after Enzo Peugeot scored pole position for this evening’s race aboard the #85 Duqueine D09 – Toyota.
Peugeot triumphed in an entertaining LMP3 session, which saw several teams enjoy spells at the top of the leaderboard, courtesy of a 1:53.717. The point for pole extends Peugeot and Danial Frost’s advantage to 31 points, with only 26 left available after today.
Colin Queen was second aboard the #50 23Events Racing Ligier JS P325 – Toyota, 0.343 seconds back, ahead of the pair of Brutal Fish Campos Racing Ligiers, as the top four cars in the LMP3 standings locked out the front two rows on the grid.
Debutant Jack Taylor qualified fifth in the #6 ANS Motorsport Ligier, ahead of the #4 Nielsen Racing Duqueine of Jules Caranta.
In LMP3 Pro/Am, Alexander Bukhantsov scored his fourth pole position of the season aboard the #34 Inter Europol Competition Ligier. Bukhantsov set a 1:57.709 on his final lap of the session, surpassing the #48 Allay Racing Ligier of Linus Hellberg by 0.011 seconds. It was still an impressive qualifying performance from Hellberg, who was qualifying in the Michelin Le Mans Cup for the first time.
The #71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Stefan Aust was third, with championship leader Eric De Doncker joining him on the second row aboard the #98 Motorsport98 Ligier, and fan favourite Kumar qualifying eighth in the #16 Ligier.
The LMP3 Pro/Am session was interrupted by a Red Flag, after the #62 Bretton Racing Ligier of Jacek Zielonka lost its rear wing on the Hangar Straight, which caused him to go off into the gravel at Stowe.
And in GT3, Stéphane Lemeret was fastest aboard the #11 Code Racing Development Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo with a 2:01.529. It is a third pole of the season for the #11 Aston Martin, but only a first for Lemeret, who is making his first start of the campaign this weekend.
The #77 SMC Motorsport McLaren GT3 Evo of Gonzalo De Andres Martin was second, 0.051 seconds back, with Claude Bovet’s #91 Ecurie Ecosse Blackthorn Aston Martin in third. Championship leader Philipp Sager qualified seventh aboard the #10 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin.
The two-hour Michelin Le Mans Cup race begins at 17:15 BST.
Images courtesy of David Lord, European Le Mans Series and Michelin Le Mans Cup
