Duqueine Team’s #30 ORECA will start from pole position for the opening round of the 2025 ELMS season in Barcelona with a blistering performance from Reshad De Gerus in LMP2 Qualifying this afternoon.
The Frenchman outlasted Iron Lynx Proton’s Matteo Cairoli in the shootout with a 1:27.664 after a flurry of improvements in the final minute shuffled the pack.
Cairoli pushed the #9 ORECA to its limit in pursuit of pole following the round of stops to change tyres. De Gerus rose to the top, forcing a response. After a strong start to his ninth lap, the Italian lost time through the final sequence and ended up 0.166 off.
“It was really intense. Since lap 1, we were on the pace and decided to box off sequence for new tyres and went again to fight for it. It’s nice to be back on pole. To start on a high like this is a pleasure,” De Gerus commented.
Third in the times was Tom Dillmann, who set the pace in practice for Inter Europol. His personal best aboard the #43 was a 1:27.883, which ensured the Polish team will start from row two with one of its cars. Tom Blomqvist steered CLX Pure Rxcing to fourth.
A late improvement from Mathys Jaubert was also of note. The 20-year-old, ahead of his ELMS debut with the Genesis Magma Racing IDEC programme, climbed to fifth with a 1:28 of his own.
Qualifying master Giorgio Roda put in another stellar performance in P2 Pro/Am to secure the best grid spot for Proton Competition.
His best time after a big improvement late in the red-flagged session was a 1:31.110 in the #77. It extended his ELMS pole streak to three races dating back to Mugello last year and added to his tally of six poles in seven races.
His flyer was enough to keep the other six drivers in the session at bay, though PJ Hyett did get close for AO by TF. Hyett’s final tour was superb, with purple runs through sectors 1 and 2 in the ‘Spike’ ORECA.
Unfortunately, his final sector time wasn’t quite quick enough to put the #99 P1. However, a 1:31.349 was enough to promote him to the front row, leapfrogging Rodrigo Sales and TDS Racing’s #99.
Sales would settle for third, with the #83 AF Corse ORECA of Francois Perrodo fourth.
DKR’s #3 ORECA will start last in Pro/Am, after Georgious Kolovos brought out a red flag after a trip into the barriers at the exit of Turn 7.
The Greek wasn’t the only driver to suffer an off-track excursion in the class, as Sales ended up beached in the gravel moments later at the exit of Turn 4 and required assistance from circuit marshals.
Many eyes in the paddock were fixed firmly on LMP3 qualifying to find out which of the three new-for-2025 chassis would produce the fastest time. Continuing the theme from testing and practice, it was Ligier’s JS P325s that produced the goods.
Pole went to CLX Motorsport, with Adrien Closmenil completing a 1:36.188 after multiple improvements to take the best grid space by 0.237 in the #17.
“It’s an amazing job. In testing, we had a good car, and we’ve improved it over the past two days. Now the car looks fast and good for the race,” Closmenil’s teammate Theodor Jensen said.
Adding to Ligier’s strong showing, Team Virage, Eurointernational and Ultimate slotted in second, third and fourth, respectively, with times within three tenths of pole.
Duqueine’s single D09 for WTM by Rinaldi was in the mix and climbed as high as third during the 15-minute run. But Griffin Peebles would eventually slide to fifth with a 1:36.612.
As for Ginetta, its car will start 10th and last in the category, though the G61-LT-P325 Evo did end up within a second of the fastest Ligier. Wyatt Brichacek, who has been fast all week, finished with a 1:37.162.
Reigning LMGT3 champion Iron Lynx’s #63 AMG GT3 snatched LMGT3 pole position for its first ELMS race as a Mercedes customer team, with a 1:42.257 from Martin Berry mid-way through the class shootout.
Berry pushed hard to improve towards the end of the session, but he, and the other 12 drivers in the session, were unable to eclipse his time.
“I’m most ecstatic for the team. It’s been such a nice week; it’s all flowed well, and I’m thrilled the hard work has paid off,” he said.
Celia Martin put in an equally impressive performance for Iron Dames. The Frenchwoman set a 1:42.257 to pit the #85 Porsche 911 GT3 R on the front row.
The top five cars in the class all set times within a second of each other, and four brands were represented.
The #59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage took third, and the #74 and #50 Ferraris from Kessel Racing and Richard Mille AF Corse ended up fourth and fifth.
Beyond Mercedes-AMG, the other two brands new to the LMGT3 field in ELMS – Corvette and McLaren – struggled to match the impact of the German brand’s performance.
United Autosports’ McLaren GT3 Evo will start ninth, while TF Sport’s Z06 GT3.R ended up 12th of 13 runners and 2.2 seconds off the pole time.
The 4 Hours of Barcelona is set to get underway at 12:00 tomorrow local time and can be streamed live on the ELMS YouTube channel.
