AO by TF’s Louis Delétraz was fastest in the opening session of the 2026 European Le Mans Series Prologue at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as the record 47-car field turned laps together for the first time.
Delétraz set a 1:29.120 aboard the LMP2 Pro/Am-entered #99 ORECA 07 – Gibson during the opening hour of running, which went unbeaten throughout a staccato four hours of track time this morning.
Pietro Fittipaldi was second fastest, and best of the LMP2 runners, in the #10 Vector Sport ORECA. The Brazilian set a 1:29.349 to end up 0.229 seconds behind the reigning LMP2 Pro/Am drivers’ champion.
The LMP2 and LMP2 Pro/Am runners were then evenly distributed throughout the leading positions. Defending LMP2 champion Esteban Masson was third in the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis ORECA, ahead of Malthe Jakobsen’s #20 Algarve Pro Racing and Alex Quinn’s #27 Nielsen Racing LMP2 Pro/Am entries.
The #28 IDEC Sport, #14 TDS Racing, #88 Proton Competition, #43 Inter Europol Competition and #83 AF Corse ORECAs completed the top 10.
Ford Racing’s collaboration with Proton Competition finished its first session in 16th overall, with Jonas Ried setting the #9 ORECA’s best time.
In LMP3, DKR Engineering’s time with its new Ligier JS P325 – Toyota is off to a strong start, as Wyatt Brichacek led the way with a 1:38.476 aboard the #4 machine.
Only 0.049 seconds split the top three, with both Racing Spirit of Leman’s #31 Ligier of Lenny Ried and Matteo Quintarelli in the #8 Team Virage Ligier close behind. Rinaldi Racing’s #5 Ligier was fourth, ahead of M Racing’s #68 Ligier, whilst R-ace GP ended its maiden ELMS session sixth, 0.535 seconds off the ultimate pace with its #85 Duqueine D09.
And in LMGT3, High Class Racing had a mixed return to the European Le Mans. Its #54 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) was fastest in the hands of Laurin Heinrich following a 1:41.400, but was also responsible for two of the seven red flags which interrupted proceedings.
During the second hour, the car twice stopped on circuit. The first instance happened at Turn 4 with Dennis Andersen behind the wheel, whilst Anders Fjordbach was driving shortly after when a fuel pump problem forced the Dane to stop at Turn 7.
Second in LMGT3 was the #33 Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R of defending champion TF Sport, with Charlie Eastwood 0.710 seconds off Heinrich.
The #23 United Autosports McLaren, which triggered an interruption when it stopped at the opening corner, was third fastest courtesy of Wayne Boyd. Michael Birch was behind the wheel for the incident, but was able to drive back to the pit lane and, following a once over by the team, the McLaren was quickly sent back on its way.
Fourth went to the #50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo, which triggered its own red flag when Custodio Toledo stopped at Turn 3 inside the final hour. GR Racing’s #86 Ferrari completed the top five.
The most laps were completed by DKR Engineering, with its #3 ORECA completing 101 tours of the Spanish venue. This was six more than Inter Europol’s #43 ORECA, whilst Algarve Pro Racing’s #25 ORECA also surpassed the 90-lap mark.
Racing Spirit of Leman covered the most mileage in LMP3, with 72 laps from its #31 Ligier, whilst despite its troubles High Class Racing still led the LMGT3 category in lap count, with 80.
At the other end of the spectrum, the #13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier LMP3 turned just five laps, and failed to set a representative time. The #35 Ultimate Ligier, #62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG and #83 AF Corse ORECA were the only other cars not to complete at least 50 laps.
The longest spell of green flag running happened at the very beginning of the session, and was brought to an end shortly before the completion of the first hour, when Daniel Nogales had an incident at Turn 9 aboard Team Virage’s #8 Ligier LMP3. The car was recovered to the pit lane under the next stoppage, with no visual damage, and returned to the session during the third hour.
The #83 ORECA twice stopped on the run to Turn 10. The first instance, due to a stuck throttle, happened with François Perrodo behind the wheel in the third hour, and brought out the first FCY of the season. The second happened with 24 minutes to go, with Antonio Fuoco onboard, and triggered a red flag.
Also in the wars was the #75 Proton Competition Porsche of rookie Matt Kurzejewski, which brought out a red llag following an incident at Turn 11, whilst both Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG LMGT3s stopped on circuit.
The Team Qatar-backed #62 ran into trouble on the exit of Turn 9 whilst Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi was on an out lap at the end of the penultimate hour, causing an FCY. Rui Andrade in the sister #63 AMG then brought the session to an early end, triggering a red flag with eight minutes to go following an incident at Turn 4.
Track action at Barcelona continues this afternoon, with a further five hours of running.
