WEC and IMSA have already kicked off their seasons, and now it’s the turn of the European Le Mans Series to open its account for 2025. New machinery is here in the form of the third generation LMP3 cars, and there’s also new LMGT3 representation thanks to TF Sport with their Corvette. But who will take the honours in Barcelona?

The hour began with Jean Baptiste Simmenauer having an almighty scare in the final corner, after contact with the WTM #12 LMP3 saw Simmenauer’s #43 Inter Europol spun suddenly, and damage to his side left coolant spilling out along the front straight. It meant Inter Europol’s chances of a good result were dashed, as their remaining car was forced to spend an entire anguishing lap under slow speed.                        

Meanwhile, CLX still led overall ahead of IDEC Sport’s #18 and the Panis VDS #48 with Vector Sport now up to fifth and chasing, as Ultimate still led LMP3 and Iron Dames continued to dominate the LMGT3 category. Behind them though are Proton Competition’s #60, which has moved an incredible 15 positions up and now runs second in class having started seventeenth. 

Having started strong, DKR Engineering’s #3 was now back up to second overall and leading the Pro/Am category, which it had done untroubled almost the entire race though it was running on a slightly altered pit schedule. 

And then, WTM’s #12 LMP3 that had been in contention for victory spun out at the final corner, bringing out the VSC once again. It bunched up the field again, and the hard work of Enzo Fittipaldi was ruined for the #47 CLX, and AO Racing’s #77 also lost time thanks to pitting just before the VSC call was made. 

It all comes down to the final hour – who will win the 4 Hours of Barcelona?

thumbnail credit – United Autosports, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons