PRESS RELEASE
4 HOURS OF LE CASTELLET - ELMS 1 - 3 APRIL 2026
Thursday, April 30 – Collective Testing (Tests)
The work accomplished in Barcelona allowed us to arrive at Le Castellet with a solid foundation and to get straight into the right groove. Two free practice sessions provided an immediate plunge into the rhythm: getting our bearings, fine-tuning the car, and validating new set-up adjustments that proved conclusive. On two occasions, we placed in the top 5 — an encouraging sign ahead of the official sessions.
Friday, May 1 – Free Practice 1 (FP1)
The first official practice marked a new step forward in our progress. We finished the session in 3rd, confirming the competitiveness of our package. For my part, I took the opportunity to run a stint-start simulation with a full fuel load — an exercise that went very well in the midst of LMP2 traffic.
In the afternoon, the Bronze Test allowed Ralph to build confidence and reach a pace within the top 4 of the Gentleman drivers in the session — a crucial factor in ensuring the first two stints of the race could be handled with peace of mind.
Saturday, May 2 – Free Practice 2 (FP2)
The final running session before qualifying. The goal was to maximize tire warm-up, which is crucial for stint starts during the race. We headed out twice on cold tires to work on this specific aspect, and the exercise was conclusive. Toward the end of the session, despite a set of tires from Barcelona already carrying high mileage, my pace remained excellent — a nice confirmation of our car's performance.
Saturday, May 2 – Qualifying
Lenny was the one who went out for the qualifying session. A discrepancy in warm-up between the front and rear tires made it impossible to fully exploit the potential of the new tire. The result: 7th place, just two tenths off the top 5. The speed was there, but the final flying lap was missed by 9 tenths, depriving us of one last lap to improve the time.
Sunday, May 3 – The 4 Hours of Le Castellet
Ralph took the start and quickly gained a position to move up to 6th. A first Virtual Safety Car, triggered by an on-track collision, gave us the opportunity to make our first mandatory stop under neutralization. The goal was to handle one mandatory stop and save the second for a possible second neutralization. This would ultimately prove to be a poor decision.
This first early stop, however, shifted our refueling window, forcing us into an additional stop before the end of Ralph's minimum driving time. I therefore couldn't get into the car at that point, and Ralph went back out to complete his mandatory 1h45. The strategy was betting on another neutralization to chain together Ralph's stop, my getting into the car, and our second pit stop right after — but that neutralization never came, and above all, Ralph had to stay in the car for 2h15, which penalized us.
Result: we lost a considerable amount of time compared to competitors who already had their Silver driver out on track. A mechanical failure from another crew in front of the pit entrance also cost us an additional 30 seconds during our stop.
When my turn on track came, I immediately found the rhythm despite front tires reluctant to come up to temperature. The race then went through several neutralization phases — Virtual Safety Car, then Safety Car — which reduced my flying laps to just four before another Full Course Yellow. On the second lap under this regime, I made my stop and handed the wheel over to Lenny for the final 40 minutes.
A fuel supply problem forced us into an additional stop late in the race, with no impact on the final classification since the race had already been decided on strategy. We cross the finish line in 9th position, far from the podium that our pace would otherwise have allowed us to reach.
Assessment and Outlook
This weekend at Le Castellet was rich in lessons. I made enormous progress in the car and built up my confidence throughout the entire weekend. The performance was there: the pace existed to fight for the podium.
A major debrief and in-depth preparation work are planned before the next round at Imola on July 5, with one clear objective: to no longer lose a race over strategic decisions.
4 HOURS OF BARCELONA - ELMS 10-12 MAY 2026
Prologue — Monday, April 6 & Tuesday, April 7
The first weekend of the 2026 European Le Mans Series season began with two days of prologue at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit. For Racing Spirit of Léman and its three drivers, these sessions served as an essential warm-up, notably involving getting to grips with the new tire ranges introduced this season. From the very first session on Monday morning, the car was sitting in second place in the timing standings — an encouraging sign of immediate potential. The day was then devoted to exploring several configurations, with mixed results, which is precisely the purpose of a prologue: to test, learn, and move forward.
Debrief — Wednesday, April 8 & Thursday, April 9
The following two days, with no track running, were fully put to use by the team. Drivers and engineers gathered for an in-depth debrief of the data collected during the prologue. This collective analytical work allowed the race engineer to precisely define the adjustments to make to the car, with the goal of arriving at Friday's free practice with a competitive and well-prepared LMP3.
Free Practice — Friday, April 10 & Saturday, April 11
During the first free practice on Friday morning, the work done beforehand quickly paid off. Lenny opened the session with a conclusive qualifying simulation, placing the car in fifth position. Grégory then took over, posting a pace within the top 3 of the fastest cars on track throughout his stint. Ralph confirmed this trend immediately afterward, before setting another excellent lap time in the session reserved for Bronze drivers, where he recorded the fourth-fastest time.
On Saturday morning, FP2 was approached with a mindset firmly focused on the race. After a final adjustment to the car, the team deliberately placed the LMP3 in difficult conditions — worn tires, a full fuel load — in order to simulate a genuine second race stint. Without chasing outright lap time, the goal was to be ready. Mission accomplished: by the end of the session, the car and drivers were fully confident.
Qualifying — Saturday, April 11
Lenny went out for the first qualifying session of the season and lived up to expectations perfectly. With a well-constructed and well-executed timed lap, he placed the car in third position on the starting grid. A result that confirmed all the potential shown throughout the weekend.
Race — Sunday, April 12
The lights went out at noon under Catalan clouds, with Ralph at the wheel from the second row. Right at the first corner, a major accident forced him to avoid several cars, costing him three positions. A red flag quickly interrupted the race to clear the track, before a restart 35 minutes later.
Ralph then delivered a solid stint, climbing back up to fourth position before a short but efficient pit stop. Unfortunately, just 15 seconds after leaving the pits, an LMP2 hit the wall, triggering a Virtual Safety Car — that is, a neutralization at 80 km/h with the pit lane remaining open. Our competitors who had not yet made their mandatory stop thus benefited from a "free" stop, erasing the strategic advantage we had built. Despite this, Ralph brought the car back to seventh position during his second stint.
When my turn at the wheel came, the opening laps were tricky: cold tires, brakes that wouldn't come up to temperature — conditions that didn't allow the car's potential to be expressed. Another Virtual Safety Car came out very early in my stint, once again handing a free stop to those who hadn't yet made theirs. Two further Full Course Yellows followed, dropping temperatures each time and complicating the driving. But from the middle of the stint onward, the pace returned fully, and during my final 15 laps, I was the fastest car on track.
Lenny then took over for the final 45 minutes, also in great form — he was the fastest car on track for 80% of his stint. Our true pace would have allowed us to fight for somewhere between third and fifth place, but two additional neutralizations, occurring at the worst possible moment while we were out on track, allowed competitors to recover positions in the pits effortlessly. In the end, a seventh place that does not reflect the reality of our performance over the weekend.
Assessment & Outlook
This first race of the season leaves as much frustration as satisfaction. The frustration of not seeing our final position reward the quality of our work. The satisfaction of seeing a car and three drivers capable of fighting for the podium in their very first outing in the European endurance championship — and doing so without making a single major error amid intense traffic, between the LMP2s and the GT3s.
This experience now provides a solid foundation for what comes next. In three weeks, we'll meet at the Circuit du Castellet for the second round of the ELMS. This time, we fully intend to cross the line at the place our pace and our strategy will have taken us.
Thank you to the entire Racing Spirit of Léman team for their remarkable work this weekend, thank you to my partners for their unwavering support, and thank you to everyone who followed and cheered us on, whether from the pit lane or from home.