Cairoli Tops ELMS FP2 at Portimão
Matteo Cairoli of Iron Lynx – Proton emerged as the fastest driver in this morning’s second Free Practice session for the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. Cairoli clocked a 1:31.445 in the #9 ORECA 07 – Gibson, surpassing IDEC Sport’s Job van Uitert by 0.084 seconds.
The Italian’s quick time came on the last lap of his first outing, which many LMP2 teams utilized as a qualifying simulation. Title contender Nick Yelloly improved during the session to record a 1:31.500 in his #43 Inter Europol Competition entry, placing him third. Pietro Fittipaldi of Vector Sport rounded out the top four with a time of 1:31.566 in the #10 ORECA.
A highly competitive FP2 saw just six-tenths of a second separating the top eleven LMP2 entries. Louis Delétraz led the Pro/Am field in 12th overall, posting a 1:32.448 in the #99 AO by TF ORECA. Notably, PJ Hyett recorded the fastest time among Bronze-rated drivers.
René Binder was second fastest in the #77 Proton Competition ORECA, while Mathias Beche secured third place in the #29 TDS Racing entry. Other notable mentions included the #27 Nielsen Racing and #20 Algarve Pro Racing cars.
In LMP3, Adrien Closmenil continued to dominate, setting a benchmark of 1:39.345 in the championship-winning #17 Ligier JS P325 – Toyota. Following Closmenil was Ian Aguilera in second and Gillian Henrion in third, with Ligier models occupying the top six positions.
In the LMGT3 category, Wayne Boyd’s #23 United Autosports McLaren LMGT3 Evo set a leading time of 1:42.672, narrowly edging out Valentin Hasse-Clot’s #59 Aston Martin. The top five was completed by drivers from GR Racing, Kessel Racing, and TF Sport.
The session witnessed a single Red Flag incident due to debris on the main straight, halting activity for a brief period.
Qualifying for the 4 Hours of Portimão is scheduled for later today at 15:15 WEST, available for viewing on the European Le Mans Series YouTube channel.
