ELMS Finale: Championship Moments at 4 Hours of Portimão
The 2025 European Le Mans Series (ELMS) reached its climax at the 4 Hours of Portimão on Sunday, awarding four coveted invitations to the 2026 Le Mans 24 Hours.
VDS Panis Racing captured the LMP2 Teams’ Championship, securing one of the invitations, while Inter Europol clinched a spot with its second-place finish in the standings through the #43 ORECA. In LMP2 Pro/Am, AO By TF solidified its championship victory with a second-place finish, earning the final invite in this category.
Post-race, AO Racing owner/driver PJ Hyett expressed his ambitions: “It’s always been my plan since we started this programme to take both ‘Spike’ and ‘Rexy’ to Le Mans together. We will be talking to the ACO about whether or not they’ll let us do that. I hope they do.” Reflecting on his journey, he added, “To be winning races and now titles is truly amazing.”
In the LMGT3 class, TF Sport’s Corvette emerged victorious, marking a historic moment as it claimed the first ELMS championship for Corvette Racing. Programme manager Jessica Dane noted, “Congratulations to everyone at TF Sport for making history today.”
Charlie’s (Eastwood), Rui (Andrade), and Hiro (Koizumi) driven Corvette faced intense pressure, but executed their race flawlessly. “Everyone at Corvette Racing, Chevrolet and GM Motorsports is excited for this championship and a fourth invitation to the 2026 24 Hours of Le Mans,” she stated.
Earlier in the season, CLX Motorsport had already secured an invitation for the LMP2 category by clinching the LMP3 title at Silverstone with a race to spare. This brings the total number of invites awarded thus far to several, including those from IMSA and GT World Challenge Europe.
Two remaining invites for the 2026 Le Mans will be contested during the winter in the Asian Le Mans Series for the champions in LMP2 and GT categories. Teams continue to anticipate these pivotal opportunities as the racing calendar progresses.
