Nielsen Racing Claims First ELMS Pole at Spa-Francorchamps

Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium – Nielsen Racing achieved a historic milestone by securing its first outright pole position in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) during qualifying for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. Ferdinand Habsburg, driving the #24 ORECA 07 – Gibson, completed the session with a final lap time of 2:14.972, narrowly defeating Matteo Cairoli in the #9 Iron Lynx – Proton ORECA by 0.217 seconds.

The qualifying session unfolded on a drying circuit following earlier rain, presenting a challenging environment for the competitors. Throughout the session, Habsburg and Cairoli exchanged the top positions, collectively setting nine outright best times. Habsburg’s benchmark effort came on his last flying lap, improving from his provisional pole of 2:15.532.

Completing the top three was Charles Milesi in the #48 VDS Panis Racing ORECA, followed by Théo Pourchaire in the #25 Algarve Pro Racing ORECA. Grégoire Saucy rounded out the top five in the #22 United Autosports ORECA.

In LMP2 Pro/Am, Giorgio Roda dominated aboard the #77 Proton Competition ORECA, clocking a best time of 2:19.636—1.645 seconds ahead of PJ Hyett in the #99 AO by TF ORECA. Georgios Kolovos and Rodrigo Sales rounded out the top three positions.

In LMP3, Theodor Jensen secured pole in the #17 Ligier JS P325 – Toyota for CLX Motorsport, marking the team’s continued dominance in the category and extending their championship lead to 46 points. Griffin Peebles and Ian Aguilera followed in second and third positions, respectively.

In the LMGT3 class, Martin Berry’s #63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG topped the session with a time of 2:37.115. However, his five-place grid penalty due to a previous incident at Imola means the class-leading #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 LMGT3 will start from pole, after Duncan Cameron set a time of 2:37.703.

The race is scheduled for tomorrow at 13:00 CEST.

Qualifying Results Overview

• LMP2

  • 1. 24 Nielsen Racing (Ferdinand Habsburg) – 2:14.972

  • 1. 9 Iron Lynx (Matteo Cairoli) – 2:15.189

  • 1. 48 VDS Panis Racing (Charles Milesi) – Position TBA

• LMP2 Pro/Am

  • 1. 77 Proton Competition (Giorgio Roda) – 2:19.636

  • 1. 99 AO by TF (PJ Hyett)

• LMP3

  • 1. 17 CLX Motorsport (Theodor Jensen) – 2:26.054

  • 1. 12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing

• LMGT3

  • 1. 55 Spirit of Race (Duncan Cameron) – 2:37.703

  • 1. 63 Iron Lynx (Martin Berry)

For a comprehensive view of the full qualifying results, please refer to the ELMS official site.