VDS Panis Racing Strengthens Championship Grasp With 4H Spa Win

VDS Panis Racing Secures Second Consecutive Victory at 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

VDS Panis Racing dominated the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, achieving their second consecutive victory in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) with the #48 ORECA driven by Oliver Gray, Esteban Masson, and Charles Milesi. The team’s performance solidifies their lead in the championship standings.

The race was marked by intense competition and strategy shifts, including three Safety Cars and three Full Course Yellows, which demanded continuous adjustments from the teams. Gray initially surged from third to first, creating a 12-second gap, but this was neutralized by the first Safety Car deployed 50 minutes into the race.

Following a series of pit stops, VDS Panis Racing opted for tires at the 90-minute mark, briefly falling to third behind Inter Europol Competition’s #43 ORECA and Nielsen Racing’s #24 ORECA. A well-timed Full Course Yellow allowed VDS Panis to regain the lead, as both the #18 IDEC Sport and #25 Algarve Pro Racing incurred penalties for premature pit lane entry.

IDEC Sport initially finished second, but a post-race penalty demoted them to 19th, promoting Inter Europol’s Nick Yelloly, Jakub Smiechowski, and Tom Dillmann to second. Nielsen Racing, featuring Cem Bölükbaşi, Ferdinand Habsburg, and Filipe Albuquerque, completed the podium.

In the LMP2 Pro-Am category, Algarve Pro Racing’s #20 ORECA, driven by Kriton Lentoudis, Olli Caldwell, and Alexander Quinn, claimed victory, benefiting from strategic decisions during the race.

Team Virage broke CLX Motorsport’s unbeaten streak in LMP3, with their #8 Ligier JS P325-Toyota taking the win after a late incident took CLX’s #17 Ligier out of contention. RLR MSport and Inter Europol competed closely to round out the podium.

In LMGT3, Racing Spirit of Leman achieved their first ELMS victory with the Aston Martin Vantage AMR, narrowly defeating Iron Lynx’s #63 Mercedes-AMG. The battle boiled down to fuel strategy, with Racing Spirit’s Valentin Hasse Clot edging out Iron Lynx’s Fabian Schiller by just 0.966 seconds at the finish.

The next event in the European Le Mans Series is the 4 Hours of Silverstone, set for September 12-14.