In another early Spring hectic schedule of motor racing this weekend, it’s all systems go again within both the European Le Mans Series and supporting Michelin Le Mans Cup Series as both head to Le Castellet in the south of France for their second rounds to their respective 2026 seasons.
Nearly three weeks since the start to both campaigns saw three Aston Martin Racing Vantage GT3 powered team look to take the start within the Le Mans Cup Series (although not all quite made that unfortunately) with one Aston Martin Racing Vantage LMGT3 powered crew within the headlining ELMS Series.
This time around, it’s all the same again as the Code Racing Development, Racing Spirit of Leman and Ecurie Ecosse by Blackthorn AMR teams look to continue or improve upon their performances of last time out in Spain amongst the combined LMP3 and GT3 powered grid of forty-four cars.
The #10 Racing Spirit of Leman car of Philipp Sager and Valentin Hasse-clot managed to convert their P6 starting position into a class win whilst the #11 Code Racing Development crew of Sebastian Moreno and Nico Hantke failed to finish after taking early contact in the race that saw their car hobble back to pit lane before ultimately retiring.
It was, however, worse for the #91 Ecurie Ecosse crew of Claud Bovet and Tom Canning as the team boss (Bovet) suffered a heavy off in his car during the Bronze Driver test – something that the team could not repair in time for the race the next day.
Whilst the #10 RSLM crew will be the ones to watch again from the start, the #10 Code Racing Development AMR crew should many flashes of speed and determination before their run in Spain was thwarted through no fault of their own.
For the sister #59 Racing Spirit of Leman AMR entry within the ELMS, their crew of Clement Mateu, Marius Fossard and Valentin Hasse-Clot will be hoping that some of their Le Mans Cup luck will rub off onto their ELMS efforts after they had to endure a painful opening round in Spain.
Starting from the second row of that grid, contact with another car saw them penalised before a driving error of their own saw the silver #59 car spin off into a gravel trap – losing both time and laps in the process of both which resulted in a disappointing P10 in class finish at the end.
This weekend sees another forty-seven-car entry across the LMP2, LMP3 and LMGT3 classes with the #59 car being one of fourteen cars in class.
The Le Mans Cup Series will run their two-hour race later on Saturday whilst the European Le Mans Series will run their second four-hour race from midday on Sunday.
Photo credits – Teams / Series / social media