44 Cars for ELMS Season Opener in Barcelona

The 13 strong entry for LMP2 promises much in the way of drama and excitement this season with current and former champions and some familiar names amongst the 38 drivers who will line up for the 4 Hours of Barcelona.

2024 4 Hours of Barcelona race winner Lorenzo Fluxa will compete with 2023 ELMS LMP2 Team Champions and reigning Asian Le Mans Series Team Champions Algarve Pro Racing, the Spaniard joining Théo Pourchaire and Matthias Kaiser in the no25 Oreca-Gibson.

Former ELMS, WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 champions Filipe Albuquerque and Ferdinand Habsburg will join forces at Nielsen Racing, with Turkish driver Cem Bölükbaşı.

2019 ELMS Champions IDEC Sport will enter two cars for the first time with ELMS LMP2 Champions Paul Lafargue and Paul-Loup Chatin being joined in the no28 Oreca by former LMP3 champion Job Van Uitert. The no18 IDEC Sport Oreca will see former FIA F3 Champion Daniel Juncadella joined by three-time W Series Champion Jamie Chadwick and French driver Mathys Jaubert.

Inter Europol Competition will also run two cars, with reigning IMSA LMP2 Champion and winner of the 2025 12 Hours of Sebring with the Polish team Tom Dillmann, who will be joined by former 24 Hours of Le Mans LMP2 winner Jakub Smiechowski in the no43 car.

Reigning FIA WEC LMGT3 Champion Aliaksandr Malykhin will make his ELMS LMP2 debut in Barcelona with the CLX Motorsport run CLX - Pure Rxcing Oreca, alongside Tristan Vautier and 2022 IMSA champion Tom Blomqvist.

The Swiss team will also run a second car with Luis Filipe ‘Pipo’ Derani and Manuel Espírito Santo being joined by former F2 race winner Enzo Fittipaldi, grandson of the great Emerson Fittipaldi.

Enzo is not the only Fittipaldi to grace the grid this season as his brother, Pietro, will race the no10 Vector Sport Oreca alongside Vlad Lomko and Ryan Cullen.

2020 LMP2 Team Champions United Autosports will race a single car in the top class this season, with Manuel Maldonado, Grégoire Saucy and Benjamin Hanley in the no22 Oreca.

4 Hours of Mugello race winners Iron Lynx-Proton will be on the grid with Jonas Ried, Macéo Capietto and Matteo Cairoli returning for another season in an unchanged driver line up.

French teams Duqueine Team and VDS Panis Racing complete the LMP2 grid for the 4 Hours of Barcelona.

LMP2 Pro/Am: Two ELMS Reigning Team Champions

The LMP2 Pro/Am grid will see double class champions AF Corse back to try and make it three in a row for the Italian team. 2024 champions François Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera return in an unchanged line up in the no83 Oreca.

2024 ELMS LMP2 Champions AO by TF move to the LMP2 Pro/Am class in 2025, with Americans PJ Hyett and Dane Cameron joining three-time ELMS Champion Louis Delétraz in the no99 car.

2018 ELMS LMGTE Champion Giorgio Roda took five pole positions from six attempts in LMP2 Pro/Am last season, with the no77 Proton Competition Oreca taking victory in the final race of the season in Portugal alongside teammates Bent Viscaal and René Binder, who all return in an unchanged driver line up.

2024 LMP2 Pro/Am Vice Champions Kriton Lentoudis and Alex Quinn return in 2025, and they are joined by Ollie Caldwell in the no20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca.

2023 LMP2 Drivers Champion James Allen will race with Nielsen Racing this year, with former MLMC LMP3 Champion Tony Wells and Brazil’s Sérgio Sette Câmara.

United Autosports, TDS Racing and DKR Engineering will each run a single car in the eight strong LMP2 Pro/Am entry for Barcelona.

LMP3: A New Era for LMP3 Starts in Spain

The brand-new era gets underway for the LMP3 category, with the V8 Nissan engines being replaced by the Toyota V6 twin turbo power unit. Ten entries will be on the grid in Spain, with eight Ligier JS P325s being joined by one Duqueine D09 and one Ginetta G61-LT-P325-Evo.

Reigning LMP3 champions RLR MSport return to defend their title, with Michael Jensen and Nick Adcock also returning to the ELMS to try and make it two in a row. The South African drivers are joined by former Michelin Le Mans Cup and Ligier European Series Champion Gillian Henrion, the French driver winning the 4 Hours of Barcelona with Team Virage last year.

Former LMP3 Champions DKR Engineering will run the only Ginetta on the grid, with American Wyatt Brichacek and Estonian Antti Ramo being joined by Denmark’s Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen.

The sole Duqueine D09 will be run by WTM by Rinaldi Racing with team regulars Torsten Kratz and Leo Weiss being joined by Australian Griffin Peebles, who was instrumental in Bretton Racing becoming Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 Team Champions in February.

2024 MLMC Vice Champion Fabien Michal will race with former ELMS Team Champions Eurointernational. Reigning Asian le Mans Series LMP3 Champion Theodor Jensen will race with former LMP3 champions CLX Motorsport.

Racing Spirit of Léman will feature an all-French driver line up in the no31 Ligier with Marius Fossard, Jacques Wolff and Jean-Ludovic Foubert.

French team Ultimate will also see an all-French line up, with brothers Jean-Baptiste and Matthieu Lahaye joined by Louis Stern.

Team Virage will include the only Spanish driver on the LMP3 grid with Daniel Nogales being joined by Pole Jacek Zielonka and Dutchman Rik Koen. Inter Europol Competition and M Racing will field a car each to complete the ten-car entry for LMP3 in Spain.

LMGT3: Aston Martin v Corvette v Ferrari v McLaren v Mercedes-AMG v Porsche

With six manufacturers represented on the 2025 ELMS LMGT3 grid, there is a mouthwatering prospect of some exciting on track action at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

2024 LMGT3 Champions Iron Lynx are back to defend their title, but this season they are running a Mercedes-AMG LMGT3, with Martin Berry, Lorcan Hanafin and Fabien Schiller sharing the driving duties.

Four-time LMGTE ELMS Champions Proton Competition will run a Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3, with double LMGTE Drivers Champion Alessio Picariello being joined by 2021 champion Matteo Cressoni and team regular Claudio Schiavoni.

The second Porsche 911 on the grid is the no85 Iron Dames, with Sarah Bovy and Michelle Gatting being joined by MLMC regular Célia Martin, the French driver making her ELMS debut in Spain.

United Autosports will make their LMGT3 ELMS debut in Barcelona, with former LMP3 champion Wayne Boyd being joined in the McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo by Australian Garnet Patterson and Britain’s Michael Birch.

Kessel Racing will run a pair of Ferrari 296s, with the no74 Ferrari being piloted by Spain’s Miguel Molina and Fran Rueda Mateos, who will be joined by Andrew Gilbert. 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Daniel Serra will race the no57 296 with Ben Tuck and Takeshi Kimura.

TF Sport will run the only Corvette Z06 on the grid, with Charlie Eastwood, Rui Andrade and Hiroshi Koizumi sharing the driving duties.

Former ELMS and WEC champion Gianmaria Bruni will race the no66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari, partnering American duo Scott Noble and Jason Hart.

The no55 Spirit of Race Ferrari will be back on the grid with the unchanged driver line up of Duncan Cameron, David Perel and 2013 ELMS Champion Matt Griffin.

AF Corse will also run a pair of Ferrari 296 LMGT3s with the no50 Richard Mille AF Corse for Lilou Wadoux, Riccardo Agostini and Custodio Toledo and the no51 AF Corse 296 for Davide Rigon, Conrad Laursen and Charles-Henri Samani.

Racing Spirit of Léman will run the only Aston Martin Vantage in the field with an all-French line up of Valentin Hasse Clot, Erwan Bastard and Clément Mateu.

GR Racing complete the field with the no86 Ferrari, which will be driven by Mike Wainwright, Riccardo Pera and Tom Fleming.

The 4 Hours of Barcelona is Round 1 of the 2025 European Le Mans Series and will take place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the 4-6 April. The race weekend will be preceded by The Prologue, the official pre-season test at the same circuit on Monday 31stMarch and Tuesday 1stApril.