R-ace GP wins Silverstone thriller to secure 2025 MLMC title
The LMP3 Pro/Am victory went to the no49 High Class Racing Ligier with Thomas Kiefer handing over the car to reigning ELMS LMP3 champion Gael Julien who took the chequered flag well ahead of the chasing pack.
UPDATE - Car 49 was at the pit entry at the end of the race, slowed and was then unable to proceed under its own power. Because the car failed to make it to Parc Ferme under its own power it was disqualified and this promoted the no28 23Events Racing Ligier driven by Terence Woodward and James Winslow to first place.
It was a historic win for the Iron Dames crew of Vanina Ickx and Marta Garcia Lopez, with the Italian team becoming the first to win a race at all levels of the ACO endurance ladder. Garcia took the chequered flag 42 seconds ahead of the no51 AF Corse Ferrari and a lap ahead of the reset of the GT3 field.
Penultimate Race of the 2025 Season
After rain fell earlier in the day the track for the start of the race was dry. The no51 AF Corse Ferrari and no11 Code Racing Development Aston Martin were put to the back of the GT3 grid after post qualifying issues and the penalties meant that the two pro drivers, Eliseo Donno and Valentin Hasse Clot had to take the start.
At the front of the grid the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine of Hugo Schwarze led the field into T1. Several cars spun on the opening lap including the no7 Nielsen Racing Adess of Colin Noble and the no16 Team Virage Ligier of Sebastian Gravlund. The no50 23Events Racing Ligier also dropped back to 8th.
The race then settled down with the no51 Ferrari and no11 Aston Martin powering their way to the front of the GT3 field, with the no83 Iron Dames Porsche of Vanina Ickx trying to keep in touch.
The no95 Ebimotors Porsche had to return to the pits slowly after a right rear puncture. Then the race was neutralised after the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier of Spa-Francorchamps LMP3 Pro/Am winner Eric De Doncker went off at Vale and ended up beached in the gravel.
This brought out the first of three Full Course Yellow periods to recover the car and after five minutes racing resumed. However, the no95 Porsche and the no92 Bretton Racing Ligier collided at Copse, with both cars spearing off into the barriers. The Safety Car was quickly deployed with both drivers climbing out of their badly damaged cars unaided.
The no11 Code Racing Development Aston Martin pitted to carry out the pitstop and put Philipp Sager in the car. Because the pitstop was carried out outside the mandatory window a further pitstop would be necessary for the French team, with Hasse Clot having to complete his drive time.
The race went green after 12-minutes behind the Safety Car. The way it worked out for the GT3 category was that the no51 Ferrari, the no11 Aston Martin and the no83 Porsche were on the lead lap and the rest of the field were one lap down.
After the pitstops the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine was leading from the no87 CLX Motorsport Ligier, with Hadrien David and Alvise Rodella in the cars. Romain Favre was keeping close tabs on the two leaders in the no29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier.
Gael Julien was leading the LMP3 Pro/Am class from James Winslow in the no28 23Events Racing and Alessandro Cozzi was leading GT3 in the no51 Ferrari, ahead of Philipp Sager in the no11 Aston Martin and the no83 Porsche of Marta Garcia.
After a second FCY period the race had settled down with Garcia closing the gap to Sager just as the Aston Martin pitted to hand over the Valentin Hasse Clot. This allowed the no83 Porsche to start to close the gap by up to 8 seconds a lap to the leading Ferrari. However, fate lent a hand when the no64 M Racing Ligier tapped the Ferrari into a spin. Cozzi rejoined but Garcia had gone into the lead. Pierre Kaffer was handed a driver through penalty for causing the collision.
With 25-minutes left of the clock the two leading cars were nose to tail with Rodella applying the pressure on to David to try and force a mistake. David soaked up the pressure then another FCY period was declared as the no31 CD Sport Duqueine of Kevin Rabin ended up beached in the gravel at Luffield.
The race went back to green with 17-minutes left on the clock and at the restart the no29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier went into second place ahead of Rodella’s CLX Ligier.
Romain Favre then closed up behind the leading Duqueine and started to challenge for the lead.
In LMP3 Pro/Am Gael Julien was given a 5 second penalty for a FCY infringement but was holding a 16 second gap to the second placed no28 23Events Racing Ligier. Marta Garcia had pulled away from Cozzi’s Ferrari and was nearly 30 seconds ahead as the chequered flag approached.
However, all eyes were on the lead battle as for lap after lap David and Favre were fighting for the lead. David knew the win would secure the 2025 title, while Favre wanted to take the win. The two cars were racing as close as possible but Favre could not find a way past the lead car.
At the chequered flag the gap between the two cars was just 0.114s with the no85 R-ace GP taking the victory and the title by the narrowest of margins, with the no87 CLX Motorsport Ligier taking the final podium position just 5.3 seconds behind the two protagonists.
Gael Julien took the chequered flag 12 seconds ahead of James Winslow the chasing no28 23Events Racing, which was reduced to 7 seconds when the 5 second penalty was applied. The no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Griffin Peebles took the final podium position.
UPDATE - Car 49 was at the pit entry at the end of the race, slowed and was then unable to proceed under its own power. Because the car failed to make it to Parc Ferme under its own power it was disqualified and this promoted the no28 23Events Racing Ligier driven by Terence Woodward and James Winslow to first place, the no66 Rinaldi Racing was classified in second, with the no71 Rinaldi Racing Ligier promoted to the final podium position.
Marta Garcia crossed the finish line in the no83 Iron Dames Porsche to claim the first MLMC victory for the Italian team, with the no51 AF Corse Ferrari finishing 42 seconds behind. The no23 Biogas Motorsport Ferrari claimed the final podium position in GT3.
With the LMP3 title decided, all eyes are now focused on the LMP3 Pro/Am and GT3 title races, which will be decided in the final race of the season in Portugal next month.
Results are HERE
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