Qualifying: Iron Lynx-Proton Become Sixth Different Team to Claim Pole in 2025

The session was halted after less than five minutes when Theo Pourchaire went off into the barriers at Turn 9 in the no25 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca-Gibson. The French driver was OK and after the car was removed, and the tyre barrier repaired, the session resumed for the final 10 minutes.

The times immediately started to tumble with first Jaubert and the Cairoli posting the fastest time before Nick Yelloly in the no43 Inter Europol Competition got involved in the fight for the top spot. With three minutes remaining Cairoli posted a 1m30.771 lap, with Jaubert immediately responding but only with the second fastest time of 1m30.814.

Job Van Uitert in the no28 IDEC Sport leapt up the. standings from 11th to 4th and was on a fast lap only to lose out in the final sector of the lap.

The chequered flag was shown and the no9 Iron Lynx-Proton will start from pole, with the championship challengers in close proximity. The second placed no18 IDEC Sport will start from the front row, with the no43 IEC Oreca starting from third.

The championship leading no48 VDS Panis Racing finished in 5th spot behind the no28 IDEC Sport. With just 7-points splitting the no48, no18 and no43 Orecas, there is all to play for in the final race of the season on Saturday afternoon.

LMP2 Pro/Am: Roda Denies Hyett the Championship Point for Pole

Giorgio Roda took his fourth pole position of the 2025 season in the no77 Proton Competition Oreca-Gibson with a final roll of the dice to snatch pole by 0.044s from the no99 AO by TF of championship contender PJ Hyett.

Roda’s lap of 1m32.467 came just before the chequered flag was waved after Hyett had dominated the LMP2 Pro/Am qualifying period and looked on course to close the gap to championship leaders Algarve Pro Racing by a point.

The no29 TDS Racing Oreca of Rodrigo Sales was also in the mix for the final pole position of the season, but the American’s best lap of 1m32.777 put him at the head of row 2, with the no27 Nielsen Racing of John Falb finishing fourth.

Championship leader Kriton Lentoudis had a best lap of 1m35.256, which puts the no20 Oreca at the back of the 8-car grid for the 4 Hours of Portimão, but the team still has a 9-point advantage over the no99 AO by TF.Because they failed to take pole, the outgoing champions AF Corse cannot now overtake the two cars ahead of them in the points table.

LMP3: Henrion Takes Pole for Outgoing Champions RLR MSport

The no15 RLR MSport Ligier-Toyota will start the 4 Hours of Portimão at the front of the LMP3 grid after Gillian Henrion put in a dominant performance with a 1m37.923 lap, 0.380 seconds ahead of the championship winning no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier, after Adrien Closmenil set a best time of 1m38.303 in the 15-minute session.

The no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine will start in P3 after Griffin Peebles kept the pressure on the two cars ahead, the Australian finishing up with a best lap of 1m38.678, with the no88 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of Douwe Dedecker taking the fourth spot on the grid, the Belgian driver posting a 1m38.900.

LMGT3: Hiroshi Koizumi Scores First Ever ELMS Pole for Corvette

The no82 TF Sport Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R will start on pole for the final race of the season in Portugal after Hiroshi Koizumi post a 1m43.446 lap, just 0.006s ahead of championship rival Clement Mateu in the no59 Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin Vantage AMR LMGT3. This is the first ever pole position for Corvette in the ELMS.

The session was red flagged with less than two minutes left on the clock due to the no51 AF Corse Ferrari spinning off into the gravel at Turn 7.With no time to resume the session the result was declared.

Michael Birch put the no23 United Autosports McLaren on Row 2 with a 1m43.494, just 0.048s off pole, with Martin Berry joining him on the same row in the no63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG.

The championship leading no50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari will start the race in 7thplace after Custodio’s best lap of 1m44.558.

The final four hour race of the 2025 season is due to get underway at 14h30 tomorrow afternoon.

Results are HERE