Michelin Le Mans Cup: Top 5 for the Ligier JS P325 in Barcelona
The opening round of the 2025 Michelin Le Mans Cup season took place at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit on April 4-5. For their first race appearance, no fewer than twenty-five Ligier JS P325s lined up at the start.
Ligier teams dominated the whole weekend, setting the fastest times in both the official test day and free practice sessions, securing the JS P325's first two pole positions, setting the fastest laps in the race, and placing five Ligiers in the top 5 both overall and in PRO/AM. The CLX Motorsport team completed a one-two finish with its #97 and #87 Ligier JS P325s, while Rinaldi Racing won the PRO/AM standings, also with a one-two finish for its #66 and #71 cars.
- New for this season, the LMP3 category now includes a PRO/AM classification for teams comprising a Bronze driver and a Silver or Gold driver. This new format adds to the general classification, which is now reserved for Silver/Silver or Silver/Gold drivers.
- Right from the start of the week's two official test sessions, the Ligier JS P325s proved to be the fastest, immediately asserting their competitiveness against the LMP3 grid.
- The meeting continued with the first free practice session, also dominated by the Ligier JS P325s. The 23Events Racing #50 topped the timesheets with a lap of 1:36.176 set by Léna Bülher. On the PRO/AM side, the Rinaldi Racing #66, driven by Griffin Peebles, set the fastest time in 1:36.841
- Bis repetita in the second free practice session, where this time it was Matteo Quintarelli who set the fastest time (1:38.265) at the wheel of the 23Events Racing #50. Pierre Kaffer topped the PRO/AM standings with the MRacing #64 in 1:38.461.
- In the qualifying session preceding the race, the Ligier JS P325s once again demonstrated their speed and performance. Matteo Quintarelli, driving the #50 23Events Racing car, was the quickest, securing the French team's first pole position of the season with a lap of 1:34.647, faster than last season's ELMS pole position. Théo Micouris, the 2024 Ligier European Series champion in the JS P4 class, set the second fastest time in the #16 Team Virage Ligier JS P325.
- In the PRO/AM standings, Julien Lemoine, 2023 Ligier European Series champion in the JS2 R class, got the best out of the #84 ANS Motorsport Ligier JS P325. With a lap of 1:37.929, he narrowly edged out the #28 23Events Racing Ligier JS P325.
- The first race of the 2025 Michelin Le Mans Cup season was full of twists and turns, with repeated neutralizations, collisions and a thrilling finish.
- Right from the start, the tone was set. Léna Bülher, starting from pole position in the #50 23Events Racing Ligier JS P325, spun in the first corner after being pushed by another competitor.
- A few dozen metres further on, a second incident involved the #27 P4 Racing and #26 Bretton Racing Ligier JS P325s. The #98 Motorsport98 Ligier JS P325 was a collateral victim of this incident.
- The race was then neutralized with a safety car after a GT3 went off track. A red flag then brought the race to a halt after Marta Garcia crashed out of the #83 Iron Dames Porsche 911 GT3 R. The Spanish driver was taken out of the car and rushed to hospital for precautionary tests.
- After 69 minutes of neutralisation over the two-hour race, and with less than twenty minutes to go before the chequered flag, CLX Motorsport took the lead with the #97 Ligier JS P325 driven by David Droux and Cédric Oltramare, ahead of its sister car, the #87 of Alvise Rodella and Pierre-Alexandre Provost, which set the fastest race time of 1:37.989.
- The Swiss team scored a magnificent one-two finish, giving the Ligier JS P325 its very first victory.
- The #9 Forestier Racing by VPS JS P325, driven by Louis Rousset and Romain Favre, finished third in its series debut. Starting from pole, the #50 23 Events Racing Ligier JS P325 (Léna Bülher / Matteo Quintarelli) made a great recovery from its first-lap incident to finish fifth, just behind the #16 Team Virage Ligier JS P325 (Théo Micouris / Sacha Lehmann).
- In LMP3 PRO/AM, Rinaldi Racing scored a one-two finish with its two Ligier JS P325s #66 and #71 with Steve Parrow / Griffin Peebles and Stefan Aust / Felipe Fernandez-Laser at the wheel, ahead of the #58 GG Classics Ligier JS P325 with George Nakas and Fraser Ross.
- Fourth and fifth places for the father-son duos of the #99 More Motorsport and #77 Reiter Engineering Ligier JS P325s for Marx and Max Van Der Snel and Horst Felbermayr and Horst Felbermayr Jr. Involved in an incident at the start, the #98 Motorsport 98 Ligier JS P325 set the fastest race lap in the PRO/AM class with Gillian Henrion at the wheel.
With a dominant performance in testing and qualifying, a top 5 finish and the fastest race laps in both the overall standings and the PRO/AM class, the Ligier JS P325 has made a remarkable and successful competitive debut. This first meeting in Barcelona confirms not only the sporting potential of the new generation LMP3, but also the confidence placed by the teams in Ligier Automotive's know-how.
The next Michelin Le Mans Cup race takes place on May 3 at Le Castellet.
Photo credit: DPPI
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