The 2025 European Le Mans Series season kicks off on the Montmeló circuit, a technical track that highlights the drivers’ skills. Matteo Cairoli managed to becomes protagonist right from the qualifying session. Aboard the Oreca 07 LMP2, he places the Iron Lynx-Proton crew on the front row thanks to a time of 1:27.830, just 0.166s from pole position.
A result that confirms the value of the Italian-German team’s strategy to give continuity to the same 2024 line-up, which ended on a high. Therefore, Jonas Ried and Macéo Capietto will also be alongside the Como-based driver for the 2025 season.
It was Ried who took the start of the race, which began with a conservative pace for the German driver. Nonetheless, after picking up the pace, the #9 car returned to the top of the LMP2 Pro crew standings, in second place overall. The latter was caught due to a drive-through penalty of the car in front at that moment, just before finishing the initial stint of the race. However, at the time of the stop, the 4.2-liter Gibson V8 engine did not restart, forcing the mechanics to bring the car back to the pits.
The crew of the #9 still managed to restart, also allowing Cairoli and Capietto to get in the car, confirming the excellent times and data acquired since the pre-season test session, also held on the Barcelona circuit. Despite a huge gap, following the electronic problem, the Cairoli/Capietto/Ried trio finished in 11th position in the class, just outside the points zone. Although the Iron Lynx-Proton crew did not bring home any points from this weekend, there are still good feelings ahead of the next events, starting with the second round at Le Castellet on May 4, 2025.
Matteo Cairoli: “It’s a shame to end the weekend without any points, we have shown since testing the steps forward of the team. I’m happy with my qualifying lap, and the team did an exceptional job in preparing the car, it was fantastic to drive. Hopefully we can replicate this pace at Le Castellet too”.
