The Spa-Francorchamps circuit hosted the fourth round of the 2025 European Le Mans Series season. After finishing fourth in the 4 Hours of Imola, Matteo Cairoli arrived in Belgium aiming for the podium he missed on home soil. However, due to an unlucky race, the Como native was forced to finish eighth in the LMP2 class, alongside teammates Jonas Ried and Maceo Capietto in the #9 Iron Lynx – Proton Oreca 07.
The wet qualifying session was entrusted to Cairoli, who secured a splendid second place on the grid with a time of 2:15.189, just two tenths off pole position. Jonas Ried then had the honour of starting the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, remaining among the podium positions throughout the first stint. The Iron Lynx team unfortunately made a strategic error, pitting just before a virtual safety car phase, allowing their rivals to gain ground on Cairoli. This dropped the #9 Oreca to last place in the LMP2 class.
Despite this, the Como native’s race pace was positive, setting a pace close to the race leader. The 29-year-old was the third-fastest driver overall, almost setting the fastest time in the race, demonstrating his competitiveness and, thanks to his speed, managed to make up several positions. However, further misfortune struck Cairoli’s car: a puncture forced the Iron Lynx team to pit, dropping them back to last place in the class.
The final stage of the race was completed by Capietto who, despite all the problems of the Belgian race, finished 12th overall and eighth in the LMP2 class. Cairoli’s crew thus earned four points for the championship, climbing to ninth place. The next race is scheduled for Silverstone on September 14, 2025, the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series season.
Matteo Cairoli
“Unfortunately, we had a lot of bad luck in this race, but once again I think we demonstrated our potential with second place in qualifying and our overall race pace. We’re still looking for our first podium of the season and will definitely try at Silverstone in September.”
