Matteo Cairoli’s race at the 4 Hours of Paul Ricard, the second round of the 2025 European Le Mans Series, ended with a retirement. The Como-based driver had to deal with several problems which affected his race, forcing him to raise the white flag early. Matteo Cairoli took part in the event together with his teammates Jonas Ried and Macéo Capietto at the wheel of the Oreca 07 – Gibson #9 of the Iron Lynx – Proton team, competing in the LMP2 category.
In the qualifying phase, Cairoli managed to take a splendid third position with a time of 1:49.009, demonstrating once again the excellent potential that the Italian has on a technical circuit like the French Paul Ricard. The team therefore started from the second row, immediately behind the race leaders.
The circuit presented itself in damp conditions, leaving the teams with the difficult choice of starting with dry or wet tyres. Iron Lynx opted for dry, a decision that immediately proved to be the wrong one, as the track was extremely slippery. Jonas Ried still managed to maintain fifth place, until he spun, dropping back to ninth. Track conditions worsened significantly during the race, forcing the team to switch to wet tyres with both Ried driving and Capietto later on.
Thanks to the strategy and good pace of the Frenchman, the team found themselves fighting for the lead in the middle of the race. Unfortunately, Cairoli was unable to confirm the result, losing a tyre on his first lap after the pit stop. The Como-based driver was forced to make a long pit stop, returning to the track after a few minutes, but having to finish the race early. For Cairoli, the satisfaction of having recorded, and maintained, the fastest lap of the race in 1’51”281
Iron Lynx leaves France again with no points, with the belief that it had a high potential that the Italian team has not yet managed to express in this season of the European Le Mans Series. The next appointment will be the home stage for Cairoli and Iron Lynx: the race will be at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on 4-6 July 2025.
Matteo Cairoli
“It’s really a shame not to have reached the finish line today. The pace was there and for a long time we were even in first position. Unfortunately, a bad pit stop compromised our race and took away fundamental points for the championship, but we will try to make up for it in Imola, our home race”.
