The tenth edition of the 4 Hours of Portimão concluded the 2025 season of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), the Automobile Club de L’Ouest’s continental series on the Old Continent. Matteo Cairoli raced for the second consecutive year in the LMP2 class Oreca 07 alongside Jonas Ried and Macéo Capietto, representing the Iron Lynx-Proton team in the #9 car.
At the end of the four-hour race, the Italian-German team finished seventh overall and fifth in the LMP2 class, improving on their 2024 result. The Como-born talent, who won the Portimão race in 2017 in the LMGTE class, managed to secure his second career pole position in the ELMS with LMP2 prototypes, following the one achieved during the 4 Hours of Mugello last season. Although the final result wasn’t the same—he also took victory on the Tuscan circuit—securing pole in the highly competitive ELMS premier class represents another milestone in the Como-born driver’s career.
Cairoli, after leading the final free practice session, confirmed his performance in the final 15 minutes of qualifying of the season, recording a time of 1:30.771, at the end of a session in which the top ten were covered by just 394 thousandths of a second. Jonas Ried maintained the lead at the start, but the first part of the race was marked by numerous interruptions under the Virtual Safety Car that disrupted the pace. The German driver subsequently lost the lead, struggling with tire grip towards the end of his stint, hampered by a spin at Turn 5.
Matteo Cairoli stepped into the car to complete the middle part of the race. Thanks to an excellent pace, culminating in a fastest lap of 1:32.591, the #9 managed to gain positions, moving closer to the podium. In the final stretch of the race, Macéo Capietto—in an attempt to make up ground with a different strategy, as the Iron Lynx-Proton team decided to change tires late in the race—lost control at Turn 2, but sustained no damage to the car.
With this result, the Cairoli/Ried/Capietto team finished the European Le Mans Series season in ninth place. Aside from the pole position, worth one point, Cairoli’s best result of the season remains his home soil, where he narrowly missed the podium in the Imola round.
Matteo Cairoli
“We’re closing out our second consecutive ELMS season in the premier class with a pole position, which I’ve come close to several times this year. It’s always been a matter of hundredths of a second, and this time it was on my side. I’m pleased with the balance we found right from free practice, because Portimão is a very technical track, which mirrors the characteristics of Mugello. Unfortunately, the race outcome wasn’t the same; it was a very unlucky season because we knew we could achieve more. I’d like to thank Iron Lynx and Proton Competition for the support I received as a teammate with Jonas and Macéo, with whom I’ve developed a wonderful relationship.”
