ELMS Spa: Inter Europol’s winning experience paid off after a chaotic race

Round 3 of the European Le Mans Series at Spa‑Francorchamps got off to a chaotic start as the #34 Inter Europol was hit and left behind with front‑end damage before turn one. The #18 IDEC Sport Oreca, with Jamie Chadwick at the wheel, held the lead while chaos unfolded behind. The #13 Inter Europol locked up and hit the wall at the end of the Kemmel Straight, bringing out the first of many safety cars.

After 15 minutes the race got underway again, with Griffin Peebles in the #22 United Autosports taking the lead by going around the outside of Jamie Chadwick into turn one.

In LMP3 there was also a reshuffle as Paul Lanchere in the #17 CLX Motorsport overtook the #85 R‑ACE GP for the class lead right before Les Combes.

Just a few minutes later the next incident unfolded as Ian Aguilera in the #37 CLX Motorsport tried to dive up the inside of the #29 Forestier Racing by Panis into Les Combes, but failed to make it stick and spun, dropping several places.

The next stoppage didn’t take long. After 20 minutes of racing, the #47 CLX Motorsport LMP2 Pro/Am was hit from behind by the #14 TDS Racing LMP2 Pro/Am into the Bus Stop chicane, bringing out the virtual safety car.

During that period the leader, the #22 United Autosports, pitted for a new rear wing. But as his rivals pitted as well, he kept the lead when he left the pit lane.

The VSC then turned into a full safety car, and after several incidents with stoppages constantly returning, the race finally went green again with around two hours remaining.

With the field completely shaken up, it was Marino Sato in the #21 United Autosports LMP2 Pro/Am who found himself leading the race, with Enzo Trulli in the #20 Algarve Pro Racing LMP2 Pro/Am and several other cars from that class right behind him.

With the final round of pit stops taking place and another safety car reshuffling the pack, the successful #43 Inter Europol Competition team found themselves in first. Yelloly, with all his experience, kept his head cool and brought home the victory.

In LMP2 Pro/Am the #99 AO by TF looked set for second place, but a late defending move from the #83 AF Corse saw him spinning at Les Combes, with the AF Corse taking the escape road. This moved the #20 Algarve Pro Racing up to second.

In LMP3 the #54 Rinaldi Racing won in dominant fashion, finishing almost a full minute ahead of the #17 CLX Motorsport but was later disqualified which saw the CLX LMP3 coming out on top.

LMGT3 saw a surprising winner: starting from 12th place, the #86 GR Racing won their first ELMS race since 2015.