Little reward despite race-leading pace in Le Castellet

Proton Competition delivered a race-leading performance at the second round of the 2025 European Le Mans Series, but emerged with little to show for their efforts after a chaotic and rain-affected 4 Hours of Le Castellet (4 May). The team led significant portions of the race in both the LMP2 and LMP2 Pro/Am classes but fell just short of converting this potential into podium finishes.

The #77 Oreca 07 of Giorgio Roda, Bent Viscaal and René Binder navigated the treacherous conditions at the start of the race expertly to emerge as one of the favourites for the LMP2 Pro/Am class win at the halfway point. However, a drive-through penalty for a minor indiscretion relegated the car back down the order. Despite battling hard in the final stint, Viscaal was unable to make up the lost ground and had to settle for fourth.

“I think we were looking good for the win,” the Dutchman said after the race. “Giorgio and René did a great job in the first and second stints, so the penalty was a real shame. We finished less than 15 seconds behind the class winner, so it’s disappointing for sure. Now we are just eager to bounce back at the next race.”

Like their teammates, the #9 crew of Jonas Ried, Macéo Capietto and Matteo Cairoli were leading and in with a shot of a podium finish or even an overall win, before misfortune struck. After taking over the car for the final stint, Cairoli suffered a technical problem that dashed all hopes of a top result.

“We are a little downhearted, as we had really good pace and a great car, but a technical problem cost us,” said Ried. “We will have to look closely at what went wrong and make sure we bring it all together at the next race.”

The #60 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Christian Ried, Matteo Cressoni and Alessio Picariello finished eighth in the LMGT3 class at Circuit Paul Ricard. The team gambled on tyre strategy for the opening stint, sticking with dry rubber as others changed to wets, in the hope that conditions would improve. However, the risky strategy didn’t pay off.

Proton Competition’s next chance of a podium is just around the corner with a visit to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for round three of the FIA World Endurance Championship on 8 to 10 May. The European Le Mans Series resumes on 6 July with the 4 Hours of Imola.

Photos for download:

Free for editorial use.
Copyright: Proton Competition (Paola Depalmas)