Strong in qualifying, struck by bad luck in the race

The fourth round of the European Le Mans Series (24 August) at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps proved to be a tale of two halves for Proton Competition and its three-car entry. Michael and Christian Ried’s team shone in Saturday’s qualifying for the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, but were plagued by misfortune on race day.

The highlight of the weekend was undoubtedly yet another LMP2 Pro-Am pole position for the #77 Oreca of Giorgio Roda, Bent Viscaal and René Binder. Roda’s time was over one second quicker than his competitors, and handed the #77 crew its third class pole of 2025.

Qualifying performance was just as strong across Proton Competition’s other two entries. The #9 Oreca of Jonas Ried, Macéo Capietto and Matteo Cairoli secured a front-row start, while the #60 Porsche 911 GT3 R posted a time quick enough for the second row of the LMGT3 grid.

Race day brought with it a number of challenges, in particular repeated safety car and full-course-yellow phases. However, the misfortune for the #77 crew began right at the first turn as the Proton Competition Oreca was held up by a spinning car ahead. A later penalty dealt the decisive blow, and despite a determined effort, Viscaal, Roda and Binder had to settle for sixth in class at the flag.

“It just wasn’t really our day here in Spa,” said Binder. “The car felt really good and we had great pace with the potential to finish well. But we were just unlucky from the first minute. The penalty was understandable, but the timing of it, just after a safety car, cost us a lot of time. But that’s just how things go sometimes.”

With even the best strategies vulnerable to an ill-timed intervention from race control, the four-hour race became less about planning and more about being in the right place at the right time. Indeed, that was the fate of the #9 crew of Ried, Capietto and Cairoli: after a strong start from the front row, their race was undone by unfortunate pit-stop timing, resulting in an eighth-place finish.

For the #60 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Matteo Cressoni, Alessio Picariello and new teammate Antares Au, the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps ended in disappointment. After showing strong pace and running well in contention for a top finish, their hopes were dashed by a collision at the final turn with an hour to go, forcing the Porsche into retirement.

The next round of the ELMS is just around the corner, with legendary British circuit Silverstone playing host to the series on the weekend of 12 to 14 September. Proton Competition’s next competitive action comes one week earlier as the FIA World Endurance Championship resumes at the Circuit of the Americas on 5 to 7 September.

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