ELMS: Imola 2026, Panis, Vector Sport, CLX and TF Sport Win

Esteban Masson backed up pole position with a commanding win at the 4 Hours of Imola, Forestier Racing by Panis controlling round three of the European Le Mans Series as Vector Sport, CLX Motorsport and TF Sport claimed the other class victories in Italy.

Round three of the 2026 European Le Mans Series brought the biggest grid of the year back to Imola, and it was Masson who set the early tone. His pole lap on Saturday, a second in a row for the Frenchman after Le Castellet, put the no29 Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca at the head of a 47-car field by just 0.032 seconds from the CLX Motorsport entry of Ian Aguilera. Gregoire Saucy split the pair from the rest in the United Autosports car, with Reshad De Gerus's Inter Europol Competition machine covering the top four inside a tenth.

Image - ELMS

Sunday's race did not go to plan in a straight line. A string of safety cars and virtual safety car periods, triggered by offs at Villeneuve, Tamburello and Turn 2 among others, kept the order shuffling for much of the four hours. Louis Rousset led away from second on the grid, only for Adrien Closmenil's CLX Motorsport Oreca to nose ahead on lap eight, before a drive-through penalty for a start infringement handed the lead back to Griffin Peebles and United Autosports. It was Forestier Racing by Panis who found the answer in the end. A better final round of stops put Masson out in clean air, and by the flag he had pulled out well over 50 seconds on Ben Hanley to seal a second win of the season for the team.

LMP2: Masson Delivers on Pole

Behind the overall winner, United Autosports salvaged plenty from a difficult afternoon. Saucy held the lead through the middle safety car restarts and traded places with Oliver Gray for several laps before the final stops swung it Forestier Racing's way, and Hanley brought the car home second to keep the team at the head of the championship. Jake Hughes, on just his third weekend in prototype racing, completed the podium alongside Tristan Vautier and Matthias Kaiser in the Algarve Pro Racing Oreca, closing to within a couple of seconds of second place before the chequered flag.

LMP2 Pro/Am: Vector Sport's Long-Awaited Breakthrough

Giorgio Roda had taken a nerveless pole in changeable conditions, edging Jean Glorieux's DKR Engineering Oreca by seven thousandths after the lead changed hands several times in the closing minutes, with Steven Thomas completing a top three covered by less than six hundredths. None of that pace translated into raceday reward for Duqueine Team, though, and it was Vector Sport who made the afternoon count. Lorenzo Fluxa crossed the line just 4.1 seconds clear of Malthe Jakobsen's Algarve Pro Racing crew to give the British team its first ever ELMS class victory, with Jens Reno Moller and Cem Bolukbasi sharing the winning car. Oliver Jarvis, Marino Sato and Daniel Schneider rounded out the podium for United Autosports.

LMP3: Iglesias Wins on His Series Debut

Louis Iglesias could not have asked for a better introduction to the European Le Mans Series. Pole came by way of a three-cornered fight with Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Wyatt Brichacek that swung several times in the final minutes, Iglesias eventually taking it by 0.232 seconds. R-ace GP looked set to convert the pace shown all weekend into victory, Provost leading for long periods after the CLX Motorsport crew chose to take both of their longer stops together during an early safety car, but contact with the IDEC Sport car damaged the Duqueine's rear and forced it into the pits for repairs. That left Iglesias to cycle back into the lead, and he crossed the line around 30 seconds clear alongside Paul Lanchere and Alexander Jacoby. Rinaldi Racing and Team Virage completed the podium.

LMGT3: TF Sport Defend Their Title on Independence Day

Blake McDonald took pole after a proper ding-dong with Clement Mateu's Racing Spirit of Leman Aston Martin, the pair swapping provisional pole in the closing minutes before McDonald edged it by just over a tenth. He led away in the Corvette Z06 LMGT3.R, and though the lead changed hands more than once through the pitstop cycles, Charlie Eastwood brought TF Sport home first at the end, 1.8 seconds clear of Maxime Martin's Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG after Martin had spent the closing stages leaning on the Corvette. Harry King, Huub van Eijndhoven and Martin Berry completed the podium for Proton Competition. The win, for an American car crewed in part by two American drivers, landed on the 250th anniversary of American independence.

Round four of the European Le Mans Series heads to Spa-Francorchamps on 23 August.

LMP2

Pos	Car/Team	Drivers	Gap
1	Forestier Racing by Panis	Esteban Masson / Louis Rousset / Oliver Gray	Winner
2	United Autosports	Ben Hanley / Gregoire Saucy / Griffin Peebles	+51.0s
3	Algarve Pro Racing	Jake Hughes / Tristan Vautier / Matthias Kaiser	+59.0s

LMP2 Pro/Am

Pos	Car/Team	Drivers	Gap
1	Vector Sport	Jens Reno Moller / Cem Bolukbasi / Lorenzo Fluxa	Winner
2	Algarve Pro Racing	Malthe Jakobsen / Michael Jensen / Enzo Trulli	+4.1s
3	United Autosports	Oliver Jarvis / Marino Sato / Daniel Schneider	+5.5s

LMP3

Pos	Car/Team	Drivers	Gap
1	CLX Motorsport	Louis Iglesias / Paul Lanchere / Alexander Jacoby	Winner
2	Rinaldi Racing	Alvise Rodella / Jose Fernandes Cautela / Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen	+29.3s
3	Team Virage	Daniel Nogales / Louis Stern / Matteo Quintarelli	+45.6s

LMGT3

Pos	Car/Team	Drivers	Gap
1	TF Sport	Blake McDonald / Charlie Eastwood / Alec Udell	Winner
2	Team Qatar by Iron Lynx	Maxime Martin / Abdulla Al-Khelaifi / Julian Hanses	+1.8s
3	Proton Competition	Harry King / Huub van Eijndhoven / Martin Berry	+20.0s