Masson Denies Saucy Paul Ricard Pole

Defending European Le Mans Series champion Esteban Masson pipped Gregoire Saucy to claim pole position for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet after a tight qualifying session.

The TDS Racing-run Forestier Racing by Panis Oreca 07-Gibson emerged at the head of the LMP2 field at Circuit Paul Ricard, following a full course yellow interruption for a bollard on the course, with a best time of 1:48.679. It was the second ELMS pole of Masson’s career, after he previously topped the times at Silverstone last year.

But the Frenchman’s slower final tour left him vulnerable to the challenge of Saucy, who fell just 0.021 seconds shy of grabbing the top spot aboard his No. 22 United Autosports entry.

Saucy’s last-gasp effort pushed Barcelona pace-setter Reshad de Gerus to third in his No. 34 Inter Europol Competition Oreca, with Valerio Rinicella taking fourth in the No. 18 IDEC Sport machine.

Ex-Formula 1 driver Jack Doohan set the fifth-quickest time in the No. 24 Nielsen Racing Oreca, ahead of Tom Dillmann in the second Inter Europol entry which for a time was second-quickest.

Meanwhile Giorgio Roda survived a challenge from PJ Hyett to secure a second LMP2 Pro/Am class pole of the season aboard his Duqueine Oreca.

The Italian punched in a best time of 1:50.386, which put him 0.547 seconds clear of Hyett’s No. 99 AO by TF entry in which 2024 ELMS champion Jonny Edgar is replacing Louis Deletraz this weekend.

Roda controlled the session throughout, though Hyett had trimmed his advantage to just under two tenths before his final improvement.

Steven Thomas in the No. 14 TDS Racing Oreca was just 0.092 seconds shy of Hyett and the only other driver within a second of Roda’s pole time.

The American will be joined on row two by Jean Glorieux (DKR Engineering), who saw off the closely-matched John Falb (Rossa Racing by Virage) and CLX Motorsport’s Giorgios Kolovos in fifth and sixth.

DKR Engineering, Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Deliver Late Drama

Romain Favre and Abdulla Ali Al-Khelafi both produced late twists to secure class pole positions in the LMP3 and LMGT3 ranks, leaving it until the final lap of their respective sessions before unleashing their ultimate pace.

The lone Duqueine D09 Toyota of Pierre-Alexandre Provost (R-ace GP) had looked set to repeat his Barcelona pole for much of the LMP3 session, and improved on his benchmark effort once the clock had ticked down to zero.

But Provost’s time could not match Favre’s 1:58.784 lap in the DKR Engineering Ligier JS P325 Toyota, which put him 0.106 seconds clear of the field.

Henry Cubides Olarte also clocked a new personal best right at the end to go third in his Inter Europol Competition Ligier, sneaking ahead of M Racing’s Thomas Imbourg by 0.030 seconds.

Fellow Ligier runners Sebastian Gravlund (Ultimate) and Matteo Quintarelli (Team Virage) were also within a second of poleman Favre and will share the third row of the grid.

In LMGT3, Team Qatar by Iron Lynx driver Ali Al-Khelafi delivered a storming final lap to snatch pole from Blake McDonald by 0.071 seconds.

McDonald’s TF Sport Corvette Z06 GT3.R had paced the session with a benchmark time of 2:03.885, which looked to be enough for the American to record his first ELMS pole until Ali Al-Khelafi’s intervention.

The Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO denied McDonald with a 2:03.814 as Ali Al-Khelafi followed up his pole position from the Barcelona season-opener.

Duncan Cameron was the best of the rest in his No. 55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, securing third spot ahead of Matthew Kurzejewski’s Proton Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Racing Spirit of Le Man driver Clement Mateu made it five different manufacturers in the top five aboard his Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo, as a Turn 11 spin on his final flyer for Andrew Gilbert meant the Kessel Racing Ferrari driver was unable to improve on his sixth position.

The 4 Hours of Le Castellet, the second round of the European Le Mans Series, will commence on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. local time (6:00 a.m. EST).

RESULTS: Qualifying