ELMS: Doriane Pin emerges from the rain to bring Duqueine back in top-5 at Silverstone
Doriane Pin produced a remarkable recovery drive at Silverstone to finish fourth in LMP2 ProAm in the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series, securing a major haul of championship points after a stint in extremely challenging and changable conditions.
Doriane Pin, Giorgio Roda and Richard Verschoor produced a remarkable recovery drive at Silverstone to finish fourth in LMP2 ProAm in the penultimate round of the 2026 European Le Mans Series, salvaging a major haul of championship points after a difficult opening half of the race.
The #30 Duqueine Team Oreca had started third in class, but struggled for pace on the opening stint before a rapidly changing weather situation transformed the race into a battle of survival, with heavy rain where Doriane Pin played a key role in the recovery, bringing the car back from 11th and effectively a lap down to sixth before handing over to Verschoor, who then delivered a strong late-race charge to fourth, leaving the Duqueine crew just six points from the championship lead with one round remaining.
Silverstone had represented another important opportunity for Pin and Duqueine Team to continue their LMP2 ProAm championship charge after losing the points lead at Imola. Pin had begun the season strongly with consecutive class podiums at Barcelona and Paul Ricard and had also been one of the highlights of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where she challenged for the LMP2 victory before a late technical failure ended the team’s hopes.
A fifth-place finish at Spa-Francorchamps from class pole had restored some momentum, with Pin, Roda and Verschoor emerging as the highest-placed car on their particular pit-stop strategy, and the trio arrived at Silverstone knowing that another strong result could bring them back into title contention.
The weekend began positively for the Duqueine crew, with Pin setting the fastest time among the three drivers during the opening practice session. Her 1:46.692 put the #30 Oreca 10th in LMP2 ProAm. Roda then topped the Bronze-dedicated practice session on Friday afternoon, producing a 1:45.490 to finish more than eight tenths of a second clear of Steven Thomas in the #14 TDS Racing Oreca. The #30 remained competitive in Saturday morning’s final practice, where the car placed eighth in class with a 1:46.164.
Roda was again given qualifying duties for the LMP2 ProAm class, continuing what had been an impressive run of class pole positions for the Bronze-rated driver earlier in the season.
His first flying lap was deleted for track limits, but Roda quickly recovered and moved to the top of the classification with a 1:47.051. Georgios Kolovos immediately responded, however, edging ahead by just 0.015 seconds with six minutes remaining.
Roda found another improvement to set a 1:46.383, only for Kolovos to produce an exceptional lap that was around half a second quicker. PJ Hyett also entered the fight but could only reach third before Steven Thomas established a new benchmark of 1:45.611 in the #14 TDS Oreca.
Roda improved through the first sector on his final attempt, but could not find enough time to recover pole position. The #30 Duqueine therefore qualified third in LMP2 ProAm and would start the four-hour race from the second row of the class.
Rain overnight left the circuit very wet for Sunday’s race, and although the track had begun to dry, conditions remained extremely tricky when Roda took the start from third in ProAm. He made a good start and immediately gained a position, however Kolovos moved back ahead of him on the second lap, although Roda initially remained attached to the leading group. The top three ProAm cars began to pull away from Glorieux in fourth, but Roda soon found himself under increasing pressure from the DKR Engineering entry.
Glorieux completed the pass for third on lap nine, and Roda struggled to match the pace of the cars ahead, circulating in the 1:50s and gradually losing touch with the leading trio. The situation became more difficult when Chadwick also passed him, with PJ Hyett closing rapidly behind.
Roda had to negotiate increasingly heavy traffic while defending from Hyett, who came extremely close on Hangar Straight. Roda held on initially, but Hyett eventually completed the pass for fourth.
Roda continued until lap 21 before making the first pit stop from fifth in class. The stop was longer than normal as the team made adjustments to the car, dropping the #30 to ninth in ProAm. Roda resumed in 1:51s but gradually recovered his pace, improving to a 1:49.1 by lap 29 and moving back into eighth.
With two hours and 55 minutes remaining, Roda made his second stop after completing his driving time, bringing Pin into the car for the middle stint. Pin rejoined seventh in class and immediately began looking to recover further positions, but Enzo Trulli in the #20 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca was closing rapidly and eventually passed her to move the #30 Duqueine down to seventh. Pin attempted to respond at the end of Hangar Straight but had to back out of the move.
Rain was beginning to return to the circuit, and Pin subsequently lost out to Fuoco and Koen, dropping to ninth. The conditions were becoming increasingly unpredictable, with the Inter Europol Competition car of Nick Yelloly losing a wheel and limping back towards the pits before the first Full Course Yellow of the race was deployed.
The rain then intensified, forcing Pin back into the pits to switch to wet-weather tyres. She rejoined 11th in class as the rain became increasingly heavy.
The race became even more chaotic as the #29 Forestier Racing entry of Oliver Gray spun into the gravel, while a separate incident involving the #74 Ferrari saw the car spin before being collected, triggering the Virtual Safety Car. Pin remained 11th under caution before the pass-around procedure, leaving her 12th in ProAm.
With conditions extremely difficult, the pit window reopened on lap 51 and the entire LMP2 ProAm field came into the pits. Pin stopped again and rejoined 11th, importantly back on the lead lap, before moving to 10th as Fluxá made a further stop.
The race then went to a full Safety Car, setting up another restart with one hour and 51 minutes remaining. Conditions were now extremely wet, and the restart proved particularly difficult for the whole field. Pin initially dropped back to 11th, while spins and incidents continued to occur around her.
She nevertheless remained in control and kept her cool, as she began rebuilding her pace, circulating in the 2:06s before catching Marlon Hernandez. Pin completed the pass for 10th on lap 61 and moved to ninth when Jakobsen made a pit stop.
Pin then started a very competitive stint, finding more speed in the changing conditions and lowering her pace to a 2:03.2, as she began producing very competitive laps. Rain continued to intensify, however, with drivers across the field simply trying to keep their cars on the circuit.
Another Full Course Yellow was triggered when Rinicella eventually ended up in the gravel on lap 69. Pin continued to hold her position through the neutralisation and, as further cars came into the pits for their third round of stops, the #30 Team Duqueine was promoted all the way to sixth in class.
Another incident involving the #59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin at Stowe brought out another Full Course Yellow with one hour and nine minutes remaining. Pin was now directly behind Habsburg in the #47 CLX Motorsport Oreca, sitting on the car’s gearbox and preparing to fight for fifth as soon as racing resumed.
Just as the FCY was removed, however, the LMP2 ProAm leader Sami Meguetounif came to a stop before eventually restarting and rejoining the race. Pin brought the #30 Oreca into the pits from sixth, handing over to Richard Verschoor.
It had been an extremely difficult stint for the track conditions, but Pin had nevertheless achieved exactly what the team needed: she had recovered the car from deep in the ProAm order, survived the worst of the weather and traffic, and brought it back within reach of the top five.
Verschoor rejoined seventh in class, immediately finding himself under pressure from Charles Milesi in the #47 CLX Motorsport Oreca. The Frenchman stayed close, but Verschoor navigated the traffic effectively and soon moved into sixth. The Dutch driver was then attacked by Deletraz in the AO Racing Oreca, who completed an outside move at Stowe on lap 84 to take sixth. Verschoor dropped to seventh temporarily, but regained the position when Capietto made a pit stop.
Milesi was again closing, but Verschoor managed to stabilise the gap at around four seconds while continuing to make progress through the traffic. He then began gaining rapidly on Vaxiviere, who was engaged in his own battle with Deletraz.
The #30 Duqueine closed onto the fight for fifth and, on lap 96, Verschoor completed the pass on Vaxiviere in the #83 AF Corse Oreca. His pace was particularly impressive at this stage, gaining almost two seconds per lap and moving the Duqueine into fifth. The final pit-stop cycle approached and, with 15 minutes remaining, Deletraz, Aitken and Huffaker all came into the pits, promoting Verschoor to second place.
The #30 Team Duqueined Oreca still had one mandatory stop to complete, however, and Verschoor entered pit lane on lap 99 with 11 minutes remaining. He rejoined sixth, but another stop for Quinn a lap later immediately promoted him back to fifth. Vaxiviere then brought the #83 AF Corse Oreca into the pits on lap 101, lifting Verschoor into fourth with only eight minutes remaining.
The final phase became a tense defensive battle as Milesi and Aitken closed onto the rear of the Duqueine, both getting within one second by lap 102. Verschoor had to manage the pressure while negotiating traffic and maintaining control of a car that had already endured an extremely demanding race.
With three minutes remaining, Milesi remained attached to the rear of the #30 LMP2 car. Verschoor defended brilliantly through Copse despite the car becoming unsettled, keeping the CLX Oreca behind.
The pressure continued into the final lap, with Verschoor having to navigate heavy traffic while simultaneously defending his fourth position. He held on to the chequered flag, completing an impressive recovery to fourth in LMP2 ProAm.
The fourth-place finish was a particularly valuable result for Team Duqueine given the difficulties encountered during the opening stages of the race. Pin was forced to navigate increasingly treacherous conditions, multiple neutralisations and changing tyre strategies; her recovery was crucial in putting the team back into contention, while Verschoor’s late charge transformed what could have been a difficult points haul into a top-five finish. The result also marked the fourth time in five races that the #30 crew had finished inside the LMP2 ProAm top five.
After five rounds, Duqueine Team now sits fourth in the LMP2 ProAm standings with 61 points, tied with the third-placed team and only six points away from the championship lead. The title therefore remains within reach heading into the final round of the season.
The 2026 European Le Mans Series will conclude at Portimão on October 9-10, where Pin, Roda and Verschoor will have the opportunity to fight for the LMP2 ProAm championship.
