ELMS: Jamie Chadwick misses out on overall runner up for post-race penalty at 4H of Spa
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Jamie Chadwick returned to the European Le Mans Series with another remarkable run at the 4 Hours of Spa, the fourth round of her rookie campaign in LMP2 machinery, finishing second on track — before a post-race penalty dropped the #18 IDEC Sport Oreca out of the top ten.
Jamie Chadwick returned to the European Le Mans Series with another remarkable run at the 4 Hours of Spa, the fourth round of her rookie campaign in LMP2 machinery, finishing second on track — before a post-race penalty dropped the #18 IDEC Sport Oreca out of the top ten.
Chadwick, a three-time W Series champion and race winner in IndyNXT, immediately made headlines on her ELMS debut, securing back-to-back victories at the opening two rounds in Barcelona and Paul Ricard. She then battled for a front-running position on her Le Mans 24 Hours debut before the team was struck by a technical issue.
Consistently in podium contention, Chadwick and teammates Daniel Juncadella and Mathys Jaubert were again fighting at the front in Imola, but an unfortunate accident in changeable weather marked the team’s first setback of the ELMS season.
Aiming to bounce back at the round that marked the start of the second half of the campaign at the iconic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the Genesis Magma-supported squad immediately showed speed to battle at the front once again early in the weekend. Daniel Juncadella set a 2:01.543 in opening practice, placing the team second-fastest in LMP2 and third overall, just 0.060s off the class pace-setter.
The team was again in the top three in the second practice session. Chadwick continued to make good improvements, showing increasingly positive pace and further progress in FP2 as she grew more comfortable with the car.
As often at Spa, the weather played a role, with rain arriving on Saturday morning over the Ardennes. By the time of LMP2 qualifying, the rain had slightly eased but conditions still required wet tyres. The tricky conditions were confirmed when the InterEuropol Oreca went off at Turn 8 before rejoining.
Juncadella took on qualifying duties for the #18 IDEC Sport team. His first representative lap, a 2:17.9, placed the car seventh. He then improved to a 2:16.498, moving up to fourth with less than two minutes remaining. On his final attempt, with more rain beginning to fall, the IDEC Oreca had to straight-line Raidillon and abandon the lap.
Meanwhile, Reshad De Gerus spun the #30 Duqueine into the gravel, bringing out a local yellow. Matteo Cairoli’s strong final lap wasn’t enough for pole, which went to Nielsen Racing’s Ferdinand Habsburg. Charles Milesi and Théo Pourchaire improved to third and fourth, with Juncadella classified sixth in LMP2. The #18 IDEC Sport Oreca would therefore line up from the third row for Sunday’s 4 Hours of Spa.
Race day went underway in sunny conditions over Spa-Francorchamps; Jamie Chadwick took the start in the #18 IDEC Sport Oreca as in the previous rounds. At the green flag, the British driver made a great launch, jumping up to fifth at La Source.
In the opening laps, Chadwick held off Manuel Maldonado’s United Autosports Oreca and settled nicely into fifth overall. She ran consistent 2:03.8 lap times while fending off pressure from Jakub Smiechowski’s #43 Inter Europol Oreca, extending her margin from one to two seconds. It was a strong opening stint, as Chadwick began to chip away at the #25 Algarve Pro Oreca ahead.
Half an hour into the race, the #31 Racing Spirit of Léman LMP3 Ligier went off at Les Combes, triggering a frenzy of pit stops as teams anticipated a caution. Chadwick boxed just before the Virtual Safety Car was deployed, and then returned for a full service later.
The virtual safety car turned into a full safety car with a pass-around procedure, extending the neutralization to over 30 minutes. When the race finally went back to green, Chadwick was 10th in LMP2.
The action was however short-lived, as heavy accidents quickly followed: the #22 United Autosports Oreca hit the wall at Stavelot and the #27 Nielsen Racing Oreca crashed at Blanchimont, immediately bringing the safety car back out. Nearly an hour was spent under caution.
The restart came with 2h28m remaining, but almost immediately the #23 United Autosports McLaren went off, triggering another VSC and a fresh round of pit stops. Chadwick boxed again, ending her stint after around 30 minutes of racing. Despite the shortened run, her pace had been excellent, moving the car up to fifth before handing over to Daniel Juncadella.
At mid-race, Juncadella resumed the charge from sixth, closing on Lorenzo Fluxá’s Algarve Pro Oreca. With 1h51m to go, a Full Course Yellow was deployed for debris at the end of the Kemmel Straight. At the restart, Juncadella found himself in a tight gaggle at the Bus Stop chicane, holding off a late dive from Roy Nissany in the #30 Duqueine but he kept sixth with a determined defence.
With 90 minutes remaining, Juncadella was back up to fifth — the same position Chadwick had run earlier — and then set the car’s best time of 2:03.736. He soon climbed into fourth, passing Fluxá during the next cycle of LMP2 pit stops. Staying aboard for the next stint, Juncadella then elevated the IDEC Sport machine to third overall. A clash at the Bus Stop between the #75 Kessel Ferrari and the #60 Proton Porsche of Alessio Picariello brought out another FCY when the Porsche was left stranded.
Juncadella had just managed to pit, handing the car over to Mathys Jaubert from second overall.
Jaubert came under immediate pressure from Mathias Beche’s Pro-Am leading TDS Racing Oreca but defended hard, keeping second both overall and in class. Once settled, Jaubert began to chip away at Charles Milesi in the VDS Panis Racing Oreca ahead. From five seconds, the gap steadily fell to just over two with 40 minutes to go.
With 24 minutes left, another Full Course Yellow was deployed when the #17 CLX Motorsport LMP3 went off at Les Combes, which set up a sprint to the flag.
Jaubert had to pit for fuel with 14 minutes remaining, dropping to fourth, but as also others stopped he climbed back into second. The VDS Panis Oreca also pitted and rejoined 10 seconds ahead with eight minutes left on the clock. Jaubert was consistently quicker, taking nearly a second per lap out of the leader, but the deficit was too much to overcome in the closing laps.
At the chequered flag, VDS Panis Racing took victory, while IDEC Sport finished second on the road with Jaubert, Juncadella and Chadwick claiming another impressive overall podium after a strong showing from all three drivers.
However, post-race the #18 IDEC Sport Oreca was handed a three-minute penalty for entering pit lane after the FCY had been announced. The sanction dropped the team to P12 in LMP2, outside the points. It was a cruel end to an otherwise highly positive weekend.
Despite the setback, Chadwick and her teammates now sit third in the championship on 50 points — six behind the #43 Inter Europol Competition and 26 behind the leading #48 VDS Panis Racing. While their title ambitions took a hit, nothing is lost, and focus now shifts to the next round: the 4 Hours of Silverstone, returning to the ELMS calendar for the first time since 2019. Chadwick will be one of the few drivers on the grid with significant experience of the track, and she will aim to make that count as her impressive rookie LMP2 season continues.