Heartbreak for Léna Bühler in Le Mans Cup second round in Le Castellet

After a podium finish at the Michelin Le Mans Cup opener in Barcelona, Léna Bühler and Zack Scoular were once again battling solidly in the top three and contending for the win in the second round at Le Castellet, before a late technical failure brought their winning ambitions to a halt in a heartbreaking finish for the #86 R-Ace GP duo.

Photo credits: Marcel Wulf | FocusPackMedia

After a podium finish at the Michelin Le Mans Cup opener in Barcelona, Léna Bühler and Zack Scoular were once again battling solidly in the top three and contending for the win in the second round at Le Castellet, before a late technical failure brought their winning ambitions to a halt in a heartbreaking finish for the #86 R-Ace GP duo.

In her second season in the Le Mans Cup and in prototype machinery, Bühler once again showcased strong pace and executed a superb opening stint, gaining positions to move from sixth into the podium places within the first hour of the race. It was another highly convincing performance from the Swiss racer, who transitioned from single-seaters to LMP3 competition in 2025.

Now visibly confident behind the wheel of the #86 R-Ace GP prototype, Bühler and new teammate Zack Scoular have emerged as one of the leading contenders in the LMP3 class following their third-place finish in Barcelona, and could have aimed even higher at Le Castellet before a rear wing failure ended their race prematurely.

From pre-event testing through Friday’s official sessions, Bühler and Scoular showed consistent pace, both drivers running closely matched lap times, a key strength of the pairing already evident in Barcelona. The duo remained around the top ten in all sessions, ultimately setting the ninth-fastest time in FP2.

Qualifying saw Zack Scoular take the wheel for the 15-minute session. The New Zealand's driver delivered a solid performance, posting a 1:59.453 lap to secure sixth on the grid, placing the #86 entry on the third row for Saturday afternoon’s race.

As in Barcelona, Bühler took the start and immediately made an impact. Launching cleanly from sixth on the grid, she kept a clean line through Turn 1 and capitalized on early opportunities to climb into fourth place, gaining ground straight away.

However, drama struck early at the Mistral chicane, where a major accident involving the #87 CLX Motorsport LMP3 car cutting across the runoff and colliding with the #21 BWT Mücke Motorsport entry, which brought out the Safety Car. Thankfully, both drivers emerged unhurt, but the race was neutralized.

At the restart, Bühler showed strong pace, immediately applying pressure to Maxwell Dodds in the #9 ANS Motorsport car. Soon after, the leading Brutal Fish Campos entry of Rogeon was handed a drive-through penalty for a start infringement. When the penalty was served, Bühler was promoted to third overall just 27 minutes into the race.

Settling into a consistent rhythm, Bühler ran competitive 2:01.8 lap times and set the best sector 2 during this phase. Behind her, Van der Snel overtook Maschio for fourth and quickly closed the gap to the Swiss driver. On lap 11, a slight lock-up at the final corner allowed Van der Snel to gain a better exit and complete the pass into Turn 1, dropping Bühler to fourth.

Undeterred, Bühler responded immediately, setting a new personal best of 2:01.651. As penalties were issued to both Pitamber and Van der Snel for moving under braking at the start, Bühler was effectively promoted to second place.

Despite some understeer, evidenced by a moment running wide on lap 18 that allowed Lucas Fluxa through, Bühler remained in the podium fight, regaining third as rivals served penalties. Maintaining a steady pace in the low 2:01s, she stayed within nine seconds of the race lead at the midpoint.

When Dodds pitted from the lead with damage requiring repairs to the car’s legality panel, Bühler moved up into second place. She extended her stint and pushed hard in the closing laps, improving her personal best to a 2:01.490 before pitting from second overall on lap 26, completing another exceptional opening stint, having climbed from sixth to second in the first hour.

Photo credits: @_the_fire_within__

Zack Scoular took over with 55 minutes remaining. A clean pit stop saw the #86 car rejoin in seventh, with several competitors yet to complete their stops. As the pit cycle unfolded, the two Brutal Fish Campos entries of Matus Ryba and August Raber emerged ahead, placing Scoular in third.

Quickly finding his rhythm, Scoular launched an attack on Raber. After positioning himself well through the final corner, he went side-by-side along the main straight and executed a decisive move into Turn 1 on lap 30 to take second place. At that stage, he trailed race leader Ryba by around five seconds.

As the tyres came up to temperature, Scoular demonstrated impressive pace, dipping under the 2:01 barrier for the first time with a 2:00.775 lap. He began to chip away at the gap, gaining up to two seconds on Ryba before the leader stabilized the margin at approximately four seconds.

At the same time, Scoular had to remain vigilant as Colin Queen in the #50 23Events Racing Ligier began to close in from behind, adding further pressure in a tightly contested race.

With the #86 entry in podium contention and still in the fight for victory, disaster struck on lap 43. While running on the Mistral Straight approaching the Nord chicane, Scoular suffered a rear wing failure - an issue that forced him to pit immediately.

The unscheduled stop proved devastating, dropping the car down the order to 18th in class after losing nearly three minutes. Although Scoular initially rejoined the race, the issue was not fully resolved, and the team was ultimately forced to retire the car on the following lap.

It was a heartbreaking end to what had been shaping up as another outstanding result for Bühler and Scoular, who had once again demonstrated race-winning pace throughout the race.

Despite the retirement, the #86 R-Ace GP duo leave Le Castellet fourth in the LMP3 championship standings with 15 points, still in contention heading into the most prestigious round of the season.

The next event will in fcact be the iconic Road to Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe on 11–12 June, where Bühler made history in 2025 by becoming the first woman to claim an outright victory in the series.