Léna Bühler battles through chaotic stint at Spa, denied points in series of misfortunes
- RACERS
- Aug 24
- 5 min read
Léna Bühler endured a frustrating weekend in the fourth Michelin Le Mans Cup round, as the Swiss driver and R-Ace GP teammate Zack Scoular finished 14th in LMP3 at Spa-Francorchamps, with a series of misfortunes and repeated safety-car periods preventing the #86 Duqueine from converting promising pace into a points-scoring result.
Léna Bühler endured a frustrating weekend in the fourth Michelin Le Mans Cup round, as the Swiss driver and R-Ace GP teammate Zack Scoular finished 14th in LMP3 at Spa-Francorchamps, with a series of misfortunes and repeated safety-car periods preventing the #86 Duqueine from converting promising pace into a points-scoring result.
In her rookie season of prototype racing in 2025, Bühler emerged as one of the leading drivers in the LMP3 class after making the transition from single-seaters. The inaugural F1 Academy vice-champion then opened the 2026 campaign with a podium at Barcelona and was again fighting for victory at Le Castellet, where an outstanding opening stint put the #86 R-Ace GP car into contention before a late rear-wing failure ended the team's challenge. Their visit to the Road to Le Mans was even more difficult, with a wheel failure during qualifying compromising the weekend before the race itself. Spa therefore represented an important opportunity for Bühler and Scoular to recover momentum.
The weekend began positively, with the #86 showing competitive pace throughout practice. Bühler set the car's fastest time in the opening session, a 2:14.420, putting the R-Ace GP entry fifth among the LMP3 runners. Scoular was only marginally quicker in the second session, setting a 2:14.292 to place the car seventh, with Bühler again within two tenths of her teammate, underlining the consistency of the pair's pace.
Qualifying was held in particularly difficult conditions, with the track still wet but gradually drying throughout the session, creating a narrow window in which drivers had to balance the need for grip with an increasingly rapid circuit. Scoular took over qualifying duties for the R-Ace GP entry and initially recorded a 2:31.224, placing fifth overall as the field struggled for traction. As the track continued to improve, lap times fell dramatically, with Scoular lowering his benchmark to 2:28.373 and moving as high as third with four minutes remaining.
The rapidly evolving conditions ultimately made for hectic final moments however, and Scoular was unable to improve again before the chequered flag. The car therefore qualified 10th in LMP3.
The two-hour race began on Saturday afternoon with the track still damp, adding some more uncertainty to an already challenging Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Bühler took the wheel for the start, but the conditions were sufficiently tricky for a car further down to spin during the formation lap, forcing an additional lap before the race could finally get underway.
Starting from 10th, Bühler made a smart getaway from the outside line, successfully moving towards the inside through La Source while avoiding the opening-lap chaos. She initially slipped back to 12th but quickly recovered to ninth, demonstrating good judgement in conditions where several drivers were already struggling. A crash involving Cozzi's Ferrari then brought out the Safety Car almost immediately, neutralising the race and allowing Bühler to consolidate ninth place.
Racing resumed at the end of lap three, and Bühler produced another strong restart, moving up to eighth. She remained under pressure from Rabin, however, while another spin at Pouhon shortly afterwards triggered another period of neutralisation.
When the race returned to green approximately 30 minutes into the contest, Bühler remained closely connected to the cars ahead and continued to look competitive. She then benefited from another incident ahead when the #97 CLX Motorsport and #70 Team Virage cars made contact and went off, allowing her to move into seventh before the third neutralisation of the race.
The interruptions continued when the field returned to green on lap 11, but Bühler remained focused on the fight ahead, once again closing in on Rabin. Her progress was then compromised by contact at the Bus Stop chicane, where the #99 More Motorsport car hit the #86 and forced Bühler off the circuit. The two cars made contact again at the first corner, while Rabin subsequently spun at Raidillon, leaving Bühler caught in an increasingly chaotic battle.
With the race repeatedly interrupted and little opportunity to establish a consistent rhythm, Bühler nevertheless managed to maintain seventh place. She was also involved in a battle with Giovanni Maschio before another stranded car brought out a Full Course Yellow, and the team used the neutralisation to bring her into the pits with approximately one hour remaining.
The timing of the stop initially appeared to offer the possibility of gaining positions, as several of the leading LMP3 cars remained on track and opted to extend their stints. Scoular took over the #86 and initially emerged 10th, effectively fourth among the cars that had already completed their stops. However, another Safety Car period prevented the team from fully capitalising on the strategy, while the constantly changing race situation meant that the positions continued to fluctuate.
As more cars eventually completed their stops, Scoular was forced to pit again, dropping to 11th, while the team was also handed a 10-second penalty for a starting infringement. The race finally appeared to be settling down with 39 minutes remaining, and Scoular immediately began recovering positions, moving into 10th and then ninth after passing another rival.
The R-Ace GP driver was running strongly, recording a 2:14.5 lap and closing on Ried's High Class Racing car, but another battle saw Caranta regain the position and Scoular drop back to 10th. Once again, however, the race was neutralised when Karthikeyan went off into the gravel, further disrupting the team's attempt to recover.
The penalties accumulated during the chaotic first half of the race then became decisive. Scoular still had to serve a drive-through penalty relating to the earlier contact between Bühler and the #99 More Motorsport car, meaning that despite running competitively inside the top ten, the #86 could not maintain its position.
With 18 minutes remaining, the field finally returned to green and Scoular served the penalty on lap 29, dropping to 16th in LMP3. He immediately set about recovering ground, gaining one place before catching the #43 Inter Europol Competition car of Woolridge. Scoular successfully passed Woolridge for 14th and continued to show strong pace, also overtaking several GT3 cars as he attempted to minimise the damage.
There was ultimately too little time remaining to recover any further positions, however, and Scoular crossed the chequered flag in 14th place in LMP3, with the 10-second penalty subsequently applied to the result.
The final classification was particularly frustrating for Bühler and the R-Ace GP crew, who had shown sufficient pace to fight comfortably inside the top ten and had run as high as seventh during the opening stint. Instead, the #86 was caught up in a succession of incidents and neutralisations that repeatedly prevented the team from building momentum, while the contact and subsequent penalties effectively ended any possibility of recovering points.
After four rounds, Bühler and Scoular sit 11th in the championship standings on 15 points. With two rounds remaining, the focus now turns to another opportunity to recover at Silverstone on 12 September.
