Lilou Wadoux ends ELMS season as LMGT3 vice-champion
- RACERS
- 21 hours ago
- 5 min read
Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux concluded her 2025 European Le Mans Series campaign with a determined drive at the 4 Hours of Portimão, securing eighth place in the race and ultimately finishing vice-champion in the LMGT3 standings.
Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux concluded her 2025 European Le Mans Series campaign with a determined drive at the 4 Hours of Portimão, securing eighth place in the race and ultimately finishing vice-champion in the LMGT3 standings.
Alongside teammates Riccardo Agostini and Custodio Toledo, the Richard Mille AF Corse crew entered the season finale as championship leaders, but a heavy success ballast limited their outright pace throughout the weekend. Nevertheless, through an alternate strategy and Wadoux’s typically strong final stint, the trio ended their season second in the standings — wrapping up an impressive campaign that firmly established Wadoux as one of the top Ferrari GT3 drivers.
The Portimão finale came just a week after Wadoux had claimed a historic title on the other side of the Atlantic, winning the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup at the Motul Petit Le Mans and becoming the first woman since 2017 to win an IMSA title.
Returning to Europe, the French driver had one more goal — to try to add the ELMS LMGT3 crown to her list of achievements. Entering the final race leading the championship after a sensational win at Silverstone, Wadoux, Agostini and Toledo knew their biggest challenge would be the extra success ballast, which compromised the Ferrari’s speed and tyre wear from the first session onward.
Free Practice 1 saw Riccardo Agostini set the team’s benchmark with a 1:44.062, which placed the #50 Ferrari 12th in class, while Wadoux was only a few tenths behind in her runs. Custodio Toledo was then eighth fastest in the Bronze Test with a 1:45.087, showing good consistency. The team improved in FP2 as Wadoux set a 1:43.811, an encouraging step forward ahead of qualifying.
As per regulations, Toledo handled qualifying duties, putting in a strong lap of 1:44.558, which placed the #50 seventh on the LMGT3 grid, just one second off the pole position set by the #82 TF Sport Corvette that was also fighting for the title.
Toledo also started Saturday’s 4 Hours of Portimão from seventh in class, with Laursen being the only non-bronze driver to take the start in LMGT3. The American however endured a tricky opening phase, dropping to tenth in the opening laps before regaining one spot as he passed Kimura’s #57 Ferrari to run ninth.
By lap 4, Toledo continued in P9, but the Ferrari was struggling to match the leading group’s pace. On lap 9, a Full Course Yellow was deployed for debris on track; Toledo held ninth at the restart but soon came under pressure from Noble and Felbermayr. On lap 13, both got by, relegating the #50 Ferrari to P11, and three laps later Kimura also slipped past, leaving Toledo in 12th.
On lap 17, a Virtual Safety Car was called after Pedersen hit the wall. The Richard Mille AF Corse team pitted Toledo at the second opportunity under VSC, and kept him in the car. A Full Safety Car followed shortly after, neutralising the race once more. When the race resumed with 3h11m remaining, Toledo was in 13th, but crucially still on the lead lap. A few laps later, the Safety Car was redeployed due to Maldonado’s stranded car, meaning another restart with 2h59m to go.
As the race settled, Toledo began to recover ground. On lap 32, he moved up to 12th when Noble received a drive-through penalty for contact with Kimura. A further Virtual Safety Car followed soon after when Cullen spun into the gravel, prompting another round of pit stops.
The #50 Ferrari pitted again but kept Toledo in the cockpit, as his minimum stint time had still not been reached. Under the full Safety Car, the Richard Mille AF Corse crew maintained P12 but remained in contention.
At the restart with 2h24m remaining, Toledo delivered consistent times before handing the car over at the next stop: on lap 43, he came into the pits together with Felbermayr and Noble for a driver change. The team executed a clean and efficient stop, and Riccardo Agostini took over the wheel, rejoining in P9, having jumped both Felbermayr and Noble in the pits.
Immediately on his first flying lap, Agostini set the fastest lap of the race, showing flashes of pace. With Rueda behind serving a drive-through penalty for track limits, Agostini consolidated his position in ninth, though the Ferrari’s overall pace remained limited compared to its rivals.
By the halfway point, Agostini had climbed to eighth, benefiting from the Kessel Ferrari pit stop on lap 57. As most of the LMGT3 field began their scheduled stops around lap 61, the Richard Mille AF Corse team elected to stay out longer on an alternate strategy. This decision briefly paid off: when the Iron Dames pitted, Agostini inherited the class lead, holding an 11-second gap to Patterson’s United Autosports McLaren with 1h35m remaining. However, the advantage began to shrink as rivals on fresher tyres caught up. With 1h22m left, Agostini made his scheduled stop on lap 76, handing over to Lilou Wadoux for the final, crucial stint.
Wadoux joined the race in clear air and quickly settled into rhythm, delivering consistent and rapid laps. The Frenchwoman used the alternate strategy to climb back up the order as others stopped; she steadily closed in on Laursen and those ahead, running faster than several competitors on similar fuel loads. When the regular-strategy runners pitted, Wadoux cycled back to P1 with 50 minutes remaining, holding a 17-second lead over the next LMGT3 car — though she still owed one final stop.
The team brought her in with 40 minutes to go for fresh tyres and a short final stint. Wadoux rejoined in P12, and immediately began to fight her way forward. On lap 105, she moved up to 11th as Cressoni pitted. Two laps later, she gained another spot when Hart stopped on a similar strategy, and on lap 107, Rigon’s #51 AF Corse Ferrari served a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding, promoting Wadoux to P9. When Pera pitted on lap 108, Wadoux climbed into P8 with 20 minutes remaining.
From there, she maintained strong and consistent pace, running around 16 seconds behind Tuck’s Ferrari ahead while keeping a safe gap to those behind. In the final laps, title rivals Boyd and Eastwood were locked in their own battle for crucial championship points, while Wadoux focused on bringing the #50 Ferrari home cleanly. At the chequered flag, the Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari crossed the line in eighth place, concluding the 2025 ELMS season as LMGT3 vice-champions.
The #50 crew finished the season with 70 points, just eight behind the title-winning #82 TF Sport Corvette. Despite the challenges of the finale, the team’s year was marked by consistent front-running pace — including victories at Paul Ricard and Silverstone, a fifth place at Spa, and a competitive debut season for bronze-rated driver Toledo.
For Lilou Wadoux, the result concluded a phenomenal year on both sides of the Atlantic: two ELMS wins, a vice-championship in Europe, and an IMSA Endurance Cup title in the United States, in a campaign that further cemented her reputation as one of the most accomplished and versatile female drivers in endurance racing.
Additional reporting: Liam Redford
