Lilou Wadoux kicks off GT World Challenge Europe season just outside the Pro class top ten at Le Castellet

Lilou Wadoux endured a demanding but ultimately encouraging start to her 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup campaign, finishing 12th in the Pro class at the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard alongside teammates Arthur Leclerc and Sean Gelael.

Photo credits: JEP

Lilou Wadoux endured a demanding but ultimately encouraging start to her 2026 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup campaign, finishing 12th in the Pro class at the 6 Hours of Paul Ricard alongside teammates Arthur Leclerc and Sean Gelael.

In a race marked by so,me misfortunes, and an unfavourable BoP at a circuit not ideally suited to the Ferrari package, the #50 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 crew showed consistent pace throughout but were ultimately denied a top-ten finish in class.

Wadoux enters the 2026 season as one of Ferrari’s most trusted factory drivers, having built an impressive résumé across GT racing’s top categories. The Frenchwoman - Ferrari’s first-ever female GT factory driver - arrived at Paul Ricard fresh from victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the IMSA GTD class, adding to her 2025 IMSA Endurance Cup title and a title challenge in the European Le Mans Series.

Her 2026 programme expands further with a full-season Pro entry in GT World Challenge Europe Endurance, sharing the #50 AF Corse Ferrari with Arthur Leclerc and Sean Gelael. The Paul Ricard opener also represented a scheduling clash with ELMS, as Wadoux prioritized Ferrari’s Pro entry in GT World Challenge over the 4H of Barcelona.

Qualifying proved closely fought, with all three drivers contributing to the combined grid position. Wadoux took Q1 duties and posted a 1:54.370 to place ninth in the Pro class.

Leclerc followed in Q2 but had two laps deleted for track limits. On his final attempt, he salvaged a 1:54.108, placing the car 10th in class at that stage. Gelael completed the session in Q3 with a 1:54.09, an improvement that secured 12th overall in the combined classification in the 58-car field for the six-hour race.

Photo credits: JEP

Gelael took the start and immediately gained ground amid chaos before Turn 1, where a heavy crash involving the #555 McLaren and #10 Porsche scattered debris across the track and triggered an early Safety Car.

After a 15-minute neutralization, Gelael resumed running in the Pro top ten battle but was soon overtaken by Arjun Maini, dropping to 11th in class. He responded with competitive pace in the 1:56.6 range and stayed within striking distance.

As he fought the sister #51 Ferrari for a place in the top ten, the race took an unfortunate turn: Mari Boya attempted an optimistic move in the Comtoyou Aston Martin and made contact with Gelael, sending the #50 Ferrari into a spin.

Although Gelael was able to rejoin without major damage, the incident dropped the car to 24th overall and outside the immediate top-ten fight in Pro.

At the one-hour mark, Gelael pitted and handed over to Wadoux, who rejoined amid the pit cycle in 15th in class before climbing back to 12th as stops cycled through.

Wadoux quickly demonstrated strong pace, setting a 1:56.1, then the car’s fastest lap, and matching the speed of other Ferrari factory drivers despite difficult conditions. Running consistently in the mid-1:56s, she began to close on the pack ahead.

Locked in battles with the #59 Garage 59 McLaren of Joseph Loake and the #998 BMW driven by Tim Tramnitz, Wadoux spent much of her stint navigating traffic while maintaining competitive lap times.

She applied sustained pressure on Oliver Soderstrom in the Comtoyou Aston Martin, eventually making progress and gaining positions overall, while also overtaking Cordeel to move back into contention around the edge of the top ten.

As dusk fell over Circuit Paul Ricard, Wadoux’s charge was interrupted by another incident that left her facing the wrong direction. She was able to recover and continue, but the setback dropped her to 14th in Pro.

She pitted shortly after the two-hour mark but remained in the car, rejoining 15th in class. Once back in clear air, Wadoux again showed strong pace, lapping consistently in the low 1:56s and gradually recovering positions to run 13th in class.

By the halfway point of the race, she had brought the car back into the fight before handing over once more to Gelael.

Photo credits: JEP

Gelael’s second stint was characterized by good consistency, setting a personal best of 1:56.089 and steadily closing on the cars ahead, particularly two Silver Cup entries.

Leclerc took over for the final phase, rejoining 13th in Pro and immediately finding strong pace. He posted a 1:56.462 early in his stint before improving further, eventually setting the team’s fastest lap of the race with a 1:55.576 on lap 153.

As the final round of pit stops played out, Leclerc moved into 12th in Pro and back into the overall top 20.

A Full Course Yellow, followed by a Safety Car with 45 minutes remaining after the Ziggo Tempesta Porsche stopped on track, set up a final sprint to the finish.

At the restart with 26 minutes to go, Leclerc was just six seconds behind the Pro top ten, with two Silver Cup cars separating him from 11th place. Despite the close gaps, the closing stages stabilized, and no further positions changed among the leaders.

Leclerc ultimately brought the #50 Ferrari home in 12th in Pro class, a result that did not fully reflect the crew’s pace. While the result fell just short of a top-ten finish, Wadoux, Gelael and Leclerc all demonstrated closely matched and competitive pace throughout the race. The combination of early contact and challenging BoP ultimately limited their final result.

The next round of the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup takes place at Monza Endurance Cup Round on 29–31 May. Before that, however, Wadoux will return to action in European Le Mans Series for the 4 Hours of Le Castellet on 1–3 May, continuing a high-profile 2026 campaign across multiple top-tier championships.