Second across the line at the 4 Hours of Silverstone, the #28 delivered IDEC SPORT’s best result of the 2026 ELMS season. A podium built through a race in which rain, strategy and the ability to adapt constantly reshuffled the order. For the #18, still firmly involved in the championship battle, the story proved far more complicated.
At Silverstone, you probably had to be ready for anything. But perhaps not quite this.
After a dry start to the weekend and an extremely close qualifying session, the 4 Hours of Silverstone took on a completely different complexion when the rain arrived.
On a constantly evolving track, every lap required the team to read the conditions, anticipate how they would change and make the right decisions at the right time.
In that context, the #28 of Paul Lafargue, Paul-Loup Chatin and Job van Uitert delivered one of its strongest races of the season.
The #28 in contention until the very end
Starting from seventh on the grid, the #28 gradually worked its way up the order.
Stint after stint, the three drivers remained in touch with the leaders. When the rain turned the strategies upside down, drivers, engineers and mechanics all had to adapt without losing sight of the race.
Stay calm. Make the right calls. Avoid mistakes.
Ultimately, that combination allowed IDEC SPORT to remain in contention all the way to the closing laps.
After four hours of racing, the #28 crossed the finish line second in LMP2, behind Algarve Pro Racing and ahead of United Autosports.
It was IDEC SPORT’s best result of the season so far in the European Le Mans Series.
For Paul-Loup Chatin, the second-place finish was also a reward for the team’s ability to stay composed when conditions became particularly difficult:
“We had to think, make decisions, take risks and, above all, avoid making mistakes. That is what we did, and it paid off in the end. When we manage to put together a mistake-free race, we are on the podium.”
A race that slipped away from the #18
On the other side of the IDEC SPORT garage, the four hours told a very different story.
Starting fifth on the grid, the #18 arrived at Silverstone with an additional objective: Jamie Chadwick, Laurents Hörr and Valerio Rinicella were third in the championship standings heading into this penultimate round.
But a contact at the start immediately complicated Jamie Chadwick’s race.
The British driver gradually fought her way back through the field before a puncture cost the crew valuable time.
Then came the rain.
When Valerio Rinicella took over, the young Italian was experiencing wet race conditions in an LMP2 car for the first time. In particularly challenging circumstances, an error further hampered the #18’s recovery.
Despite a promising weekend and a car that had shown strong pace since practice, the #18 eventually had to settle for 11th place.
A disappointment, but not the end of the story.
Two cars, one team
Silverstone also highlighted the value of running two cars in such a competitive championship.
When one car endures a difficult race, the other can still convert the work of the entire team into a result.
For Nicolas Minassian, IDEC SPORT Team Principal, that was one of the key takeaways from the British round:
“Today the #28 is on the podium while the #18 had a much more difficult race. But there aren’t two teams: the #18 and the #28 are one team, all together.”
Engineers, mechanics, drivers, strategy: in a race where conditions changed rapidly, the Silverstone result rewarded not only performance on track, but also the team’s collective ability to make decisions and adapt.
After the #18 put IDEC SPORT on the podium at Spa-Francorchamps, this time it was the #28’s turn to take the team onto the second step of the podium at Silverstone.
Everything will be decided at Portimão
Only one race now remains in the 2026 ELMS season.
Despite its difficult Sunday, the #18 remains firmly in the fight: IDEC SPORT now sits fourth in the Teams’ Championship with 52 points, while the #28 moves up to seventh with 35 points.
After Barcelona, Le Castellet, Imola, Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone, just one final destination remains for the entire team.
Portimão.
One last race. Four final hours.
And after this second place at Silverstone, the ambition remains unchanged: to finish the season as high as possible.
See you on 10 October for the final round of the 2026 European Le Mans Series.
