Racing Team Turkey, led by Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood, and Louis Deletraz, celebrated an outstanding victory in the 4 Hours of Barcelona, overcoming a black and orange flag in the final hour. The Pro-Am entered team displayed a thrilling performance in their Oreca 07 Gibson, securing the top spot with a strong comeback drive in the end.
Deletraz’s crucial pass with just 15 minutes remaining in the race on Duqueine Team’s Neel Jani ultimately led to their victory. The Swiss driver’s bold move up the inside of his compatriot at Turn 7 followed a late unplanned pitstop, showcasing the team’s determination and skill.
From a commanding lead to a late forced stop
The TF Sport-entered car looked set for a win in the opening round of the season, but with just half an hour left in the race, race control ordered the team to replace the car’s damaged tail section. This decision left the team puzzled and frustrated, as the damage had been caused by an earlier incident with Paul Di Resta under Full Course Yellow (FCY).
Yoluc’s consistent performance in the Pro-Am class, keeping the gap to the Pro entries limited, laid the groundwork for the team’s victory. Eastwood’s strategic moves during the race, picking off both Panis Racing’s Tijmen van der Helm and Cool Racing’s Reshad de Gerus, placed the team in a strong position for the overall win.
An intense battle for victory
With the overtake completed, Deletraz managed to stay ahead of Jani and took the checkered flag just 2.3 seconds ahead of the No. 30 Oreca. The top three were rounded out by the No. 83 AF Corse Oreca, with Ben Barnicoat driving a spirited final stint to secure second place in the LMP2 Pro/Am.
Despite the race director’s controversial decision to call in the Racing Team Turkey car for a rear-end change after their final scheduled stop, Deletraz displayed impressive pace and determination to secure the win. The team now looks forward to turning the page on the incident and continuing their strong performance in future races.
Victories in LMP3 and GTE categories
Elsewhere, Racing Spirit of Le Mans claimed the LMP3 honors after a hard-fought battle with Inter Europol and COOL Racing’s challengers. Antione Doquin secured the win for the team with a textbook defensive effort, holding off Marcos Siebert in the COOL Racing Ligier right up to the finish line.
In the GTE class, Proton Competition’s No. 16 Porsche 911 RSR 19, driven by Ryan Hardwick, Zach Robichon, and Alessio Picariello, took a commanding win over Formula Racing and the chasing pack. The trio led the majority of the race and crossed the line just ahead of Formula Racing’s Ferrari 488 GTE EVO.
Looking ahead to the next ELMS race
The European Le Mans Series will move on to Round 2, scheduled for July 16th at Paul Ricard, after the cancellation of next month’s 4 Hours of Imola. Racing Team Turkey will be looking to continue their winning momentum and further showcase their prowess in the upcoming races.
Full Results ELMS BARCELONA-CATALUNYA 2023
| POSITION | NUMBER | TEAM | DRIVER_1 | DRIVER_2 | DRIVER_3 | VEHICLE | CLASS | STATUS | LAPS | TOTAL_TIME | GAP_FIRST | GAP_PREVIOUS |
| 1 | 34 | Racing Team Turkey | Salih YOLUC | Charlie EASTWOOD | Louis DELETRAZ | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 140 | 4:01’14.646 | ||
| 2 | 30 | Duqueine Team | Nicolas PINO | René BINDER | Neel JANI | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 | Classified | 140 | 4:01’17.009 | 2.363 | 2.363 |
| 3 | 83 | AF Corse | François PERRODO | Matthieu VAXIVIERE | Ben BARNICOAT | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 140 | 4:01’27.641 | 12.995 | 10.632 |
| 4 | 37 | COOL Racing | Alexandre COIGNY | Malthe JAKOBSEN | Nicolas LAPIERRE | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 140 | 4:01’58.403 | 43.757 | 30.762 |
| 5 | 65 | Panis Racing | Job VAN UITERT | Manuel MALDONADO | Tijmen VAN DER HELM | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 | Classified | 140 | 4:02’01.023 | 46.377 | 2.620 |
| 6 | 28 | IDEC Sport | Paul LAFARGUE | Paul Loup CHATIN | Laurents HÖRR | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 | Classified | 140 | 4:02’20.259 | 1’05.613 | 19.236 |
| 7 | 47 | COOL Racing | Vladislav LOMKO | Reshad DE GERUS | Jose Maria LOPEZ | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 | Classified | 140 | 4:02’31.928 | 1’17.282 | 11.669 |
| 8 | 25 | Algarve Pro Racing | Kyffin SIMPSON | James ALLEN | Alexander LYNN | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 | Classified | 139 | 4:01’31.317 | 1 Laps | 1 Laps |
| 9 | 24 | Nielsen Racing | Rodrigo SALES | Ben HANLEY | Mathias BECHE | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 139 | 4:01’41.788 | 1 Laps | 10.471 |
| 10 | 22 | United Autosports USA | Marino SATO | Philip HANSON | Oliver JARVIS | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 | Classified | 139 | 4:01’55.802 | 1 Laps | 14.014 |
| 11 | 3 | DKR Engineering | Tom VAN ROMPUY | Sebastian ALVAREZ | Nathanael BERTHON | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 139 | 4:01’57.497 | 1 Laps | 1.695 |
| 12 | 99 | Proton Competition | Giorgio RODA | Jonas RIED | Gianmaria BRUNI | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 139 | 4:02’52.736 | 1 Laps | 55.239 |
| 13 | 81 | DragonSpeed USA | Henrik HEDMAN | Sebastian MONTOYA | Juan Pablo MONTOYA | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 138 | 4:01’35.210 | 2 Laps | 1 Laps |
| 14 | 20 | Algarve Pro Racing | Fred POORDAD | Tristan VAUTIER | Jack HAWKSWORTH | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 138 | 4:01’51.558 | 2 Laps | 16.348 |
| 15 | 19 | Team Virage | Dennis ANDERSEN | Ian RODRIGUEZ | Tatiana CALDERON | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 138 | 4:02’03.500 | 2 Laps | 11.942 |
| 16 | 21 | United Autosports USA | Daniel SCHNEIDER | Andrew MEYRICK | Nelson PIQUET Jr | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 137 | 4:02’12.715 | 3 Laps | 1 Laps |
| 17 | 23 | United Autosports USA | James MCGUIRE | Guy SMITH | Paul DI RESTA | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 Pro/Am | Classified | 137 | 4:02’34.776 | 3 Laps | 22.061 |
| 18 | 31 | Racing Spirit of Leman | Jacques WOLFF | Antoine DOQUIN | Fabien MICHAL | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 134 | 4:02’15.580 | 6 Laps | 3 Laps |
| 19 | 17 | COOL Racing | Adrien CHILA | Marcos SIEBERT | Alejandro GARCIA | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 134 | 4:02’15.980 | 6 Laps | 0.400 |
| 20 | 13 | Inter Europol Competition | Miguel CRISTÓVÃO | Kai ASKEY | Wyatt BRICHACEK | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 134 | 4:02’29.255 | 6 Laps | 13.275 |
| 21 | 11 | Eurointernational | Matthew Richard BELL | Adam ALI | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 133 | 4:01’53.635 | 7 Laps | 1 Laps | |
| 22 | 7 | Nielsen Racing | Anthony WELLS | Ryan HARPER-ELLAM | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 133 | 4:02’00.725 | 7 Laps | 7.090 | |
| 23 | 5 | RLR M Sport | James DAYSON | Valdemar ERIKSEN | Jack MANCHESTER | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 133 | 4:02’55.582 | 7 Laps | 54.857 |
| 24 | 35 | Ultimate | Eric TROUILLET | Matthieu LAHAYE | Jean-Baptiste LAHAYE | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 132 | 4:02’31.150 | 8 Laps | 1 Laps |
| 25 | 8 | Team Virage | Manuel ESPIRITO SANTO | Nick ADCOCK | Michael JENSEN | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 131 | 4:01’48.966 | 9 Laps | 1 Laps |
| 26 | 16 | Proton Competition | Ryan HARDWICK | Zacharie ROBICHON | Alessio PICARIELLO | Porsche 911 RSR – 19 | LMGTE | Classified | 131 | 4:01’56.011 | 9 Laps | 7.045 |
| 27 | 50 | Formula Racing | Johnny LAURSEN | Conrad LAURSEN | Mikkel MAC | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | LMGTE | Classified | 131 | 4:01’57.419 | 9 Laps | 1.408 |
| 28 | 66 | JMW Motorsport | Martin BERRY | Lorcan HANAFIN | Jon LANCASTER | Ferrari F488 GTE Evo | LMGTE | Classified | 130 | 4:01’54.240 | 10 Laps | 1 Laps |
| 29 | 60 | Iron Lynx | Claudio SCHIAVONI | Matteo CRESSONI | Matteo CAIROLI | Porsche 911 RSR – 19 | LMGTE | Classified | 130 | 4:02’02.679 | 10 Laps | 8.439 |
| 30 | 55 | Spirit of Race | Duncan CAMERON | David PEREL | Matthew GRIFFIN | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | LMGTE | Classified | 130 | 4:02’15.318 | 10 Laps | 12.639 |
| 31 | 51 | AF Corse | Kriton LENTOUDIS | Rui AGUAS | Ulysse DE PAUW | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | LMGTE | Classified | 130 | 4:02’39.700 | 10 Laps | 24.382 |
| 32 | 57 | Kessel Racing | Takeshi KIMURA | Gregory HUFFAKER II | Frederik SCHANDORFF | Ferrari 488 GTE Evo | LMGTE | Classified | 130 | 4:02’55.576 | 10 Laps | 15.876 |
| 33 | 93 | Proton Competition | Michael FASSBENDER | Martin RUMP | Richard LIETZ | Porsche 911 RSR – 19 | LMGTE | Classified | 128 | 4:01’16.542 | 12 Laps | 2 Laps |
| 34 | 95 | TF Sport | John HARTSHORNE | Ben TUCK | Jonathan ADAM | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE | Classified | 128 | 4:02’06.373 | 12 Laps | 49.831 |
| 35 | 15 | RLR M Sport | Horst FELBERMAYR | Gael JULIEN | Mateusz KAPRZYK | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 125 | 4:02’22.986 | 15 Laps | 3 Laps |
| 36 | 4 | DKR Engineering | Alexander BUKHANTSOV | James WINSLOW | Pedro PERINO | Duqueine M30 – D08 – Nissan | LMP3 | Classified | 113 | 4:02’51.956 | 27 Laps | 12 Laps |
| 37 | 10 | Eurointernational | Nick MOSS | Glenn VAN BERLO | Ligier JS P320 – Nissan | LMP3 | Not classified | 67 | 2:40’06.228 | 73 Laps | 46 Laps | |
| 38 | 43 | Inter Europol Competition | Rui ANDRADE | Olli CALDWELL | Jonathan ABERDEIN | Oreca 07 – Gibson | LMP2 | Not classified | 34 | 1:04’55.807 | 106 Laps | 33 Laps |
| 39 | 44 | GMB Motorsport | Jens MØLLER | Gustav BIRCH | Nicki THIIM | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE | Not classified | 1 | 2’41.824 | 139 Laps | 33 Laps |
| 40 | 12 | WTM by Rinaldi Racing | Torsten KRATZ | Leonard WEISS | Oscar TUNJO | Duqueine M30 – D08 – Nissan | LMP3 | Not classified | 0 | 140 Laps | 1 Laps | |
| 41 | 72 | TF Sport | Arnold ROBIN | Maxime ROBIN | Valentin HASSE-CLOT | Aston Martin Vantage AMR | LMGTE | Not classified | 0 | 140 Laps | ||
| 42 | 77 | Proton Competition | Christian RIED | Giammarco LEVORATO | Julien ANDLAUER | Porsche 911 RSR – 19 | LMGTE | Not classified | 0 | 140 Laps |