Jamie Chadwick to make ELMS debut in IDEC Sport LMP2 entry

IndyNXT race winner and three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick will make her European Le Mans Series debut in 2025 with IDEC Sport in the #18 LMP2 Oreca.

Photo credits: Penske Entertainment / Chris Owens

IndyNXT race winner and three-time W Series champion Jamie Chadwick is set to make her European Le Mans Series debut in 2025, as she joins IDEC Sport in the #18 Oreca-Gibson in the LMP2 class.

It will be Chadwick's first season at the wheel of the LMP2 machine, which has proven to be an outstanding platform for young drivers with single seater experience making the move to sportscars.

Chadwick, 26, raced full time in IndyNXT in the last two seasons, collecting a victory, a pole position, two podiums and 7 top-ten finishes in IndyCar's main stepping stone. In her second year Stateside, the British driver was consistently a front-runner and showed great progress on both road courses as well as ovals, remaining in contention for a top five in the championship standings until the final round.

At the end of September, she took part in her first IndyCar test with Andretti Global at Barber Motorsports Park.

Whether it is not clear if the ELMS campaign will be her only racing program in 2025, the move to LMP2 is a significant step in her career, which could represent a springboard to the top echelons of endurance racing.

Chadick will pilot the #18 Oreca, with IDEC Sport running two cars in the top ELMS class for the first time. She is the only driver announced so far in the crew, with Paul Lafargue appearing in the #28 sister car for the 2019 champion team.

IDEC Sport was sixth in the 2024 LMP2 championship standings, with a podium and four top-5 results out of six rounds.

Sports car racing is however not a complete novelty for Chadwick, as one of her early career highlights featured a title in the British GT championship in the GT4 class, on her debut season. With Beechdean-AMR, she also took victory in the 2015 Silverstone 24 Hours, and later entered two editions of the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, winning one of the world's top endurance events of the year in the SP8T class in 2019.

The 2025 European Le Mans Series will feature a 6-event calendar, with the opening round scheduled at Circuit de Catalunya on 6th April. The 4H of Le Castellet will follow in May, before the 4H of Imola in July. Spa Francorchamps hosts the fourth round in August, while Chadwick will have the opportunity to race on home soil at Silverstone in September, as the British track makes its return on the calendar for the first time since 2019.

Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal, will host the season finale on 18th October.

There will be 21 entries in LMP2 and LMP2 ProAm combined, with 14 cars competing in the top class for professional drivers.

Four more female drivers have been announced in the LMGT3 class, with race-winning team Iron Dames lining up Michelle Gatting, Sarah Bovy and Célia Martin in the #85 Porsche, while FIA WEC and IMSA race winner Lilou Wadoux will get behind the wheel of the #50 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari 296.