Unlucky ELMS season opener for Lilou Wadoux after front-running pace at Barcelona
- MIKA BÖCKER
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Lilou Wadoux made her European Le Mans Series debut in the LMGT3 class with Richard Mille AF Corse, with the team showcasing strong pace throughout the 4 Hours of Barcelona despite an ultimately frustrating result.
At the ELMS season opener, the front-running speed of the Richard Mille AF Corse drivers were no match for the bad luck that struck during the race: despite an outstanding performance throughout the event, their hard work unfortunately went unrewarded.
Lilou Wadoux made her European Le Mans Series debut in the LMGT3 class with Richard Mille AF Corse, showcasing strong pace throughout the 4 Hours of Barcelona despite an ultimately frustrating race. Teaming up with Riccardo Agostini and Custodio Toledo in the #50 Ferrari 296 GT3, Wadoux and her teammates were consistently among the frontrunners in practice and looked set for a strong result after qualifying fourth in class.
Despite an impressive start, an early drive-through penalty and subsequent setbacks dropped the team down the order. Nevertheless, Wadoux delivered an impressive middle stint and climbing to sixth before a series of safety car interruptions reshuffled the field.
Despite her young age, Wadoux is a highly experienced driver on the Ferrari platform; she is the first female Ferrari factory driver and the first woman to win a FIA WEC race. Having competed in a range of world-class sportscar championships, including WEC, IMSA—where she also claimed a race win in the LMP2 class—and Super GT, where she became the first woman in nearly three decades to stand on the podium, she tackled the season opener of the 2025 European Le Mans Series for her next challenge.
Following collective testing at the start of the week, the ELMS officially kicked off with the 4 Hours of Barcelona. Ferrari was well represented, with a potentially title-contending lineup that included Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux, Riccardo Agostini, and Custodio Toledo aboard the #50 296 GT3.
Their pace was evident from the start of the weekend, with the trio topping the timesheets in the first practice session, setting a 1:40.985 lap—nearly two tenths quicker than the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari.
Bronze-rated Custodio Toledo was then third fastest in the bronze-only practice, showing great potential for both qualifying and the race.
In the second practice session, the trio were again near the top, finishing just under a tenth behind the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari—demonstrating that all three drivers in the blue and white Ferrari had the speed to contend for LMGT3 victory.
In a close qualifying session, Toledo placed the #50 Ferrari in the top spots early on. By the end of the session, they secured fourth place in the LMGT3 class and 35th overall.
At the race start, Toledo made a strong getaway, immediately moving into third and pressuring the leading duo. However, with traffic intensifying, he had to fend off Kimura of Kessel Racing and eventually dropped back to fourth, where he settled after just over half an hour—still in a good position for a strong result.
But misfortune struck a few laps later: Toledo’s strong start was deemed a jump start, and he was handed a drive-through penalty. The team dropped to eighth and began the long fight back.
After an hour, the first pit stop was due. Despite a smooth stop, Toledo rejoined last in class—but quickly regained ground as other teams cycled through stops. A penalty for the #74 Ferrari further aided their recovery, moving them back into eighth.
Soon after, the #66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari got stranded in the Turn 3 gravel trap, triggering a Virtual Safety Car, followed by a full Safety Car period. Several teams pitted again, including Richard Mille AF Corse, who lost time in the pits and fell to ninth.
Upon the restart, Toledo quickly overtook the TF Sport Ferrari and the Proton Porsche, the latter just emerging from the pits. However, trapped behind the AF Corse Ferrari, they lost time and position to the Spirit of Race team. Once the AF Corse car was cleared, Toledo regained the spot.
Unfortunately, another setback followed: Toledo spun at Turn 12 and dropped to ninth. He later regained a place when the #74 was penalized again. During the next pit cycle, the team swapped to Lilou Wadoux, gaining further positions.
Wadoux immediately set the team’s fastest times and worked her way up to sixth, just behind the Spirit of Race team. Despite being held up in traffic and eventually passed by the recovering AF Corse Ferrari, she maintained her position in class.
Another Safety Car was deployed after the #12 WTM by Rinaldi LMP3 car spun into the gravel at the final corner. Richard Mille AF Corse took the opportunity to pit again, keeping Wadoux in the car. She rejoined in fifth, surrounded by prototypes.
On the restart, the #50 Ferrari was overtaken by AF Corse and Proton, with TF Sport passing a lap later. They held eighth place until the final pit stop. With Agostini now at the wheel, the next recovery began. A full course yellow with about 40 minutes to go slowed proceedings while the team sat in seventh.
When racing resumed, Agostini battled TF Sport for sixth—until another Virtual Safety Car was called due to two stranded prototypes. During that phase, unlike TF Sport, Richard Mille AF Corse chose not to pit and restarted in sixth. Agostini held this position to the end, but luck ran out once more: a VSC violation earlier in the race resulted in a 5-second time penalty.
With the field compressed from the final Safety Car, the penalty cost them positions, and they were ultimately classified ninth.
It was an unlucky race for Wadoux, Agostini, and Toledo—undone by penalties and Safety Car timing—but the team’s pace proved to be a promising sign for the upcoming rounds. The 4 Hours of Le Castellet, held on 2–4 May, offers another opportunity for Wadoux and her teammates to fight back.
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