The race got underway on time but a four-car incident at the first corner saw the Safety Car deployed before the first lap was completed. After the track was cleared racing resumed after just six minutes behind the Safety Car.
The no85 R-ace GP Duqueine of Danial Frost led the way at the restart ahead of his teammate Lena Bühler in the no86 Duqueine and the no19 Brutal Fish Campos Racing Ligier of Lucas Fluxa Cross. Alex Buhantsov was leading the LMP3 Pro/Am class in the no34 Inter Europol Competition Ligier and the no11 Code Racing Development Aston Martin of pole sitter Sebastian Moreno was leading GT3.
However, a second Safety Car was deployed after just six minutes of green flag running after a collision between the no51 AF Corse Ferrari and the no11 McLaren while battling for the lead and the no15 Vector Sport RLR and no87 CLX Motorsport collided at T5, with the no15 car becoming stuck in the gravel.
Again, the marshals worked quickly to get the track cleared and racing resumed after just 5 minutes behind the Safety Car. However, that wasn’t the end of it as 5 Minutes later the race was neutralised again with a Full Course Yellow, which quickly became a nother Safety Car when three cars went off track and got stuck in the gravel. This time it took 21-minutes to get the race back to green.
The no85 R-ace GP Duqueine was leading in LMP3 and the no34 Inter Europol Competition was leading in LMP3 Pro/Am. The GT3 class was now led by the no77 SMC Motorsport McLaren of Gonzalo De Andres Martin but was being challenged by the no88 AF Corse Ferrari of Rey Acosta III. Acosta made a move for the lead but was held off De Andres Martin, which allowed the no17 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Lorenzo Innocenti to close and pass Acosta.
The mandatory pitstops saw everyone pitting around the halfway point of the race and once everyone had served their stops, the no85 R-ace GP was still in the lead, now with Enzo Peugeot at the wheel, with the no86 R-ace GP Duqueine now with Zack Scoular in the cockpit. The LMP3 Pro/Am class was now led by the no62 Bretton Racing Ligier of Leo Sami Robinson, with the no34 Inter Europol Competition of Shawn Rashid now back in third behind the no71 Rinaldi Racing of Felipe Fernandez-Laser.
The GT3 field had also seen some changes, with the no17 Kessel Racing Ferrari of David Fumanelli now leading, with Valentin Hasse Clot closing up behind to challenge for the lead in the no10 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin, with Matteo Cressoni in the no54 Dinamic GT Porsche in third.
For several laps Hasse Clot tried to get past the lead Ferrari, while fending off the challenge of Cressoni’s Porsche, but a 10 second penalty for a Full Course Yellow infringement for the no17 Ferrari meant that Hasse Clot didn’t have to take any chances. However, that all change a lap later when the no10 Aston Martin was also given a 10 second penalty for a FCY infringement and that meant Hasse Clot had to get past the Ferrari and be 10 seconds ahead of the no54 Porsche to be sure of winning the race. The Aston Martin eventually got past the Ferrari into Turn 1 and Hasse Clot set off to try and open up a gap as Cressoni now had to battle to get past the no17 Ferrari.
Meanwhile at the front of the field Enzo Peugeot was pulling away from his teammate, opening up an 8 second gap as Scoular came under pressure from three cars behind. The no50 23Events Racing Ligier of American Colin Queen was on a charge, passing the no29 Forestier Racing by VPS Ligier of Luciano Morano and no19 Brutal Fish by Campos of Matus Ryba at the same corner to move up to third. Queen then set off to catch Scoular, which he did in the final minutes of the race.
The GT3 battle was hotting up with Hasse Clot managing to pull out the needed 10 second gap to the battling no17 Ferrari and no54 Porsche. Cressoni could not get past Fumanelli and at the last corner to two cars collided, with the Ferrari ending up in the gravel. The Porsche took the chequered flag in second but was given a post-race penalty of 30 seconds for causing the collision. Cressoni was still far enough ahead of the third placed no77 SMC Motorsport McLaren to still be classified in second place.
The no62 Bretton Racing Ligier took the chequered flag, with Robinson finishing just 3.2 seconds ahead of the charging no66 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen, with the no24 Racing Spirit of Léman of Oscar Kristensen coming home in third.
The overall victory went to the no85 R-ace GP Duqueine, with Enzo Peugeot crossing the line 8.4 seconds ahead of the no50 23Events Racing Ligier of Colin Queen, with Zack Scoular finishing third, three seconds further up the road.
Round 2 will be held in Le Castellet on Saturday 2nd May.
CLICK HERE for the result from Round 1 of the 2026 Michelin Le Mans Cup in Barcelona.
