The fourth round of the European Le Mans Series brought Matteo Cairoli his best result of the 2024 season. The 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps saw the Italian driver finish seventh overall, earning valuable points in the LMP2 championship. As always, Cairoli shared the cockpit of the Iron Lynx – Proton Oreca 07 with the German Jonas Ried and Frenchman Maceo Capietto. Free practice sessions confirmed the progress made by the #9 crew throughout the season, with Matteo finishing second in the final practice session.
In qualifying, it was Cairoli who once again took to the track, setting the eighth fastest time with a 2:02.216, less than a second off pole position. The 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps’ start was entrusted to Ried, who approached the opening laps cautiously. This caused the Iron Lynx car to lose a couple of positions but to avoid dangerous crashes that could have compromised the car. After a challenging double stint, in which the race was neutralized twice following incidents, Ried handed over to Matteo to try and recover the gap in the middle part of the race. The Italian got out of the pits in eleventh place and immediately showed a strong pace that allowed the #9 crew to climb up to fourth. Cairoli then handed the car over to Capietto for the final part of the race; the Frenchman was able to attack the teams ahead thanks to the excellent work done by his teammate. The Iron Lynx driver finished the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps in seventh place, the best result of the season in the series.
The next round of the European Le Mans Series will be held on Cairoli’s home soil, with the Mugello circuit set to host the penultimate round of the championship from September 28th to 29th.
Matteo Cairoli
“It wasn’t an easy weekend, but I’m happy to have achieved my best result of the season in the championship; I’ve always had a great feeling with the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, it’s a historic track and it’s always exciting to race here. I’m proud of the work the team has done this weekend and I want to thank both Iron Lynx and my teammates Jonas and Maceo for their commitment these days. We still have two races to face together and I’m really happy to be returning to Italy for the next round: it’s always great to race at home and I can’t wait to get on track at Mugello.”
