24 August 2026 – The fourth round of the European Le Mans Series took place this weekend at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. After a slow start, the Vendée-based team’s #85 Duqueine D09 made a strong impression by securing its first pole position of the season. Although performance was more modest during the race, the Schwarze/Provost/Michal crew still managed to secure second place on the podium.
Free practice
On Friday, the #85 car, driven by Hugo Schwarze, Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Fabien Michal, finished 5th in Free Practice 1. In the afternoon, Fabien Michal finished in the same position in the bronze practice session.
On Saturday morning, the team reached a milestone in Free Practice 2: the #85 car took first place, setting the fastest time of the session at 2:16.540.
Qualifying
Later in the day, it was time for qualifying. After two consecutive second-place finishes in the previous rounds (Paul Ricard and Imola), Pierre-Alexandre Provost finally broke through. The Luxembourg driver secured his first ELMS pole position (and the team’s first), with a time of 2:12.186.
Race
On Sunday, Fabien Michal got off to an excellent start and held the lead throughout the race. The 4 Hours of Spa were marred by numerous incidents on the track, resulting in several safety car deployments. Around thirty minutes after the start, however, the #85 car dropped back to second place.
Shortly before the halfway point, Fabien Michal stepped up the pace and retook the lead. Twenty minutes later, he pitted to hand over the wheel to Pierre-Alexandre Provost. The driver then moved back up to 3rd place.
Hugo Schwarze took over for the final hour of the race. With a quarter of an hour to go before the chequered flag, the #85 car dropped back to 4th place. But there was no way the German was going to let the podium slip away: he pulled off a daring overtake and crossed the finish line in third place.
Later, the disqualification of a rival ultimately allowed the #85 to move up to second place in the final standings.
The gap in the championship is narrowing
“This week hasn’t been easy as we’ve been fumbling around with the car’s set-up. The race was tough and we weren’t performing at our usual level, but the team still put in a brilliant performance. We did and optimised everything we could, and that’s always very important in this type of race. We’re 15 points behind the championship leader, so we’ll keep fighting!” Fabien Lavergne, Team Manager.
Currently second in the title race, this new podium finish brings the #85 car closer to the leader. Everything is still to play for ahead of Silverstone and Portimão!
See you in two weeks’ time for the fifth round of the championship in Great Britain.
To rewatch the 4 Hours of Spa, click here.
Photo credit: Jules Beaumont