May 4, 2026 – This weekend marked the second round of the European Le Mans Series at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet. Despite strong pace and solid qualifying performances, the race brought several challenges for the team, which was unable to convert the potential of the Duqueine D09 #85 into a victory.
Free Practice
On Friday morning, the #85 finished P9 in Free Practice 1. In the afternoon, Fabien Michal secured 4th place in the collective test session dedicated to bronze drivers. The following day, the Michal/Provost/Schwarze trio improved their pace and topped the Free Practice 2 timesheets with a best lap of 2:00.441.
Qualifying
Luxembourg driver Pierre-Alexandre Provost took the wheel of the #85 for qualifying and finished second in the session.
Race
The race got underway on Sunday at midday. Bronze driver Fabien Michal comfortably maintained second place at the start. Following contact between three competitors, the safety car was deployed for around twenty minutes. At the restart, Fabien Michal was hit from behind but managed to stay on track. He temporarily dropped to third place before reclaiming his original position.
Shortly before the halfway point, Pierre-Alexandre Provost took over the #85 and completed an excellent stint, climbing from 7th to 3rd place. The safety car returned, and the #85 pitted for its final driver change, with Hugo Schwarze taking over from Pierre-Alexandre Provost.
The German driver took the race lead with 30 minutes remaining before the chequered flag. Unfortunately, a stop-and-go penalty ended the #85’s hopes of victory. Hugo Schwarze rejoined the race in P5 and managed to cross the finish line in fourth position.
Another penalty was applied after the race, ultimately dropping the #85 to sixth place in the final classification.
“A lot of frustration, once again… Several factors went against us during this race and, just like after Barcelona, we have regrets because we were the fastest car on track.” Fabien Lavergne, Team Manager.
“As a team, we win and lose together. Human error can happen, and we will all learn from this weekend to come back even stronger together. It was not our best weekend, but we did a very good job with the car’s performance. I’m very confident for the rest of the season.” Pierre-Alexandre Provost, Driver.
The next ELMS round will take place on July 3rd in Italy, at Imola!
To rewatch the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, click here.
Photo credit: Jules Beaumont