The Number 77 Proton Competition Porsche had lead the majority of the the 4 hour race until the final 10 minutes of of the race, after the final splash and go pit stops the the Reigning Champions Iron Lynx were the first of the 12 LMGTE cars to cross the finish line with Davide Rigon in the number 60 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO fighting his way up the order to take the chequered flag at the home race for the all Italian team. However, the number 60 Ferrari stopped on track and was pushed to the pitlane by the number 83 Iron Dames Ferrari, which is a breach of Article 15.1.1 of the 2022 ELMS Sporting Regulations and Article 2.5 of the FIA International Sporting Code (ISC) and was disqualified promoting the Proton team from second to first.

The number 77 Proton Competition Porsche, which finished in second place with Lorenzo Ferrari taking the finish just 0.9 seconds behind the lead car, is now classified as the winner with the number 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari in second and the number 18 Absolute Racing Porsche in third.

The first Safety Car period was declared after 16 minutes of racing when the no55 Ferrari of Duncan Cameron and the no93 Porsche of Michael Fassbender made contact on the exit of Ascari, pushing the Porsche onto the kerbs.Fassbender’s Porsche lost grip and spun around hitting the barriers and spinning back across the track to collect the unlucky Memo Rojas in the no30 Duqueine Team Oreca and the no32 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari of Pierre Ehret.

All the drivers involved were all unharmed but the no93 Porsche and no30 Oreca were unable to continue.

After 15 minutes the stranded Porsche and resulting debris from the crash were removed from the track, and the barriers repaired to allow racing to resume.

Another Safety Car period was declared just 4 minutes after the green flags were waved when the no14 Inter Europol Competition Ligier of James Dayson hit the barriers on the run into T1 after contact with another LMP3 car.Dayson was OK, but his car was out of the race.

The race went green again 10 minutes later, The LMGTE field was still headed by the no83 Ferrari, with Sarah Bovy holding a gap to the no77 Porsche of Christian Ried and the no18 Absolute Racing Porsche of Andrew Haryanto.

As the first hour ended a third Safety Car period was declared after the no3 United Autosports Ligier of Jim McGuire went off at the exit of Ascari in almost the same place as Michael Fassbender. Luckily the accident didn’t involve any other cars and the American driver was unharmed in the incident.

After three laps behind the Safety Car the pitlane opened and many of the front runners came in for stops.

The race went back to green with the no19 Algarve Pro Racing Oreca of Bent Viscaal leading as the Dutch driver hadn’t stopped as he was on a different pitstop strategy.The no37 Oreca of Nico Lapierre was second, 20 seconds behind the leader, with the no28 IDEC Sport Oreca of Patrick Pilet in third.

Another incident at T1 involving the no7 Nielsen Racing Ligier of Tony Wells and the no17 Cool Racing Ligier of Michael Benham brought out the first and only Full Course Yellow of the race, which only lasted eight minutes while the cars were recovered by the quick working marshals.

After two hours of racing, In LMGTE the no77 Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni had gained the upper hand, with the Italian holding a 5 second advantage over Michelle Gatting in the no83 Ferrari

The Safety Car was deployed for a fourth time when the no4 DKR Engineering Duqueine of James Winslow went off into the gravel at T7.

The no77 Proton Competition Porsche was still leading with Lorenzo Ferrari ahead of Rahel Frey in the no83 Iron Lynx Ferrari, who had the no32 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari of Nicolas Varrone challenging her for second place.Varrone eventually got past the Swiss driver to move into second, but Frey returned the favour and challenged the Argentine at every turn.

Meanwhile Davide Rigon was closing on the battle for second place in the no60 Iron Lynx Ferrari and was joined by the no18 Absolute Racing Porsche and the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari.A five-way battle ensued that saw the no60 Ferrari leap up the order and into second spot ahead of the no18 Porsche of Martin Rump in third.

At the chequered flag the no60 Iron Lynx Ferrari was the first across the line, with Davide Rigon finishing 0.9 seconds ahead of Lorenzo Ferrari in the no77 Proton Competition Porsche.However, the no60 Ferrari stopped on track on its way back to the pits and was pushed to the pitlane by Rahel Frey in the no83 Ferrari, which had finished in 5th.This is not permitted under the regulations and was disqualified (Stewards Decision no25), This handed the victory to the no77 Proton Competition Porsche, with the no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari in second and the no18 Absolute Racing Porsche in third.Iron Lynx have appealed the stewards decision and the results remain provisional.

The next round of the 2022 European Le Mans Series will be the 4 Hours of Barcelona on Sunday 28 August.