2018 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring

The 2018 4 Hours of Red Bull Ring was an endurance sportscar racing event held on 22 July 2018 at the Red Bull Ring. It was the third round of the 2018 European Le Mans Series, and the sixth running of the event as part of the European Le Mans Series.

The layout of the Red Bull Ring, where the race was held.

Background

The event was announced on 23 September 2017, with the Red Bull Ring round being a part of the calendar for the sixth consecutive time. This was the first race after a two-month hiatus for the ELMS season, with the last round having taken place at Monza, ten weeks prior.^[1]

Entry list

The entry list was revealed on 19 July 2018, and saw 42 entries: 18 in LMP2, 18 in LMP3, and 6 in LMGTE.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time (local: CEST)	Event
Friday, 20 July	13:00	Free Practice 1
	17:35	Bronze Driver Test
Saturday, 21 July	09:15	Free Practice 2
	13:40	Qualifying - LMGTE
	14:00	Qualifying - LMP3
	14:20	Qualifying - LMP2
Sunday, 22 July	12:00	Race
Source:[3]

Practice

There were two practice sessions held: one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday morning. Both session ran for 90 minutes.^[3]

Practice 1

The first practice session was held at 13:00 CEST on Friday. Paul-Loup Chatin ended up quickest in the No. 28 IDEC Sport Oreca, with a lap time of 1:20.067. Norman Nato was second-quickest in the No. 24 Racing Engineering Oreca, only 0.003s off Chatin. Matthieu Vaxivière finished third in the No. 33 TDS Racing Oreca.^[4] LMP3 was topped by Matthieu Lahaye in the No. 17 Ultimate Norma, lapping the circuit in 1 minute, 26.927 seconds. He was 0.018s quicker than second-placed Matt Bell in the No. 3 United Autosports Ligier.^[4] GTE was topped by Miguel Molina in the No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari, with a lap of 1:28.829, 0.570s quicker than the second-placed No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche.^[4]

Class	No.	Entrant	Driver	Time
LMP2	28	IDEC Sport	Paul-Loup Chatin	1:20.067
LMP3	17	Ultimate	Matthieu Lahaye	1:26.927
LMGTE	66	JMW Motorsport	Miguel Molina	1:28.829
Source:[5][6]

• Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.

Final practice

The second and final practice session took place at 09:15 CEST on Saturday, and ended with Chatin and the No. 28 Oreca topping the time sheets in a largely wet practice session. He lapped the circuit in 1 minute, 19.616 seconds. He was 0.134s quicker than Andrea Pizzitola in the No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca, with Nato third-quickest.^[7] Job van Uitert was quickest in LMP3 in the No. 15 RLR MSport Ligier: 1:27.176. David Droux was second-quickest in LMP3, 0.604s slower than Van Uitert.^[7] GTE was topped by Matt Griffin in the No. 55 Spirit of Race Ferrari, with a lap of 1:29.845. Dennis Olsen was second-quickest in the No. 77 Proton Competition Porsche, lapping 0.177s slower than Griffin, with Fabio Babini completing the top three in the No. 80 Ebimotors Porsche.^[7]

Class	No.	Entrant	Driver	Time
LMP2	28	IDEC Sport	Paul-Loup Chatin	1:19.616
LMP3	15	RLR MSport	Job van Uitert	1:27.176
LMGTE	55	Spirit of Race	Matt Griffin	1:29.845
Source:[8][9]

• Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.

Qualifying

Qualifying started at 13:40 CEST on Saturday, and was split into three sessions: one for LMGTE, one for LMP3, and one for LMP2. Each session lasted fifteen minutes. Paul-Loup Chatin continued his strong practice pace and claimed overall pole position in his No. 28 Oreca. He shared the front row with Nico Jamin in the No. 29 Duqueine Engineering Oreca, who was 0.019s slower than Chatin.^[10] The No. 9 AT Racing Ligier originally claimed pole position in the LMP3 class, but saw its fastest lap deleted after a track limits violation. This handed LMP3 pole position to the No. 17 Norma of Matthieu Lahaye, with a lap time of 1:26.519. The No. 19 MRacing - YMR Norma of Lucas Legeret qualified second, 0.064s slower.^[11][10] Molina took pole in LMGTE in the No. 66 Ferrari, ahead of Matteo Cairoli in the No. 88 Porsche, with Andrea Bertolini in the No. 83 Krohn Racing Ferrari in third.^[11]

Qualifying results

Pole position winners in each class are in bold.

Pos	Class	No.	Team	Time	Gap	Grid
1	LMP2	28	IDEC Sport	1:19.246	–	1
2	LMP2	29	Duqueine Engineering	1:19.265	+0.019	2
3	LMP2	24	Racing Engineering	1:19.387	+0.141	3
4	LMP2	21	DragonSpeed	1:19.423	+0.177	4
5	LMP2	26	G-Drive Racing	1:19.562	+0.316	5
6	LMP2	33	TDS Racing	1:19.743	+0.497	6
7	LMP2	22	United Autosports	1:19.950	+0.704	7
8	LMP2	40	G-Drive Racing	1:19.959	+0.713	8
9	LMP2	39	Graff	1:20.179	+0.933	9
10	LMP2	47	Cetilar Villorba Corse	1:20.234	+0.988	10
11	LMP2	35	SMP Racing	1:20.351	+1.105	11
12	LMP2	32	United Autosports	1:20.383	+1.137	12
13	LMP2	49	High Class Racing	1:20.609	+1.363	13
14	LMP2	31	APR – Rebellion Racing	1:20.622	+1.376	14
15	LMP2	23	Panis Barthez Competition	1:21.091	+1.845	15
16	LMP2	30	AVF by Adrián Vallés	1:21.362	+2.116	16
17	LMP2	25	Algarve Pro Racing	1:23.522	+4.276	17
18	LMP2	27	IDEC Sport	1:23.695	+4.449	18
19	LMP3	17	Ultimate	1:26.519	+7.273	19
20	LMP3	19	MRacing – YMR	1:26.583	+7.337	20
21	LMP3	15	RLR MSport	1:26.703	+7.457	21
22	LMP3	4	Cool Racing	1:26.751	+7.505	22
23	LMP3	8	DKR Engineering	1:26.917	+7.671	23
24	LMP3	9	AT Racing	1:26.960	+7.714	24
25	LMP3	10	Oregon Team	1:27.008	+7.762	25
26	LMP3	2	United Autosports	1:27.032	+7.786	26
27	LMP3	7	Écurie Écosse/Nielsen	1:27.192	+7.946	27
28	LMP3	3	United Autosports	1:27.354	+8.108	28
29	LMP3	11	EuroInternational	1:27.365	+8.119	29
30	LMP3	13	Inter Europol Competition	1:27.486	+8.240	30
31	LMP3	5	NEFIS by Speed Factory	1:27.654	+8.408	31
32	LMP3	18	MRacing – YMR	1:27.890	+8.644	32
33	LMP3	6	360 Racing	1:28.133	+8.887	33
34	LMP3	16	BHK Motorsport	1:28.368	+9.122	34
35	LMGTE	66	JMW Motorsport	1:28.827	+9.581	35
36	LMP3	12	EuroInternational	1:28.893	+9.647	36
37	LMGTE	88	Proton Competition	1:28.925	+9.679	37
38	LMGTE	83	Krohn Racing	1:28.967	+9.721	38
39	LMGTE	55	Spirit of Race	1:29.190	+9.944	39
40	LMGTE	77	Proton Competition	1:29.259	+10.013	40
41	LMGTE	80	Ebimotors	1:29.366	+10.120	41
42	LMP3	14	Inter Europol Competition	No time	–	42
Source:[12][13]

Race

Class winners are in bold and ‡.

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps	Time/Retired
					Engine
1	LMP2	26	G-Drive Racing	Andrea Pizzitola Roman Rusinov Jean-Éric Vergne	Oreca 07	D	160	4:00:14.242‡
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
2	LMP2	24	Racing Engineering	Norman Nato Paul Petit Olivier Pla	Oreca 07	D	160	+20.126
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
3	LMP2	22	United Autosports	Filipe Albuquerque Phil Hanson	Ligier JS P217	D	160	+54.166
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
4	LMP2	28	IDEC Sport	Paul-Loup Chatin Paul Lafargue Memo Rojas	Oreca 07	M	160	+56.087
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
5	LMP2	21	DragonSpeed	Ben Hanley Henrik Hedman Nicolas Lapierre	Oreca 07	M	159	+1 Lap
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
6	LMP2	31	APR – Rebellion Racing	Ryan Cullen Gustavo Menezes Harrison Newey	Oreca 07	D	159	+1 Lap
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
7	LMP2	35	SMP Racing	Matevos Isaakyan Egor Orudzhev Viktor Shaytar	Dallara P217	D	159	+1 Lap
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
8	LMP2	39	Graff	Alexandre Cougnaud Tristan Gommendy Jonathan Hirschi	Oreca 07	D	159	+1 Lap
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
9	LMP2	33	TDS Racing	Loïc Duval François Perrodo Matthieu Vaxivière	Oreca 07	D	159	+1 Lap
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
10	LMP2	23	Panis Barthez Competition	Timothé Buret Julien Canal Will Stevens	Ligier JS P217	M	158	+2 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
11	LMP2	47	Cetilar Villorba Corse	Roberto Lacorte Felipe Nasr Giorgio Sernagiotto	Dallara P217	D	158	+2 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
12	LMP2	49	High Class Racing	Dennis Andersen Anders Fjordbach	Dallara P217	D	158	+2 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
13	LMP2	40	G-Drive Racing	James Allen José Gutiérrez	Oreca 07	D	158	+2 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
14	LMP2	30	AVF by Adrián Vallés	Henrique Chaves Konstatin Tereschenko	Dallara P217	D	158	+2 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
15	LMP2	32	United Autosports	Wayne Boyd Will Owen Hugo de Sadeleer	Ligier JS P217	D	157	+3 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
16	LMP2	27	IDEC Sport	Patrice Lafargue Erik Maris	Ligier JS P217	M	154	+6 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
17	LMP2	25	Algarve Pro Racing	Ate De Jong Tacksung Kim Mark Patterson	Ligier JS P217	D	152	+8 Laps
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
18	LMP3	15	RLR MSport	John Farano Robert Garofall Job van Uitert	Ligier JS P3	M	148	+12 Laps‡
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
19	LMP3	7	Écurie Écosse/Nielsen	Alex Kapadia Colin Noble Christian Stubbe Olsen	Ligier JS P3	M	148	+12 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
20	LMP3	13	Inter Europol Competition	Martin Hippe Jakub Śmiechowski	Ligier JS P3	M	148	+12 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
21	LMP3	17	Ultimate	François Heriau Matthieu Lahaye Jean-Baptiste Lahaye	Norma M30	M	148	+12 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
22	LMP3	9	AT Racing	Mikkel Jensen Alexander Talkanitsa Alexander Talkanitsa Jr.	Ligier JS P3	M	147	+13 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
23	LMP3	5	NEFIS by Speed Factory	Timur Boguslavskiy Aleksey Chuklin Daniil Pronenko	Ligier JS P3	M	147	+13 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
24	LMGTE	88	Proton Competition	Matteo Cairoli Gianluca Roda Giorgio Roda	Porsche 911 RSR	D	147	+13 Laps‡
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
25	LMP3	11	EuroInternational	Kay van Berlo Giorgio Mondini	Ligier JS P3	M	147	+13 Laps[N 1]
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
26	LMP3	6	360 Racing	Ross Kaiser Terrence Woodward	Ligier JS P3	M	146	+14 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
27	LMGTE	55	Spirit of Race	Duncan Cameron Matt Griffin Aaron Scott	Ferrari 488 GTE	D	146	+14 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
28	LMP3	18	MRacing – YMR	Natan Bihel Laurent Millara	Ligier JS P3	M	146	+14 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
29	LMP3	4	Cool Racing	Iradj Alexander Antonin Borga Alexandre Coigny	Ligier JS P3	M	146	+14 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
30	LMGTE	80	Ebimotors	Fabio Babini Bret Curtis Riccardo Pera	Porsche 911 RSR	D	146	+14 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
31	LMGTE	77	Proton Competition	Marvin Dienst Dennis Olsen Christian Ried	Porsche 911 RSR	D	145	+15 Laps
					Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
32	LMP3	14	Inter Europol Competition	Guglielmo Belotti Luca Demarchi Paul Scheuschner	Ligier JS P3	M	145	+15 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
33	LMP3	3	United Autosports	Matt Bell Garett Grist Anthony Wells	Ligier JS P3	M	145	+15 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
34	LMP3	12	EuroInternational	James Dayson Andrea Dromedari Maxwell Hanratty	Ligier JS P3	M	144	+16 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
35	LMGTE	83	Krohn Racing	Andrea Bertolini Niclas Jönsson Tracy Krohn	Ferrari 488 GTE	D	143	+17 Laps
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
36	LMP3	8	DKR Engineering	Henning Enqvist Fabien Lavergne Ricardo Sanchez	Norma M30	M	142	+18 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
37	LMP3	16	BHK Motorsport	Jacopo Baratto Francesco Dracone	Ligier JS P3	M	139	+21 Laps[N 2]
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
38	LMP3	10	Oregon Team	Clément Mateu Andrés Méndez Riccardo Ponzio	Norma M30	M	132	+28 Laps
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
39	LMP3	19	MRacing – YMR	David Droux Alain Ferté Lucas Légéret	Norma M30	M	112	Not classified
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
40	LMP3	2	United Autosports	John Falb Sean Rayhall	Ligier JS P3	M	70	Not classified
					Nissan VK50VE 5.0 L V8
41	LMGTE	66	JMW Motorsport	Liam Griffin Alex MacDowall Miguel Molina	Ferrari 488 GTE	D	43	Not classified
					Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8
42	LMP2	29	Duqueine Engineering	Nico Jamin Nelson Panciatici Pierre Ragues	Oreca 07	M	160	Disqualified[N 3]
					Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8
Source:[17]

Notes

1. The No. 11 EuroInternational Ligier received a drive-through during the race. Since they did not complete the drive-through, it was converted into a 25-second penalty. The car dropped from 24th to 25th overall.^[14]
2. The No. 16 BHK Motorsport Ligier received a 2-lap penalty for not completing the minimum drive time with their bronze-rated driver Jacopo Baratto.^[15]
3. The No. 29 Duqueine Engineering Oreca was disqualified from the race using a different fuel than the fuel that was indicated by the organiser. The car originally finished second overall.^[16]