Three Spanish drivers have won their home race, with Miguel Molina winning the LMGTE class in 2021 with Iron Lynx, Lorenzo Fluxa won overall with COOL Racing in 2024, and Daniel Juncadella won the LMP2 class with IDEC Sport last year.
The first European Le Mans Series event held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was won by G-Drive Racing, with Roman Rusinov, Jean-Eric Vergne and Job van Uitert taking the overall LMP2 victory on the 21st July 2019. The LMP3 win went to Inter Europol Competition and Luzich Racing won the LMGTE category.
The was no race in Spain in 2020 due to the countries Covid-19 travel restrictions, the next 4 Hours of Barcelona was held on 18th April 2021, and it was also the first time that the season opener had been held in Barcelona.
The 2021 race was won by Robert Kubica, Yifei Ye and Louis Delétraz on their ELMS debut for Team WRT. COOL Racing won the LMP3 category and Iron Lynx the LMGTE win, with Miguel Molina starting the year off with a home victory on his way to the LMGTE championship title with teammates Matteo Cressoni and Rino Mastronardi.
The 2022 race moved in the ELMS calendar to August, with Prema Racing taking the win on the Italian team’s ELMS debut. Louis Delétraz took his second overall victory in a row alongside Ferdinand Habsburg and Lorenzo Columbo (pictured above). Inter Europol Competition won the LMP3 class for the second time, with Proton Competition taking the LMGTE win.
The 4 Hours of Barcelona became Round 1 in 2023, with the race held on the 23rd April. In a dramatic encounter the overall win went the LMP2 Pro/Am entered Racing Team Turkey Oreca, with Louis Delétraz taking three overall wins in a row alongside Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluc. The LMP2 win went to the Duqueine Team in second place overall, with COOL Racing and Proton Competition taking their respective class wins for the second time in Spain.
The 2024 race held on the 14th April saw COOL Racing claim their first overall race win and secure their third-class victory in Spain. Lorenzo Fluxa became the first Spanish driver to win the 4 Hours of Barcelona overall, standing on the top step alongside teammates Malthe Jakobsen and Ritomo Miyata AF Corse secured the LMP2 Pro/Am victory, with Team Virage and Formula Racing taking the LMP3 and LMGT3 wins respectively.
In 2025 the 4 Hours of Barcelona was held on Sunday 6th April and for the second time the race was won by an LMP2 Pro/Am car, with the no83 AF Corse of François Perrodo, Matthieu Vaxiviere and Alessio Rovera taking the overall victory (pictured above).
The second place no18 IDEC Sport was the LMP2 class winner, with Jamie Chadwick becoming the first female driver to take a win in the ELMS top class alongside teammates Daniel Juncadella and Mathys Jaubert (pictured below).
CLX Motorsport, the new name for COOL Racing in 2025, took the fourth class win in Spain for the Swiss team and the no85 Iron Dames Porsche 911 of Michelle Gatting, Celia Martin and Sarah Bovy took the victory in LMGT3. This meant, in another ELMS first, that across the four classes, four of the twelve drivers to stand on the top step of ELMS podium were female.
Since 2019, Ferrari has secured 13 podium finishes in the LMGTE / LMGT3 category, including wins in 2019, 2021 and 2024. Porsche has also won three times (2022, 2023 and 2025, with one further podium in 2021. The only other manufacturer to finish on the podium in Barcelona was Lamborghini after finishing third in 2024.
Ligier have taken a clean sweep of LMP3 victories in the previous six races in Barcelona, securing 16 of the 18 podium places, with a Norma finishing second in 2019 and a Duqueine in 2022.
4 Hours of Barcelona
The 2026 European Le Mans Series will begin on Monday 6 April with The Prologue, the two-day official pre-season test.
The 4 Hours of Barcelona weekend begins on Friday 10 April with Free Practice 1 and the 30-minute Bronze Driver Collective Test.
On Saturday 11 April will feature the second 90-minute Free Practice session followed by qualifying for the 4 Hours of Barcelona. The 4 Hours of Barcelona takes place on Sunday 12 April, with the race due to start at 12h00 and the chequered flag waved four hours later at 16h00.
Tickets are still available from only 8€. CLICK HERE to visit the event page on the official website of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
CLICK HERE to view the provisional timetable for the 4 Hours of Barcelona.
LIVE COVEREAGE ON FIAWEC+ APP
A proving ground for teams and drivers with Le Mans in their sights, the European Le Mans Series is live for free on FIAWEC+, the official home of ELMS coverage, with full race broadcasts, replays and highlights throughout the season. Stream every ELMS race for free with a FIAWEC+ account on https://plus.fiawec.com/en/european-le-mans-series
