The start of the 2025 European Le Mans Series season marked the return of Miguel Molina to the European scene. Although the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya result did not live up to expectations, the Ferrari factory driver took away many positives for the rest of his campaign with the #74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296 LMGT3. Next week, the Spaniard will return to the Ferrari 499P for round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Imola.
Miguel Molina delivered a solid performance on home soil despite several challenges in the 4 Hours of Barcelona. In the #74 Ferrari 296 LMGT3, the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans winner showed determination while helping his teammates find their feet in a series they are new to.
After completing 299 laps on Monday and Tuesday in the Prologue, the trio resumed their work on Friday with the first free practice and the Bronze drivers’ session. After Fran Rueda and Andrew Gilbert gained more and more experience while fine-tuning their set-up, the Catalan highlighted the team’s potential with the fastest time in the LMGT3 category during the final practice session on Saturday morning.
A few hours later, Andrew Gilbert set about qualifying. The Brit gradually picked up speed over the 15 minutes and placed himself among the frontrunners. However, his two final laps were deleted for not respecting the track limits, forcing him to settle for fifth place. His efforts nevertheless made the #74 the second-best-placed Ferrari on the grid.
At midday on Sunday, Andrew Gilbert was again behind the wheel of the Ferrari 296 LMGT3. Surprised by the sister car of Kessel Racing at the start, the Bronze driver slipped to sixth place while remaining close to the leaders despite being hit by an LMP2. Still in contention despite minor damage, he battled with the #59 Aston Martin and the #51 Ferrari before his first refuelling stop.
Shortly afterwards, the crew’s momentum was interrupted with a series of setbacks, including track limits penalties, and their race took a more complicated turn. Despite showing strong determination, the safety car periods limited their chances to recover and left little room to mount a comeback as Andrew Gilbert and Fran Rueda pushed to make up ground.
With 45 minutes to go, Fran Rueda handed over to Miguel Molina. Despite a full-course yellow early in his stint, the Ferrari factory driver wasted no time showing his talent by setting the fastest lap for the #74 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 as soon as the race resumed. Eleventh coming out of the pits, the Spanish driver was serious and determined to climb back into the top ten. Once back in the points, he continued to make up ground on his rivals before another safety car period. Despite a final two-lap sprint, Miguel Molina took the chequered flag in tenth place.
Despite these challenges on his return to a series in which he won the title in 2021, the Girona-born driver still took away many positives.
« The first race of the European Le Mans Series is now behind us. While the result isn’t what we had hoped for, the positive thing is that we’ve kicked off our campaign. This race was a tremendous learning experience, especially for Fran and Andrew, as they got their first real taste of the intensity and competitiveness of this series coming from the Michelin Le Mans Cup. We now have invaluable experience thanks to our first race together, which will certainly be useful for future races. Overall, it’s been an intense week, from the Prologue to the race, but we’ve emerged with many positives. It was an excellent opportunity to start working with Kessel Racing and my teammates, including the sister car that finished on the podium, and we’re eager to build on it as soon as the next round. »
On the strength of this character-building experience, Miguel Molina and his teammates are determined to make the most of what they have learnt and aim for a better result in the 4 Hours of Le Castellet. Before this race, Miguel Molina will rejoin Antonio Fuoco and Nicklas Nielsen next week in the Ferrari – AF Corse 499P for round two of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the 6 Hours of Imola.