The last two qualifying sessions of the 2025 Ligier European Series season took place on Thursday, 16 October at the Portimão circuit, with many competitors battling neck and neck.
In the Ligier JS P4 category, championship leader Romain Boeckler and the #22 from Loire Valley Racing, operated by Trajectus Motorsport, secured the last two pole positions of the season. In Ligier JS2 R, LR Motorsport’s #7, driven by Simone Riccitelli, will start from pole position in Race 1, while the #18 of VSF Sports, with the tandem of Steven Palette and Lukas Papin, will start from pole position in Race 2.
Ligier JS P4: Romain Boeckler and Loire Valley Racing on pole for Races 1 and 2
The opening qualifying session produced a thrilling battle between the three title contenders: Romain Boeckler in Loire Valley Racing’s #22, Hamda Al Qubaisi in Team Virage’s #88, and Maxwell Dodds in #6 ANS Motorsport’s #6. Hamda Al Qubaisi, aboard the Team Virage’s #88, took the top spot in the final four minutes with a time of 1m46.631s. But Romain Boeckler showed his impressive speed to snatch the pole position in the dying seconds of the session with a time of 1m46.566s in the #22 Loire Valley Racing Ligier JS P4. Maxwell Dodds completed the top three at 1m46.667s in ANS Motorsport’s #6.
The second session produced a shake-up, but was interrupted by a red flag two minutes before the end by an incident involving the #14 Not Only Motor Sport Ligier JS2 R. As a result, Romain Boeckler and the #22 of Loire Valley Racing secured their second pole position of the day, and fourth of the season, with a time of 1m45.774s. It will be invaluable in the title-deciding competition tomorrow. The #7 LR Motorsport Ligier JS P4 driven by Pietro Ferri finished second with a time of 1m46.145s, followed by Iko Segret in 1m46.534s aboard ANS Motorsports #6.
In the AM class, the #16 from Pegasus Racing, with David Caussanel and Yuki Tanaka, will start from pole position in both races of the final Heat of 2025.
Romain Boeckler, Loire Valley Racing, Ligier JS P4 #22, Pole position for race 1 & 2 :
“It was a bit tricky during free practice. I went into Q1 a bit blind, with only a few laps under my belt. I just did my usual procedure, and honestly, it went really well. The feeling came straight away. It was a bit difficult with the tire pressures, so we’ll adjust that for tomorrow. The lap times are very close. I’m really happy to start from pole, especially for the championship. My main rivals [Iko Segret and Maxwell Dodds in the #6 ANS Motorsport car] qualified third, so it’s already a small advantage for the start. We’ll see what happens next, but I’m already very happy.
After Q1 I felt a bit more reassured, even though it was really close. I got into the rhythm straight away, corrected what I hadn’t done so well in Q1 or what I could still improve. And it went really well — an almost perfect Q2. I set my lap time just before the red flag, so I’m really happy with Q2.”
Ligier JS2 R : LR Motorsport and VSF Sports fastest
The JS2 R category was just as competitive in the two qualifying sessions. At the end of the first 15 minutes, Simone Riccitelli aboard the #7 of LR Motorsport claimed his fifth pole position of the year on the final lap with a time of 1m51.817s. August Therbo, second in the championship with the #57 23Events Racing Ligier JS2 R, will start alongside Simone Riccitelli on the front row, thanks to his lap of 1m51.925s. Lukas Papin in the # 18 of VSF Sports, finished in 1m51.998s.
As in the Ligier JS P4 category, the second qualifying session saw the three title contenders battle until the final minutes. In the end, it was the #18 VSF Sports Ligier JS2 R driven by Steven Palette that came out on top to take the final pole position of the season with a time of 1m51.022s. August Therbo in the #57 of 23Events Racing was second in 1m51.599s, followed by Simone Riccitelli, in the #7 from LR Motorsport with a time of 1m51.713s.
In the PRO-AM category, the #50 Les Deux Arbres (Noé Da Cunha and Jeremy Loisel) will start from pole position in both races, whilst the #41of VSF Sports (Florian Teillais and Tristan Clay) will start at the front of the AM class.
Simone Riccitelli, LR Motorsport, Ligier JS2 R #7, Pole position for Race 1 in JS2 R :
“It was a very tough qualifying session. I managed to put together a good lap on the final lap. We’re all very close, and the other guys are pushing really hard. It’s a good starting spot for tomorrow. Head down — I’m fully focused on the races now.”
Steven Palette, VSF Sports, Ligier JS2 R #18, Pole position for Race 2 in JS2 R :
“I’m happy for the team to take another pole position. I didn’t have the chance to do qualifying at Spa. At Silverstone, we had a few issues that we solved after the meeting, so we weren’t at the level we should have been. So I’m happy because we did what we needed to do: we took pole by six or seven tenths, and I improved by another two tenths on the final lap, but there was a red flag. We’re a bit far behind in the championship unfortunately [in third place]. We’re determined to give it our all, win the last two races, and get as close as possible to the title.”
Tomorrow’s two races, on Friday 17 October, promise to be fiercely contested and full of action!
The one-hour Race 1 starts tomorrow at 9:00 am. (local time). Race 2 takes place from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. Both races will be streamed live on the series’ YouTube channel and social media accounts.
CLICK HERE for the Q1 results.
CLICK HERE for the Q2 results.
Photo credit: DPPI
