Barcelona Heat, Race 2: First wins of the season for Loire Valley Racing in JS P4 and 23Events Racing in JS2 R -

This afternoon, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosted race 2 of the 2025 Ligier European Series season. In the JS P4 category, Loire Valley Racing’s #22, driven by Romain Boeckler, scored its maiden victory in the series. 23Events Racing’s #57, driven by August Therbo, won in the JS2 R category.

JS P4: First victory for Loire Valley Racing and Romain Boeckler

Team Virage’s JS P4 #1, driven by Dario Cabanelas, got an excellent start to take the lead from pole-sitter Romain Boeckler in the #22 of Loire Valley Racing. Amna Al Qubaisi, behind the wheel of Team Virage’s #88, quickly gained ground to slot into third place on the opening lap.

After only five minutes of racing, contact between the #33 of 360 Competition and the #4 of Nielsen Racing sent the latter off the track. At the same time, the #19 of Trajectus Motorsport (Mathis Poulet) ended its race in the gravel trap at turn 4. The race was neutralised to clean the track and evacuate the cars.

At the re-start, the #22 Loire Valley Racing JS P4, driven by Romain Boeckler, retook the lead from Dario Cabanelas (Team Virage #1). Amna Al Qubaisi (Team Virage #88) held on to third place.

After the pit stops, Romain Boeckler’s #22 led the way ahead of Laura Villars, who was now at the controls of Team Virage’s #1, and Hamda Al Qubaisi in the #88. The Dubai driver moved up to second place while the fight for third raged on. Vic Stevens, in Team Virage’s #27, went on the offensive, and Matteo Pianezzola took the opportunity to move into fourth place in #60 of Iron Lynx by MRacing.

A second Safety Car period was needed to secure the JS2 R #17, which had stopped on track. Romain Boeckler in the #22 JS P4 made a solid start at the re-start and remained in the lead. Just behind, the battle intensified. Iko Segret in ANS Motorsport’s #6 passed Hamda Al Qubaisi in the #88. Then Matteo Pianezzola pursued her in the #60 JS P4, but the Dubai driver fended off the assaults to hold on to third place.

With less than four minutes remaining in the race, the Safety Car was called into service again to secure the #7 JS2 R of LR Motorsport.

The #22 of Loire Valley Racing and driver Romain Boeckler won their first-ever Ligier European Series race, followed by the #6 of ANS Motorsport (Iko Segret / Maxwell Dodds). The #88 of Team Virage and sisters Amna and Hamda Al Qubaisi completed the podium.

Christopher Preen and Kristian Brookes finished top of the PRO-AM category in the #33 JS P4 of 360 Competition. Yuki Tanaka and David Caussanel, in the #16 from Pegasus Racing, were first in the AM class.

Romain Boeckler, Loire Valley Racing, Ligier JS P4 #22, winner of race 2:

“The start was really difficult. I lost the lead at turn one so I needed to stay close to the leading car. I managed the tyres. The safety car came out and at the restart I was able to overtake the leader. Then there was a second safety car and it became more difficult at each restart to handle the tyres especially with the heat. I managed well. At Race 1 I received two penalties so the goal was to win. And we did it. So thank you to my team for this.

Last year in Ligier JS Cup France we had the same spirit when we started the season. The goal was to win and get the prize award to move up to the next step. We had a really difficult first race but after that we managed to win the championship [in the Junior class]. We have the same goal in the Ligier European Series. The first race was harsh, we win the second. We will try to continue like this.”

JS2 R: A victorious debut for August Therbo and 23Events Racing

From the very first seconds of the race, August Therbo, driving the 23Events Racing #57, launched the assault and took the lead ahead of Cindy Gudet, driving the MRacing #68 and the LR Motorsport #7 driven by Simone Riccitelli. Riccitelli eventually overtook Gudet to take second place. He was followed by Enzo Caldaras in the VSF Sports #18.After the first Safety Car period, August Therbo saw his rivals catch up to him, but the Dane defended his position to maintain the lead. The race was then neutralised for a second time to remove the disabled #17 JS2 R.

At the re-start, Noé Da Cunha, behind the wheel of the #50 from Les Deux Arbres, engaged in a fierce battle with Cindy Gudet (#68 MRacing) for third place. Meanwhile, Simone Riccitelli, in the #7 JS2 R of LR Motorsport, went on the offensive. But contact with category leader August Therbo’ resulted in a broken suspension for the Italian driver, whose race concluded in the gravel trap. The race was neutralised once more to attend to the damaged car.

23Events Racing and August Therbo won their first Ligier European Series race. Noé Da Cunha and Antoine Lepesqueux, drivers of the #50 Les Deux Arbres, crossed the finish line in second place. After the race, they received a penalty for overtaking the #18 under Safety Car during the last Safety Car period. The VSF Sports #18 with Lukas Papin and Enzo Caldaras finished second and their team-mates Florian Teillais and Tristan Clay third, giving their team its second double podium of the day.

Jordan and Alain Meyer finished at the top of the PRO-AM class with the #94 from Pegasus Racing. VSF Sports’ #41, driven by Tristan Clay and Florian Teillais, came first in the AM class.

August Therbo, 23Events Racing, Ligier JS2 R #57, winner of race 2 in JS2 R:

“First of all I want to thank the team for an amazing job this weekend. We struggled quite a lot with setting the car properly but we figured it out thanks to the team. Race was really good, had a good start, build some gap. The safety car came out and I was struggling a bit. But luckily we were fast enough to hold the cars behind and we won the race.”