The second Heat of the 2026 season took place at Le Castellet, in the south of France, with 24 Ligier cars on track at Circuit Paul Ricard. From the very first Free Practice session, the Ligier JS P4 #7 of LR Motorsport and the Ligier JS2 R #88 of 23Events Racing both set new lap records in their respective categories.
Twenty-four Ligier cars headed out onto the 5.821 km Circuit Paul Ricard under cloudy skies for the opening 40-minute Free Practice session.
Italian driver Pietro Ferri was the early pacesetter. At the wheel of the #7 LR Motorsport Ligier JS P4, he put together a series of fast laps at the start of the session. The Trajectus Motorsport entries, #19 and #20, briefly moved to the top of the timesheets thanks to Vincent Bouteiller and Nickolas Ellis, but Ferri responded by breaking the JS P4 lap record with a 2:09.212 just before the halfway point.
The #20 Trajectus Motorsport Ligier JS P4 finished second fastest, ahead of the #57 M Racing entry shared by August Therbo and Martin Lacquemanne. Absent in Barcelona, the #44 ASM Motorsport Ligier JS P4 set the fourth fastest time, followed by Team Virage’s #1 and #14 entries. Winner of Race 1 in Barcelona, the #19 Trajectus Motorsport Ligier JS P4 posted the seventh fastest time. In the PRO-AM standings, the #69 Bretton Racing Ligier JS P4 set the benchmark with Marius Kristiansen.
The Ligier JS2 R category also saw its lap record fall, with Danish driver Marcus Terkildsen in the #88 23Events Racing going quickest at the very end of the session. Over the course of the 40 minutes, several drivers stood out: Anthony Ghibaudo in the #18 VSF Sports car, followed by Cindy Gudet, who held the top spot for a long time in the #75 M Racing Ligier JS2 R with a 2:17.408.
However, Barcelona Race 1 winner Marcus Terkildsen reclaimed the lead with a 2:16.901. Simone Bianco then impressed in the #81 LR Motorsport Ligier JS2 R with a 2:16.568. A potential double for LR Motorsport looked on the cards, but Terkildsen delivered on his penultimate lap with a 2:16.245, breaking the existing lap record set in 2025. Thanks to Cindy Gudet, the #75 Ligier JS2 R topped the PRO-AM classification ahead of the VSF Sports #18.
The second Free Practice session was scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm local time.
To view the full results, CLICK HERE.
Photo credit: DPPI
