In his debut ELMS season Belgium’s Douwe Dedecker has already been showing his pace, securing a podium finish in Barcelona and a hard fought fourth place in Le Castellet alongside his Inter Europol Competition teammates Tim Creswick and Reece Gold.
The 17-year-old from Bree concluded a successful karting career in 2021 where he secured the 2018 IAME Series Benelux – Mini Parilla and 2017 BNL Golden Trophy – Micro Max titles before moving to British F4 in 2023.
Now he is bringing his talents to the European Le Mans Series with Polish team Inter Europol Competition after racing with the team in the 2024/25 Asian Le Mans Series where he secured his first endurance racing podium finish in Dubai.
We caught up with Dedecker to discuss his season so far and the prospect of racing at home for the first time in the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Q:You are currently lying in second place in the LMP3 standings with a podium finish in the first race in Spain, all in your debut ELMS season. How would you sum up the first three races of the 2025 season and what are the positives you can take from those races going into Round 4 in Spa?
Douwe Dedecker: “I've got a lot of trust in our team going into Spa, especially after what we saw in the race at Imola. Reece setting the fastest lap by 0.9 seconds was just insane it really showed the speed of the team. Unfortunately, we had a crash on the first lap, which cost us the fight for the win.
“The feeling we had there is very promising for the race in Spa, and we've all reached a point where we understand the car better and truly know where the limit is.”
Q: How are you getting on with your teammates Tim Creswick and Reece Gold? You raced with Tim in the 2024/25 Asian Le Mans Series with Inter Europol but is this the first time you’ve raced with Reece?
DD: “Yes, it's my first time racing with Reece. I think he's a very talented driver, coming from Indy NXT in America, where the level is very high. So yes, I'm very happy to have him in the team also for myself, as a reference point.
“Tim is our bronze driver; I raced with him in the Asian Le Mans Series, which was more of a warm-up for the ELMS season. I'm also very happy with him and the pace he has shown us so far.”
Q: This is only your third season of racing cars and your first racing Le Mans Prototypes, competing with Inter Europol Competition in the Asian Le Mans Series and now the ELMS. How are you finding the LMP3 Ligier and what are the main differences between the Ligier and the single seater F4 cars you’ve been racing?
DD: “I've always dreamed of driving the 24 Hours of Le Mans that's what I've always wanted. F4 was just a good starting point to learn the basics of a race car. But LMP3 is where you really need to understand the car and develop the technique to be fast with such a heavy machine.”
Q: Did racing in the Asian Le Mans Series with the team and with Tim help you with the bigger challenge in the ELMS?
DD: “Yes, I think it helped me a lot especially since I didn’t have much practice beforehand. I believe I’ve really been showing my pace in the ELMS season, where I’m still on a steep learning curve, with a strong improvement during the race at Imola. Every lap I go out on track, I continue to learn new things, day in and day out.”
Q: We are racing at your home race at Spa-Francorchamps next. Have you raced at Spa before?What are your thoughts on the circuit and do you have a favourite corner or sequence?
DD:“It’s going to be my first time racing at this iconic circuit, and I’m really excited to finally compete here especially with so many fans and family coming to support me. I’m proud to be Belgian and to show off our pink race car to our Belgian fans. My favourite corner at Spa has to be Eau Rouge, of course.”
Q: Looking at the championship standings, the crew of the no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier have made the perfect start to the season, with three wins from pole in a row.What woulbe a good result for you and the rest of the Inter Europol Team at Spa and is the LMP3 championship now all about taking one race at a time and seeing if the CLX crew can be beaten?
DD: “Well, I think we had a really strong chance to fight for the win in Imola, but unfortunately, because of the crash, we couldn’t fully show our potential. I have full trust in our crew, and I believe we can genuinely be in the fight for the win.”
