The first race was held in 2019 but, due to Covid-19 restrictions, the race was not held in 2020.The 4 Hours of Barcelona returned in 2021 as the season opener, with the 2022 race held in August.In 2023 Spain’s premier racetrack once again hosted the official pre-season test and Round 1.
This season will mark the fifth edition of the 4 Hours of Barcelona and the third time the event has started the ELMS season.
Here are some facts and figures from the previous four races held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
- The 2023 event was held on the new Grand Prix circuit layout, which reduced the number of corners from 16 to 14 and the track length by 18m to 4.657km.
- Louis Deletraz is the most successful driver in the short history of the 4 Hours of Barcelona, the Swiss driver winning three times from three starts in 2021, 2022 and 2023 for three different teams – Orlen Team WRT, Prema Racing and Racing Team Turkey.
- Nico Pino has won in Barcelona twice, LMP3 in 2022 and LMP2 in 2023.
- Inter Europol Competition and COOL Racing have shared the LMP3 honours, each winning twice in Barcelona – Inter Europol Competition in 2019 and 2022, COOL Racing in 2021 and 2023.
- Proton Competition is the only other team to have won the 4 Hours of Barcelona twice, the German team winning in LMGTE in 2022 and 2023.
LAP RECORDS
With the change of track layout used in 2023, new lap records were set last year.
- LMP2 – V. LOMKO – no47 COOL Racing – 1m31.451 – 183.3kph
- LMP2 Pro/Am – S. YOLUC – no34 Racing Team Turkey – 1m32.517 – 181.2kph
- LMP3 – M. SIEBERT – no17 COOL Racing – 1m38.481 – 170.2kph
- LMGTE – A. PICARIELLO – no16 Proton Competition – 1m41.371 – 165.4kph
A new lap record for LMGT3 will be set in 2024.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
There are 13 previous winners of the 4 Hours of Barcelona taking part in the 2024 edition of the race –
- Louis Deletraz (no14 AO by TF) - 2023 LMP2Pro/Am 2022 / 2021 LMP2
- Nico Pino (no27 Nielsen Racing) - 2023 LMP2 / 2022 LMP3
- Rene Binder (no77 Proton Competition) - 2023 LMP2
- Alejandro Garcia (no47 COOL Racing) - 2023 LMP3
- Francois Perrodo (no83 AF Corse) - 2022 LMP2 Pro/Am
- Alessio Rovera (no83 AF Corse) - 2022 LMP2 Pro/Am
- Nicklas Nielsen (no50 Formula Racing) - 2022 LMP2 Pro/Am
- Robert Kubica (no14 AO by TF) - 2021 LMP2
- Matt Bell (#19 Team Virage) - 2021 LMP3
- Matteo Cressoni (no60 Proton Competition) - 2021 LMGTE
- Matthieu Lahaye (no35 Ultimate) - 2021 LMP2 Pro/Am
- Jean-Baptiste Lahaye (no 35 Ultimate) - 2021 LMP2 Pro/Am
- Job Van Uitert (no28 IDEC Sport) - 2019 LMP2
2019 4 Hours of Barcelona
- The first race in 2019 was round 3 of the six-race season held on the 21stJuly.The first edition of the 4 Hours of Barcelona was won by the no26 G-Drive Racing of Job Van Uitert, Jean-Eric Vergne and Roman Rusinov.
- The LMP3 winners in 2019 were Martin Hippe and Nigel Moore in the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier-Nissan
- The LMGTE Winners in 2019 were Alessandro Pier Guidi, Nicklas Nielsen and Fabien Lavergne in the no51 Luzich Racing Ferrari 488 GTE EVO.
In 2019 the pole positions were secured by –
- LMP2: Paul Loup Chatin – no28 IDEC Sport – 1m32.765
- LMP3: Mikkel Jensen – no11 Eurointernational – 1m40.371
- LMGTE: Andrea Piccini – no60 Kessel Racing – 1m43.084
2021 4 Hours of Barcelona
- The second edition of the 4 Hours of Barcelona was held on 18 April 2021 and was won by the no41 Orlen Team WRT Oreca-Gibson of Louis Deletraz, Robert Kubica and Yifei Ye on the teams ELMS debut.
- The LMP2 Pro/Am class was won by the no29 Ultimate Oreca-Gibson of Matthieu Lahaye, Jean-Baptiste Lahaye and Francois Heriau, which finished in 5thoverall.
- The LMP3 class was won by the no19 Cool Racing Ligier of Nicolas Maulini, Matt Bell and Niklas Kruetten.
- The LMGTE class was won by the no80 Iron Lynx Ferrari of Matteo Cressoni, Rino Mastronardi and Spain’s Miguel Molina.
In 2021 the pole positions were secured by –
- LMP2: Nyck de Vries – no26 G-Drive Racing – 1m31.788
- LMP3: Duncan Tappy – no3 United Autosports – 1m39.162
- LMGTE: Gianmaria Bruni – no77 Proton Competition – 1m41.892
2022 4 Hours of Barcelona
- The 2022 event was held on the 28 August and was won by the no9 Prema Racing Oreca driven by Lorenzo Colombo, Ferdinand Habsburg and Louis Deletraz.Deletraz became the first driver to win the 4 Hours of Barcelona twice.
- The leading LMP2 Pro/Am entry was the no88 AF Corse of Francois Perrodo, Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera, finishing 5thoverall.
- The LMP3 category was won by Charles Crews, Nico Pino and Guilherme Oliveira in the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier-Nissan, the second time the Polish team had won in LMP3 at the Spanish circuit.
- The LMGTE win went to the no77 Proton Competition Porsche of Christian Ried, Lorenzo Ferrari and Gianmaria Bruni.
In 2022 the pole positions were secured by –
- LMP2: Nicolas Jamin – no65 Panis Racing – 1m34.802
- LMP3: Malthe Jakobsen – no17 COOL Racing – 1m40.112
- LMGTE: Mikkel Jensen – no57 Kessel Racing – 1m45.438
2023 4 Hours of Barcelona
- The 4thedition of the 4 Hours of Barcelona was held on the 23 April and was won overall by an LMP2 Pro/Am competitor, the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca-Gibson of Salih Yoluc, Charlie Eastwood and Louis Deletraz.This was also the third time that Louis Deletraz had won the 4 Hours of Barcelona.
- The LMP2 category was won by the no30 Duqueine Team Oreca of Nico Pino, Rene Binder and Neel Jani, the French team finishing 2ndoverall, 2.363s behind the no34 Racing Team Turkey Oreca.
- The no17 COOL Racing Ligier -Nissan won the LMP3 category, driven by Adrien Chila, Marcos Siebert and Alejandro Garcia.
- The last LMGTE victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was secured by the no16 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Ryan Hardwick, Zach Robichon and Alessio Picariello.
In 2023 the pole positions were secured by –
- LMP2: Reshad De Gerus – no47 COOL Racing – 1m29.396
- LMP2 Pro/Am – Salih Yoluc – no34 Racing Team Turkey – 1m30.947
- LMP3: Marcos Siebert – no17 COOL Racing – 1m35.250
- LMGTE: Martin Berry – no66 JMW Motorsport – 1m41.060
The 4 Hours of Barcelona is Round 1 of the 2024 European Le Mans Series and it will be held on Sunday 14 April.
