The 2025 LMP3 season saw Swiss team CLX Motorsport utterly dominate the championship, taking a record breaking five wins and five pole positions from the six races. This garnered Paul Lanchere, Adrien Closmenil and Theodor Jensen a season total of 130 points out of a possible maximum of 156, the most any team has taken in a single ELMS season.
Only four teams have taken four class wins in a single season since 2013: SMP Racing in 2013 (GTC) – Luzich Racing in 2019 (LMGTE) – Prema Racing (LMP2) and Racing Team Turkey (LMP2 Pro/Am) in 2022. However, no team has ever scored five wins in a single season in the history of the ELMS before CLX Motorsport in 2025.
The first pole position of the season was claimed by Adrien Closmenil, finishing the 15-minute session in Barcelona 0.2 seconds ahead of the rest of the ten-car field.
The no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine of Torsten Kratz went into the LMP3 lead on lap 1 ahead of Paul Lanchere in the no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier, with Lanchere falling back to third behind the no11 Eurointernational Ligier of Fabien Michal. These three cars battled for the class lead in the opening hour, with Lanchere eventually getting back into the lead in the second hour before handing over to Theodor Jensen.
After taking over from Jensen, Adrien Closmenil crossed the line to take the win but was just 1.9 seconds ahead of hard charging Gillian Henrion in the no15 RLR MSport Ligier, with Inter Europol Competition in third.
In the next race at Le Castellet, Adrien Closmenil claimed the LMP3 pole for a second time in a row, but this time the French driver was 0.925 seconds ahead of the other nine cars.
Race day saw rain with plenty of interruptions but at the chequered flag Adrien Closmenil was well ahead of Quentin Antonin in the no68 M Racing and the no11 Eurointernational Ligiers, with the winning margin 24.9 seconds.
After a long break that saw Adrien Closmenil and Theodor Jensen take part in the Road To Le Mans as a non-championship, race-by-race entry, the Franco-Danish duo winning the first 60-minute race on the full 13.6km La Sarthe circuit in the no37 CLX Motorsport Ligier-Toyota, the ELMS season resumed in Italy with the 4 Hours of Imola at the start of July.
Jensen took over the qualifying duties for Round 3, with the Dane posting a lap that was 0.7 seconds ahead of the rest of the field before rain fell, stopping any further improvements in the times.
After starting from pole, Paul Lanchere was leading LMP3 from Fabian Michel in the no11 Eurointernational in the early stages of the race before the no17 Ligier dropped down the order due to a drive through penalty for causing a collision with the no68 M Racing Ligier at the start. However, a short Safety Car period bunched up the field and allowed Lanchere to get back in the fight for the lead.
Several more interventions due to heavy race and cars going off track saw the order mixed up again, with the no17 CLX Motorsport was over a lap ahead of the rest of the LMP3 field in the final hour. Theodor Jensen took the chequered flag to record a third win from pole position on the bounce, meaning the #17 CLX Motorsport crew had taken a maximum 78 points at the halfway point of the season.
The next race of the season at Spa-Francorchamps saw Theodor Jensen secure his second ELMS pole and the team’s fourth, with a dominant performance in the wet conditions. With less than five minutes left on the clock Jensen put in a 2m26.054, which put him seven tenths ahead of the rest of the field.
The no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier of Paul Lanchere was delayed by a collision in the LMP2 Pro/Am field and fell behind the no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine of Torsten Kratz. However, Lanchere was challenging the leader hard and soon regained his lost position at the head of the LMP3 field.
However, for the first time things started to go wrong for CLX Motorsport.With Adrien Closmenil at the wheel, the leading no17 Ligier was nearly a minute ahead but was then penalised twice. A Drive Through was given for not respecting an earlier Drive Through Penalty and, the second penalty was an additional 10 seconds added to the next pitstop for overtaking beyond track limits.
After serving the two penalties, Adrien Closmenil was in 4th place and was fighting his way back to the front of the field. The no11 of Ian Aguilera was ahead of Closmenil, with the French driver closing on the Mexican. However, the no17 suddenly went off track and stopped in the gravel, bringing out a Full Course Yellow. The Ligier was recovered to the track, but Closmenil pulled off almost immediately and stopped, retiring the car on the spot.
The LMP3 victory in Belgium went to the no8 Team Virage Ligier crew of Julien Gerbi, Rik Koen and Daniel Nogales.
Round 5 saw the ELMS return to the UK for the first time since 2019 for the Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone.
After four pole positions in a row for the no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier, the no12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing Duqueine took pole at Silverstone with Griffin Peebles taking the chequered flag in 1m53.038, just two tenths ahead of the no15 RLR MSport Ligier of Gillian Henrion. Theodor Jensen’s time was good enough for third on the grid at Silverstone.
The weather was cold and very wet, which produced an incident packed race with three red flags due to accidents and heavy rain that brought the race to an end 10-minutes early.
The no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier-Toyota crew of Paul Lanchere, Adrien Closmenil and Theodor Jensen secured their fourth win of the season in the tricky conditions to claim the 2025 ELMS LMP3 Team and Driver titles with one race remaining in Portugal. Jensen was over a minute ahead of the reast of the field when the red flag was shown to halt the race.
With the 2025 LMP3 title secured, Paul Lanchere, Adrien Closmenil and Theodor Jensen could focus on finishing the season on a high note in the final race of the season, the 4 Hours of Portimão.
However, in qualifying it was the no15 RLR MSport Ligier-Toyota that posted the fastest lap, with Gillian Henrion out pacing Adrien Closmenil by three tenths.
BUT, the RLR MSport Ligier was penalised in post qualifying scrutineering, with the no15 Ligier was found to be in non-compliance of the diffuser width and height.The RLR MSport Ligier had all its times cancelled and had to start at the back of the LMP3 field.This promoted CLX Motorsport to the pole position for the fifth time in 2025.
In the race, Paul Lanchere made the most of his pole position and was leading LMP3 in the no17 CLX Motorsport Ligier, with Stephane Tribaudini in the no68 M Racing Ligier keeping pace.
After briefly losing first place after a Safety Car restart, Lanchere handed over to Jensen in the lead, with Adrien Closmenil bringing the car home to take the chequered flag 13 seconds ahead of the no8 Team Virage Ligier and the no4 DKR Engineering Ginetta, the first ELMS podium for the British manufacturer since 2015.
CLICK HERE for the 2025 ELMS LMP3 Championship positions.
