Reiter Engineering is back on in Le Castellet
02.06.2025
The weekend of 02.05.-03.05.2025 marked the second round of the 2025 Michelin Le Mans Cup at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, France. For Reiter Engineering, the weekend was a successful and promising outing that showed the payoff of weeks of hard work leading into the season. With both cars now sitting in the Top 10 standings of their respective category, and a podium finish for car #25, the team has proven itself to be a championship contender.
Friday - Finding the rhythm
Free Practice 1 was all about getting back into rhythm on the fast, technical layout of Paul Ricard. Miklas Born in the #25 car, already familiar with the circuit, delivered a strong session, finishing P6 in LMP3 class and P7 overall, just behind one Pro/Am car. In the car #77, Horst Felix Felbermayr made his LMP3 debut at the track, ending the session P13 in LMP3 Pro/Am and P29 overall.
His teammate Horst Felbermayr further improved in the Bronze Driver Collective Test later on, securing P9 and gaining valuable track time.
Back with all cars on track for Free Practice 2, it was time to further improve the setup in time for qualifying and the race. Bence Valint collected some decent first laps in his #25 LMP3 car around the track, putting it in P7 in the category, P10 overall. Horst Felbermayr delivered a clean session, placing his #77 car P10 in the Pro/Am category, P27 overall. A promising start to the weekend and all to play for the following day.
Saturday - Ready to set some fast laps
Qualifying was satisfactory despite being eventful. The LMP3 session was interrupted after seven minutes due to a crash that caused a red flag. Once the barriers were repaired again and the session resumed, it came down to a final 8 minute sprint. Miklas Born rose to the occasion and placed the car #25 in P3, just two-tenths ahead of P4.
In the Pro/Am session, Horst Felbermayr put car #77 on P5 in class - a strong effort, setting the stage for a competitive race later that day.
Saturday - Time to race
Car #25 had a clear goal: securing a spot on the podium. Bence Valint, who drove the first stint, had a strong start and was able to battle for place 2 in the opening lap. A Safety car was deployed just three minutes into the race due to debris, neutralizing the early gaps. After a Full Course Yellow 40 minutes into the race, the Reiter Engineering car loss a position and was down to P4. Shortly after the pit window was opened, another Safety Car was deployed, the team took the chance for their pitstop. With a little more than one hour to go, #25 car entered the pits. The pitstop and driver change went smoothly, Miklas Born, who entered the car for the second stint rejoined the track in provisional P3. Born managed to hold on to P3 until the very end, with last lap drama, when there was three cars fighting for the second place. He briefly managed to get a hold of p2, but was overtaken again. A podium finish in the end put a satisfying end to the day.
Car #77 started its race in the midfield. With Horst Felbermayr behind the wheel for the first stint, the car managed to keep out of the chaos in the opening laps. During the Safety Car in the early stages of the race, he held the car in P4 in the Pro/Am category, P21 overall. The car was close to P3 in the Pro/Am class over the entirety of the first half of the race, with half a second of a gap. Staying out longer during the pit window gave the team a brief on-track P2 as others ahead pitted. Shortly after the #25 car came in, #77 followed with one hour to go in the race and rejoined in P4 Pro/Am. Horst Felix Felbermayr continued to gain one place in his stint, but lost two after the green flag came on after another Safety Car. A second pit stop of the car with 10 minutes to go put the car back in P7 in the category. Felbermayr finished the race in P8 in Pro/Am category, P19 overall.
These results put both Reiter cars as well as its drivers in the Top 10 standings of the championship, the #25 in third and the #77 in tenth.
Weekend reflections - Driver voices
"We had a good speed in both practices from the start on, and were able to finetune the setup. With p3 in Quali we had a great "Ausgangslage" for the race aswell. Bence drove a very strong start and first stint. I took over the car on p3 and was able to bring it into the finish in p3 with a very hectic last round. We can be very happy with p3 this weekend. Now theres a small summer break before ist time to focus on Le Mans" - Miklas Born on his weekend in Le Castellet
"For me it was an amazing race and most importantly a really promising step for us as a team. Compared to Barcelona we improved a lot and it is an amazing feeling to be fighting for the podium. Let´s keep this momentum going and try to push even harder for Le Mans" - Bence Valint on the team´s progress at Paul Ricard
Looking ahead - Le Mans in sight
After a clear step forward from the first round in Barcelona, the team is heading into a short summer break full of confidence. With both cars improving steadily and a first podium in the books, all eyes are now on the next challenge: Le Mans, France.
