A strong showing at Paul Ricard

Round 2 of the 2026 Ligier European Series at Circuit Paul Ricard showed encouraging progress for Gabriel Doyle-Parfait and the team, despite a challenging weekend overall. Strong pace was demonstrated from the outset with P2 and P5 finishes in the two free practice sessions, however multiple red flags during qualifying prevented Gabriel from completing representative laps, resulting in P9 and P10 starting positions for the two races.

In Race 1, Gabriel made an excellent start, climbing four positions before a difficult restart sequence and contact dropped the car down the order. A strong recovery drive from the team secured a P7 finish.

Race 2 delivered a cleaner and more consistent performance, with the car brought home in P5 despite difficult handling conditions throughout the race.

The weekend marked another important step forward in the team’s development, continuing to build momentum and experience ahead of the next round at Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans on the full 24-hour layout.

Mechanical issues in Spain

The opening round of the 2026 Ligier European Series at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya proved to be one of the most challenging weekends of Gabriel Doyle-Parfait’s career, with persistent mechanical issues severely limiting valuable track time throughout the event.

Despite encouraging pace ahead of the weekend, the car was unable to participate in both free practice sessions and qualifying due to technical problems.

Race 1 ended just moments after the start when an electrical issue forced an early retirement, denying the team the opportunity to showcase its potential.

Remarkably, Race 2 marked the first representative laps of the entire weekend, with Gabriel immediately demonstrating competitive pace despite starting from the back of the grid and having no prior running. The team recovered strongly to secure a P9 finish under difficult circumstances, highlighting both resilience and adaptability in an extremely demanding weekend.

While the results did not reflect the pace shown behind the scenes, the event underlined the professionalism of the team and Gabriel’s ability to perform under pressure with minimal preparation.