The event was announced on 23 September 2017, with the Red Bull Ring round being a part of the calendar for the sixth conescutive time. This was the first race after a two-month hiatus for the ELMS season, with the last round having taken place at Monza, ten weeks prior.[1]
Entry list
The entry list was revealed on 19 July 2018, and saw 42 entries: 18 in LMP2, 18 in LMP3, and 6 in LMGTE.[2]
There were two practice sessions held: one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday morning. Both session ran for 90 minutes.[3]
Practice 1
The first practice session was held at 13:00 CEST on Friday. Paul-Loup Chatin ended up quickest in the No. 28 IDEC Sport Oreca, with a lap time of 1:20.067. Norman Nato was second-quickest in the No. 24 Racing Engineering Oreca, only 0.003s off Chatin. Matthieu Vaxivière finished third in the No. 33 TDS Racing Oreca.[4] LMP3 was topped by Matthieu Lahaye in the No. 17 Ultimate Norma, lapping the circuit in 1 minute, 26.927 seconds. He was 0.018s quicker than second-placed Matt Bell in the No. 3 United Autosports Ligier.[4] GTE was topped by Miguel Molina in the No. 66 JMW Motorsport Ferrari, with a lap of 1:28.829, 0.570s quicker than the second-placed No. 88 Proton Competition Porsche.[4]
Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Final practice
The second and final practice session took place at 09:15 CEST on Saturday, and ended with Chatin and the No. 28 Oreca topping the time sheets in a largely wet practice session. He lapped the circuit in 1 minute, 19.616 seconds. He was 0.134s quicker than Andrea Pizzitola in the No. 26 G-Drive Racing Oreca, with Nato third-quickest.[7]Job van Uitert was quickest in LMP3 in the No. 15 RLR MSport Ligier: 1:27.176. David Droux was second-quickest in LMP3, 0.604s slower than Van Uitert.[7] GTE was topped by Matt Griffin in the No. 55 Spirit of Race Ferrari, with a lap of 1:29.845. Dennis Olsen was second-quickest in the No. 77 Proton Competition Porsche, lapping 0.177s slower than Griffin, with Fabio Babini completing the top three in the No. 80 Ebimotors Porsche.[7]
Note: Only the fastest car in each class is shown.
Qualifying
Qualifying started at 13:40 CEST on Saturday, and was split into three sessions: one for LMGTE, one for LMP3, and one for LMP2. Each session lasted fifteen minutes. Paul-Loup Chatin continued his strong practice pace and claimed overall pole position in his No. 28 Oreca. He shared the front row with Nico Jamin in the No. 29 Duqueine Engineering Oreca, who was 0.019s slower than Chatin.[10] The No. 9 AT Racing Ligier originally claimed pole position in the LMP3 class, but saw its fastest lap deleted after a track limits violation. This handed LMP3 pole position to the No. 17 Norma of Matthieu Lahaye, with a lap time of 1:26.519. The No. 19 MRacing - YMR Norma of Lucas Legeret qualified second, 0.064s slower.[11][10] Molina took pole in LMGTE in the No. 66 Ferrari, ahead of Matteo Cairoli in the No. 88 Porsche, with Andrea Bertolini in the No. 83 Krohn Racing Ferrari in third.[11]
^The No. 11 EuroInternational Ligier received a drive-through during the race. Since they did not complete the drive-through, it was converted into a 25-second penalty. The car dropped from 24th to 25th overall.[14]
^The No. 16 BHK Motorsport Ligier received a 2-lap penalty for not completing the minimum drive time with their bronze-rated driver Jacopo Baratto.[15]
^The No. 29 Duqueine Engineering Oreca was disqualified from the race using a different fuel than the fuel that was indicated by the organiser. The car originally finished second overall.[16]
