An endurance race can be won behind the wheel. But it can also be lost inside a composites workshop, in front of a timing screen, during technical scrutineering, behind the wheel of the Safety Car or in a fraction of a second during a tyre change.
At the 2026 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, held from 21 to 23 August on one of Europe's most iconic circuits, Live4Racing stepped away from the racing line to look at what happens behind the curtain. These are the people the cameras rarely focus on, yet their decisions can completely change the outcome of a four-hour endurance race.
In our latest video, we meet Guillaume Coyon, composite materials technician at CLX Motorsport; Filippo Salvadori, Chief Timekeeper at Al Kamel Systems; Antoine Crevenat, ACO Technical Delegate; Yannick Dalmas, Driver Advisor; and Benjamin Bergeault, chief car mechanic and front gunner at TDS Racing.
Watch the full Live4Racing video and go behind the scenes of the ELMS at Spa-Francorchamps.
Spa-Francorchamps: four hours where every detail matters
At 7.004 kilometres long, with major elevation changes, high-speed corners and weather that can transform a race weekend in minutes, Spa-Francorchamps is an ideal place to understand just how demanding endurance racing can be.
The European Le Mans Series brings several categories onto the track at the same time: LMP2, LMP2 Pro/Am, LMP3 and LMGT3. Different speeds, constant traffic, overlapping strategies and possible race neutralisations make the job even more complex.
In this environment, the driver is only the most visible part of a much larger organisation. A team may have a fast car and a strong driver line-up, but a poorly secured wheel, a carbon repair that takes a few minutes too long, a non-compliant component or an issue with critical timing information can compromise an entire weekend.
Guillaume Coyon: repairing carbon while the clock is already ticking
The first job we explore is that of the composite materials technician. At CLX Motorsport, Guillaume Coyon is responsible for maintaining and repairing composite components, particularly the carbon-fibre parts used throughout a racing car.
In theory, one of the remarkable characteristics of composites is that almost anything can be repaired. During a race weekend, however, another limitation immediately takes over: time.
A small repair might take a few minutes. More substantial work can require hours or even several days. Surfaces need to be prepared correctly, the laminate structure has to be respected, resin mixtures must be accurate and curing times remain part of the process. Even when fast hardeners are used, chemistry does not completely obey the race clock.
The technician therefore has to make decisions as well as repairs. Is it worth fixing the component immediately? Is replacing it faster? Can the damaged part be repaired after the event instead? How much time can the car realistically spend in the garage?
Guillaume Coyon describes one of the central contradictions of motorsport engineering: having to work extremely quickly on something you would ideally like to spend hours — or even days — doing perfectly.
Benjamin Bergeault: a wheel gun, a few seconds and no margin for error
We then move into the pit lane with Benjamin Bergeault, chief car mechanic at TDS Racing and the team's front gunner during pit stops.
The gunner is the mechanic operating the pneumatic wheel gun used to release and tighten the wheel nuts. From the grandstands, the movement looks almost effortless. Up close, it is an exercise in precision, coordination and explosive speed.
The tool must engage correctly, the mechanic has to stay in sync with the rest of the crew and he must listen constantly to what is happening on the other side of the car. If another gunner has an equipment or wheel problem, the team must be ready to react immediately.
That is why a perfect stop is never just a collection of individual actions. It is a carefully rehearsed team performance.
Our video also takes you inside the Spa Pit Stop Challenge. TDS Racing reached the final and finished second by just three hundredths of a second — an almost absurdly small margin that perfectly illustrates the level of precision required.
And when the final stop of a real race could decide a victory or podium position, the mental challenge becomes just as important. Bergeault explains that his approach is to treat it like any other pit stop: concentrate on executing the procedure rather than thinking about what is at stake.
Filippo Salvadori: official timing, the invisible nervous system of the race
For spectators, timing appears simple. A car crosses the line and a lap time appears on screen. Behind that instant result sits an extremely complex technical infrastructure.
Filippo Salvadori is Chief Timekeeper at Al Kamel Systems, the company providing official timing services for the ELMS. In our video, he shows us a world where a single point of failure is something the system is specifically designed to avoid.
The operation covers several areas, including IT infrastructure, timing itself and the graphics data used during the event. Cars are detected through transponders, while the information then has to be collected, checked, processed and distributed to the different people and systems that depend on it.
Most importantly, critical systems have backups. Machines, network storage and switches are duplicated so that one hardware problem does not become a race-wide timing problem.
It is one of the fascinating contradictions of a behind-the-scenes motorsport job: when everything works perfectly, the audience barely notices it. That is exactly the objective.
Antoine Crevenat: making sure every car plays by the same rules
A fast racing car is not enough. It also has to be legal.
Antoine Crevenat is the ACO Technical Delegate for the ELMS, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Ligier European Series. His role is to oversee the application of the technical regulations and ensure that cars comply with both the rules and their homologation specifications.
The work begins with scrutineering. Safety equipment is checked before attention turns to bodywork dimensions and mechanical elements. Rear-wing position and angle, the front splitter, diffuser dimensions, brake-cooling openings and other regulated areas can all come under scrutiny.
The checks do not stop when the race begins. After the chequered flag, selected cars — particularly those at the front of the field — can undergo further inspections to confirm their compliance.
This permanent interaction between engineers and the regulations is part of motorsport's DNA. Teams naturally try to exploit every millimetre the rules allow. Technical officials have to establish precisely where optimisation ends and non-compliance begins.
Crevenat also discusses how inspection technology is developing. In some top-level championships, 3D scanning can digitise a complete racing car body and compare it directly with a reference geometry. ELMS currently relies more heavily on physical measurements, he explains, but data analysis and new inspection technologies are becoming increasingly important.
Yannick Dalmas: the Safety Car is much more than a car slowing down the field
Our fifth perspective comes from Yannick Dalmas, Driver Advisor for the ELMS, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Ligier European Series.
His name needs little introduction for endurance racing fans. Dalmas won the 24 Hours of Le Mans four times with four different manufacturers: Peugeot in 1992, Porsche in 1994, McLaren in 1995 and BMW in 1999.
At Spa, however, we follow him in a very different role: preparing and monitoring race safety procedures.
Before racing begins, exercises are used to check marshal posts, flags, lights and communication between the various people involved. An incident can be simulated so that the Safety Car's speed and line can be adjusted and the complete procedure verified before it is needed for real.
Because Safety Car operation is much more complex than simply entering the circuit and driving slowly. Its pace changes according to the situation, the position of the field and instructions from Race Control. When it is not deployed, the car remains ready to respond immediately, waiting for the signal to enter the track.
Dalmas also explains the importance of experience, listening and mutual respect between everyone involved. Even with four Le Mans victories behind you, safety procedures remain a team effort.
Five completely different jobs, one shared obsession: eliminating mistakes
Composite repair, pit stops, timing, technical regulations and Safety Car procedures may appear to have little in common. In reality, the demands are remarkably similar.
You need precision. Concentration under pressure. Communication. Anticipation. And an understanding that a mistake which looks tiny inside a garage or on a computer screen can have enormous consequences once the car is racing.
That is also what makes endurance racing unique. A four-hour event is never built only around the driver who sets the fastest lap. It is created by dozens of decisions, checks and technical actions repeated throughout the weekend.
From Spa to Le Mans: the same endurance racing culture
The European Le Mans Series occupies a special position in this world. Run within the ACO endurance racing ecosystem, it forms part of the pathway through which teams and drivers progress towards the highest levels of the discipline, with the 24 Hours of Le Mans remaining the ultimate reference point.
That connection extends far beyond the cars and drivers. The same culture of procedures, technical control, official timing and reliability can be found throughout endurance racing. Before you can win at Le Mans, you first have to learn how to leave nothing to chance for four hours at Spa.
Go behind the scenes of the ELMS with Live4Racing
These five jobs become even more fascinating when you see them being performed in the paddock. The gunner's movements, carbon components being repaired, official timing screens, scrutineering equipment and Safety Car exercises are exactly what we wanted to capture on location.
▶ Watch the full video: 5 jobs that can decide an ELMS race: behind the scenes at the 4 Hours of Spa.
If you enjoy discovering motorsport beyond the final classification, subscribe to the Live4Racing YouTube channel for more paddock documentaries, interviews and behind-the-scenes features.
Our Spa-Francorchamps photo coverage and additional race-weekend content can also be found on Live4Racing.com. For exclusive images, stories, paddock moments and updates from our next events, follow @live4racing on Instagram.
Because in endurance racing, the race is never only about what happens behind the steering wheel.
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